> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://learn.withessential.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://learn.withessential.com/field-operations/assets/tag-asset-locations-gps-attributes.md). # Tag where an asset is (GPS location attributes) A **GPS location** attribute stores where an asset physically is, shown as a pin on a map. It helps technicians and the office find an extinguisher, valve, or backflow on a large site. The technician app tags the location from the phone automatically — when an asset is added, and when an untagged asset is opened on a draft report — anyone can move the pin on a map, and both apps show every asset in a group or on a report on one map. It is a finding aid, not report data: it never prints on an inspection report or its PDF. > **Where to find it:** On the web, open an asset group (**Customers → Asset Groups**): the **GPS** column in the asset table, the location on each asset card, the **Map** tab, and the GPS field in the asset's **Edit Asset** form. On a web inspection report, the **GPS** section at the bottom of each asset and the map-pin icon in the asset section's header. In the technician app, the same places on the asset group screen and in the asset form, the **GPS** section at the bottom of each asset on a report, and the map-pin icon next to **Actions** above a report's asset list. Setting up the attribute itself is done by Essential. ## Set up a GPS location attribute Adding a **GPS location** attribute to an asset type — like any change to an asset type's stored information — is handled by Essential; the **Assets & Reports** settings area where it's configured is limited to Essential staff. [Contact Essential](/getting-started/getting-started/contact-essential-for-setup-changes.md) through the **Talk to a human** tab and say which asset types should carry a location. * An asset type holds at most one **GPS location** attribute (an asset has one location). * A GPS location is always optional: a phone can't always get a fix (indoors, or with location access turned off), so a missing location never blocks saving an asset or publishing a report. * There is no default location for a type. Changing an existing attribute to or from **GPS location** clears its stored values (or locations), and any recurring-service rule that used the attribute is dropped. Essential's setup screen shows how many assets are affected before the change is saved. ## How a location is described A location saved from the phone keeps how accurate the phone's fix was: it reads `±4 m · from phone`, or in full `37.77493, -122.41942 · ±4 m · from phone`. A pin placed or moved on a map has no accuracy figure and reads **Pin placed on map** (short form **On map**). An asset without a location reads **Not set**. Whenever changes reach Essential, the most recent one wins: a location tagged, moved, or cleared earlier — say, on a phone that was offline — never undoes a newer location or a later clear made on another device or on the web. ## In the technician app **Adding an asset.** When the asset form opens, the app tags the phone's current location right away. The location is saved with the asset when you tap **Submit**. If the phone can't get a location, the GPS section shows **Location unavailable** — tap **Use My Location** to try again, **Place Pin** to put the pin on a map yourself, or submit without one. **Editing an asset.** Editing never re-tags on its own. The **GPS** section is the last thing in the form: a small map of the saved location with **Move Pin** and **Clear**, or **Not set** with **Use My Location** and **Place Pin**. Changes are saved when you tap **Submit**. Offline, the change is kept on the device and synced when the app is back online. **Filling an inspection report.** Each asset's **GPS** section sits at the bottom, after all its questions, with the location's meta on the right. On a draft report, an asset with no location yet is tagged once, automatically, when you open it (**Tagging location…**). A published report is never tagged automatically — opening an asset doesn't change it — but you can still tag an asset yourself with **Use My Location** or **Place Pin** (**Move Pin** once it has a location). With a location, the section shows a small map with **Move Pin** and **View on Map** (the report's map with this asset selected); tap the map to move the pin too. Without one, it shows **Not set** with **Use My Location** and **Place Pin**. The tag is kept on the report and written onto the asset when the report is published. Skipped and deleted assets show their location but are never tagged or moved. **Move Pin and Place Pin.** **Place Pin** (an asset with no location) opens the same screen as **Move Pin**. The map fills the screen with a fixed pin in the middle: drag the map until the pin sits on the asset (**Drag the map to place the pin**), then tap **Done**. The map opens on the current location, or on your phone's location, or on the property. If it has none of those to open on, drag the map to the asset first: **Done** turns on once you've moved it. **Use My Location** at the bottom re-centers on a fresh fix from your phone — tap **Done** without dragging to save that fix with its accuracy (**Done** waits while the phone is finding you). A pin you dragged is saved as placed on the map. The back arrow discards the change. **See every asset on a map.** * On a report, tap the map-pin icon next to **Actions** above an asset list. Each located asset is a pin colored by its result — green inspected, red with a deficiency, gray not inspected yet — and your own position shows as a blue dot. The card at the bottom says how many assets have a location; tap a pin to see that asset, then tap its card to open it on the report. * On an asset group, the **Map** tab (next to the other tabs, with the number of located assets) shows the group's assets as pins. Tap a pin to see the asset, then tap its card to open the asset's form. Each asset card shows its location as a teal pin with the accuracy — tap it to jump to that asset on the **Map** tab. The first time the app uses your location, your phone asks for permission. If you decline, tagging shows **Location unavailable**; turn location access back on for Essential in your phone's settings to tag assets. You can still place a pin by hand with **Place Pin** (**Move Pin** once the asset has a location). ## On the web ### See where assets are On an asset group page, the asset table's **GPS** column and each asset card show a location as a teal pin with its coordinates. Click the coordinates to switch to the **Map** tab with that asset selected. The **Map** tab appears when an asset type in the group has a GPS location attribute; its count is the number of assets with a location. Every located asset is a teal pin. Click a pin to see the asset's card — its name, a describing value such as its location name with the fix's accuracy, and its coordinates — with **Edit asset** (opens the **Edit Asset** form) and **Open in Google Maps** (a new tab). Click anywhere else on the map to go back to the summary, which says how many assets have a location. ### On an inspection report Each asset's **GPS** section is the last thing under its questions, below a divider. Collapsed, it shows the short form — `GPS ±4 m` — with **Show**. Click **Show** to see the full location line, a small map, and **Move Pin**, **View on Map**, and **Open in Google Maps**. Your browser remembers whether the section is shown or hidden for every asset. An asset without a location reads **Not set. Saved automatically the next time a technician opens this asset on site.** on a draft report; on a published report, or for a skipped or deleted asset (which a technician's phone never tags), it reads just **Not set.** To see the whole list on a map, open the asset section and click the map-pin icon at the right of its header. The header's title gets **— Map**, and the list is replaced by a map: pins are green for inspected assets, red for assets with a deficiency, and gray for assets not inspected yet (or skipped), and a chip says how many assets have a location. Click a pin to close the map and open that asset. **View on Map** in an asset's GPS section opens the same map with that asset's pin ringed in teal. Click the map-pin icon again to go back to the list. ### Place or move a pin **On an inspection report:** 1. Show the asset's **GPS** section and click **Move Pin** — or **Place Pin** if it has no location. **Place Pin** starts the map on the property. 2. Drag the map until the pin in the middle sits on the asset. The map is outlined in teal while you move it; use the **+** and **−** buttons to zoom. 3. Click **Save** (or **Cancel** to leave it alone). The pin is saved as the report's own location for the asset — with the rest of the report — and written onto the asset when the report is published. **On an asset group:** 1. Open the asset's **Edit Asset** form — from the card's menu, or **Edit asset** on the **Map** tab. 2. In the GPS field, click **Move Pin**, or **Place Pin** if the asset has no location (it starts on the property). 3. Drag the map until the pin in the middle sits on the asset, then click **Done** (or **Cancel**). 4. Click **Save**. If you click **Save** while still moving the pin, the new spot is kept. While the map is still loading, **Move Pin** and **Place Pin** are grayed out until it's ready. If the map can't load, it reads **Map unavailable**: **Move Pin** and **Place Pin** aren't offered, and a pin you were still moving is dropped without saving, on a report or an asset group. To remove a location, click **Clear** in the GPS field, then **Save**. Publishing (or re-publishing) a report tagged before you removed it won't bring it back; only a newer tag or pin will. Leaving the field untouched — or opening **Move Pin** and clicking **Done** without dragging — keeps the stored location exactly as it was, including the phone's accuracy. ## Where locations do not appear A location is not a value you compare or print, so it stays out of: * Inspection report questions, report templates, and PDFs. * **Asset Group Labels** and the asset groups list filters. * Recurring-service conditions (the asset filter). * The Customer Portal and job summaries sent to customers. * Bulk add from a document and photo-based asset prefill. CSV export and the printable asset table include the location as text. ## Related guides * [Editing, reordering, and deleting assets](/field-operations/assets/editing-reordering-and-deleting-asset-items.md) * [Add photos to an asset (photo attributes)](/field-operations/assets/add-photos-to-an-asset-photo-attributes.md) * [Manage asset groups and recurring services on mobile](/field-operations/mobile/manage-asset-groups-and-recurring-services.md) * [Fill inspection reports on mobile](/field-operations/mobile/fill-inspection-reports.md) * [Contact Essential for setup changes](/getting-started/getting-started/contact-essential-for-setup-changes.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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