Inspections FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Inspections.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Inspections Overview.
Setup
What do I need to configure before anyone can run an inspection?
At minimum you need one active inspection template. Templates are where you define the checklist questions, scoring method, pass threshold, and category. Go to Admin → Templates in the Inspections sidebar and create or activate a template. Without at least one active template, inspectors have nothing to start.
If you plan to use recurring schedules, ensure Enable Scheduled Inspections is on in Settings (it is on by default). For Quick Scan (barcode-driven inspections), the AssetPro app must also be enabled for your business.
What are the modules and how do I choose which ones to turn on?
The Inspections app is divided into six modules you can enable or disable independently in Settings → Modules:
- Inspection Templates — always on; included automatically with either execution module.
- Checklist Inspections — ad-hoc and per-item inspections, recurring schedules, and barcode Quick Scan.
- Facility Coverage Sweeps — aisle-by-aisle rack sweeps, the coverage dashboard, and the exceptions ledger.
- Corrective Actions, Approvals & Reporting — the corrective action register, approval queues, compliance dashboards, analytics, and reports. Requires at least one execution module (Checklist Inspections or Facility Coverage Sweeps) to be on.
- Regulatory Knowledge Base — curated regulatory reference content the AI assistant can cite.
- Visit Logs — external surveyor/auditor visit tracking. Off by default and independent of the other modules.
At least one of Checklist Inspections, Facility Coverage Sweeps, or Visit Logs must stay on — the app refuses to save a configuration where nothing is reachable.
Permissions and access
Who can create, edit, and delete inspections?
Any authenticated user can create and conduct their own inspections. The assigned inspector and anyone at Manager level or above can edit an in-progress inspection. Answering individual checklist items requires the assigned inspector, an Admin, or an Inspections app-admin.
Deleting inspections is off by default. An admin must first enable Allow Deleting Inspections in Settings under Access & Permissions. Even then, only the assigned inspector or a manager-or-above can delete. This protects signed-off audit data by default.
Templates, schedules, and cycles are admin-only surfaces — you need Admin or Inspections app-admin access to create or change them. Managers can view cycle progress for their own locations but cannot create or activate cycles.
How do I control which inspections my team members see?
Three settings in Settings → Team Inspections govern visibility:
- Scope Team Inspections by — Location (default), Department, or None. Controls how the Team Inspections list filters: by the viewer’s assigned locations, by the inspector’s department, or show only the viewer’s own inspections.
- Manager Visibility — Own locations (default) or All locations. “All locations” gives managers the same all-business view admins have.
- Member Visibility — Location (default) or Own only. “Own only” restricts regular members to inspections they personally conduct. Managers and admins are unaffected.
If you need per-inspection control, enable Allow Managing Per-Inspection Visibility in Settings. Managers and admins can then grant extra viewers — specific people, groups, departments, locations, or roles — to an individual inspection.
How do I restrict who can see the Visit Log?
The Visit Log access setting offers three levels: Everyone (default), Managers, or Admins. “Managers” means managers, admins, and Inspections app-admins. “Admins” means business admins and Inspections app-admins only. To grant a specific non-manager access under a restricted level, make them an Inspections app-admin through the Apps Marketplace roles page.
Day-to-day
How does scoring work, and what does auto-fail mean?
Each checklist item carries a weight (default 1.0). The inspection score is the percentage of earned weight to total weight among scorable items, from 0 to 100. Items marked N/A, skipped, or hidden by a conditional rule are excluded from scoring.
The template’s pass threshold (default 80%, configurable 0–100 per template) determines whether the inspection passes. If the score meets or exceeds the threshold, it passes.
Auto-fail overrides the score: any item flagged Auto-fail on No that receives a failing answer causes the entire inspection to fail, even if the overall score is above the threshold.
How do corrective actions get created, and what is the default deadline?
When Auto-Create Corrective Actions is on (the default), each failed item on a completed inspection automatically generates a corrective action with a status of Pending and a priority of High for critical items or Medium for others. The default deadline is 7 days from completion, configurable per-business from 1 to 90 days in Settings.
Corrective actions move through four statuses: Pending → In Progress → Completed (or Cancelled). Priorities are Low, Medium, High, and Critical. Each action can be handed off to the Tasks app by linking it to a task.
Can I require a photo or a signature before an inspection can be submitted?
Yes, both are enforced server-side across every submission path (desktop, mobile, API, and the AI agent).
- Photo evidence: on the template, flag any question as Requires photo. The inspection cannot be submitted until every flagged, visible item (excluding N/A and skipped items) has at least one photo attached.
- Signature: on the template, enable Require signature. The inspection cannot be submitted without a typed signature from the inspector.
How do inspection cycles work, and what are the assignment strategies?
A cycle defines a recurring inspection period — quarterly, annual, monthly, or custom dates — and announces it to an audience. Three generation modes control what happens at activation:
- Notify only (default) — notifies the audience; each person starts their own inspection.
- Per item — auto-creates one inspection per cycle item (one per location, one per asset, etc.), assigned according to the strategy below.
- Coverage sweep — seeds a facility coverage sweep per selected layout, expanded into per-aisle units.
For per-item cycles, four assignment strategies are available: Location manager, Single assignee, Distributed (round-robin across a pool), and Claim pool (unassigned, team members claim items). The generation mode locks once the cycle leaves Draft status.
Cycles support three close behaviors: Manual (admin clicks “Mark Complete”), On end date (auto-completes after the end date), or On all complete (auto-completes when every linked inspection finishes).
How does the approval workflow work for submitted inspections?
When a template has an approval workflow attached — or when a business-wide inspection-submission workflow is configured — submitting an inspection moves it to In Review and creates an approval request. Reviewers can approve (completing the inspection) or reject (returning it to In Progress for rework on the same record).
If no workflow applies, the inspection completes immediately on submission. A business-wide workflow set up at Admin → Approval Workflows with the trigger “Inspection submission” acts as a fallback for any template without its own workflow.
Can someone take over or pick up another inspector’s assigned inspection?
Yes. An In Progress inspection can be taken over by any manager-or-above or by someone assigned to the same location. A Scheduled inspection can be picked up the same way, but only when Allow Inspection Pickup is on in Settings (it is on by default). The original assignee is recorded in the audit trail.
Turning off the pickup setting locks scheduled inspections to their assigned inspector. The takeover option for in-progress inspections is always available to managers.
What happens to an asset’s condition when an inspection fails?
When a failed inspection is linked to an asset, the asset’s condition is automatically downgraded — never upgraded. The new condition depends on the score: below 50% sets it to Poor, and between 50% and 69% sets it to Fair. A score of 70% or above does not change the condition, even on a fail (for example, when the fail was caused by an auto-fail item).
When something looks wrong
“I set up a recurring schedule but no inspections are being created”
Check three things: (1) The schedule must be Active (not paused). (2) The current date must fall within the schedule’s start and end date range — if an end date is set and has passed, the schedule stops generating. (3) Enable Scheduled Inspections must be on in Settings. If all three are correct and the schedule still shows “Pending”, the background scheduler job may not have run yet — it processes schedules whose next generation time has arrived.
“My inspector can’t start an inspection — it says they need training”
The template has required training courses configured. The inspector must complete all listed courses before they can start an inspection from that template. The training check runs when the inspection transitions to In Progress — it does not block creation or assignment, only the start action. Check the template’s training prerequisites to see which courses are required.
Note: the training check does not re-run on a takeover or pickup. If someone picks up a scheduled inspection, the training gate fires when that new inspector hits Start.
“An inspection scored above the threshold but still shows as Failed”
This happens when an auto-fail item is present. If any question flagged with Auto-fail on No receives a failing answer, the entire inspection is marked Failed regardless of the overall score. The inspection detail page shows which item triggered the auto-fail. Check the template to see which items have the auto-fail flag set.
“I turned off a module but I can still see its data in some places”
Disabling a module hides its navigation entry and blocks its controllers, but existing data is not deleted. Compliance dashboards, analytics, and the purge counts in Settings will still reflect records created while the module was on. To remove the data, use the Clear all inspections data action in Settings (requires Allow Deleting Inspections to be on). Note that this removes all inspections, exceptions, corrective actions, and sweeps for your business — it is not per-module.
Licensing and limits
Does Inspections require a licence?
Yes. Inspections requires a licence and is disabled by default. An administrator enables it from the Apps Marketplace. It is not available until then.
What are the limits and allowed ranges I should know about?
| Setting | Range / Limit |
|---|---|
| Inspection score | 0–100 |
| Pass threshold | 0–100% per template (default 80%) |
| Corrective action deadline | 1–90 days (default 7) |
| Corrective action priorities | Low, Medium, High, Critical |
| Template name | Up to 255 characters |
| Question name | Up to 500 characters |
| Item weight | 0 or above (default 1.0) |
| Template categories | Safety, Quality, Compliance, Equipment, Food Safety, Environmental, General |
| Inspection statuses | Draft, Scheduled, In Progress, In Review, Completed, Cancelled |
| Corrective action statuses | Pending, In Progress, Completed, Cancelled |
| Schedule frequencies | Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annually |
| Cycle types | Quarterly, Annual, Monthly, Custom |
| Question types | Yes/No, Checkbox, Rating, Text, Number, Slider, Date/Time, Photo, Signature, Single-select, Multi-select, Find Asset, Instruction |
| Visit Log access levels | Everyone, Managers, Admins |
| Visit Log tracking modes | Detailed (full plan-of-correction lifecycle), Simple (record only) |
| Asset condition downgrade | Below 50% → Poor; 50–69% → Fair; 70%+ → no change |
| Deficiency trend alert | Fires when a citation code appears 3 or more times in 12 months |
More help
- Inspections Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Inspections questions from these articles.