Marking Fail and recording a deficiency while filling a report
Compliance questions are the ones that judge whether an item is compliant. They show two buttons, usually Pass and Fail (some use Yes and No), plus an N/A button when the question allows it.
When you choose the failing answer, a deficiency section opens directly beneath that question so you can capture the problem right where you found it. The deficiency has two separate note boxes, and the distinction matters.
External Notes are customer-facing: this is the description that goes out on the report the customer sees, so keep it clear and professional. Internal Notes stay with your team and are not shown to the customer, so use them for context, follow-up details, or anything you wouldn't send out.
Each note box has a Suggest notes link that can draft wording for you and offers common reasons you and your team have used recently. For technicians, these suggestions come only from reports they can access. If your report is set up to allow it, you can also attach photos and files to the deficiency to document the issue visually.
Some reports include extra deficiency fields above the notes, which you fill in the same way as any other question. Everything you enter here is saved with the report when you submit it, and it feeds the deficiency record your office works afterward.
A report can also be set up to require parts of the deficiency itself. When it is, a red asterisk marks the required part — External Notes, Internal Notes, or Photos — and the report can't be submitted until every recorded deficiency has that part filled in. If your reports should work this way, ask Essential to turn it on for the report template.
Where to find it: On a compliance question while filling an inspection report. These are the Pass/Fail (or Yes/No) questions that decide whether something is compliant, shown with a green positive button and a red negative button.
Review deficiencies across the report
On web, choose Inspection Reports in the left sidebar, open a report row, then expand Deficiencies in the form's section list, if the report configuration includes it. On mobile, choose Reports, open a draft, then tap Deficiencies. You can also open a report under Drafts through Visits → visit → Start Inspection (or Inspection Reports) → asset group. If that visit button is missing, see Fill inspection reports on mobile. Its position is set in the report configuration. On web, it expands in place. On mobile, it opens a list with the same list layout as the inspection asset list. Both show findings from every section. Skipped and deleted assets are left out.
Choose View to search by question, section, asset information, or notes. Needs details shows findings with missing required notes, photos, or custom fields.
Open a deficiency to edit it on its own screen. It uses the same question, notes, photos, and extra fields as the original inspection question.
Return with All deficiencies on web or the back arrow on mobile. Your search stays in place. On web, choose Save Draft for a draft or Save and Publish for changes to a submitted report; the publish control reads Publish when there are no unsaved answers. Mobile saves when you go back. Editing needs Edit Inspection Report access; publishing needs Submit Inspection Report access.
To update several findings, choose Select on web or Actions in the mobile header. Select the findings (or Select all results on web / Select All on mobile), then Edit. Fill in the fields you want to replace, then apply. Blank fields keep each finding’s existing value. You can fill External notes and Internal notes together. Extra deficiency fields from the selected findings appear in the same form; for example, S536 includes device type and location, deficiency description, ULC clause, correction date, work-order reference, correcting company, and technician details. A field applies only to findings that include it. Clear removes a field from your bulk draft so its saved values stay unchanged. Search or filter changes clear the selection, so selecting all only includes the currently matching findings. On mobile, View opens the search sheet; choose Done to return to the filtered list. The selection strip's Cancel, or the back arrow, exits selection before leaving the list. Cancel inside the bulk sheet closes it and keeps the selection. Photos, blank fields, and unselected findings are preserved.
If a mobile bulk save fails, the sheet shows Could not confirm save. Try again. Your text and selection stay in place so you can retry.
If a visit's job summary is created while you have a deficiency edit open or queued offline, the report keeps its saved parts and items when your edit syncs. Your notes and other deficiency fields still save. Manage parts and items in the job summary from that point onward.
Changing notes does not mark a failed inspection as passed. Correct the original answer in the deficiency's detail screen when the result changes. Publish or re-publish the report to update the published deficiency records. See Save a draft and publish an inspection report or Publish and email inspection reports from mobile for the complete publication flow.
Include and position the section
Report configuration is available to Essential staff with the Set up Assets & Reports permission. If you do not see Assets & Reports in Settings, ask Essential to enable or reposition the summary for the report you use.
In Settings → Assets & Reports, choose the asset group type, then choose Customize beside the report under Inspection reports. Open the Inspection Form tab. Turn on Show Deficiencies section, then drag its section handle to the position you want — for example, first or third. Save the draft and publish the report configuration when it is ready to use.
The section is off by default. Existing report configurations stay unchanged until you enable it; existing reports keep the definition version they use. Turn the switch off or select Remove on the section to remove it from the configuration. Findings remain available beneath their original questions.
You can also ask Essential Assistant while editing this report configuration: "Show the Deficiencies summary as the third section," "Move the Deficiencies summary first," or "Turn off the Deficiencies summary." Review and accept the proposed change, then publish when ready. Turning on the summary without a requested position places it first. The summary collects existing findings; ordinary questions or sections named Deficiencies are separate and stay in place. Changing the summary does not change the generated PDF layout.
Related guides
The item picker follows your report's configured pricebook rules for the selected asset and current answers. If a job summary is created while the report is open, saving or publishing keeps the items already captured for that summary while still saving your notes and other editable details.
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