> 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/inspection-reports/require-a-service-completion-date-and-mark-a-service-not-applicable.md). # Require a service completion date, and mark a service N/A Service questions on a report (the Done / Not Done questions tied to a recurring service) can require the technician to settle the service's date before the asset counts as finished. This is how you build real service history for equipment you have no records for: the technician is standing in front of it, and that is the only moment anyone can find out when it was last serviced. ## Turning it on **Required** is a setting on the service question inside the report itself, so it is part of report setup rather than something you switch on from your own Settings. Report templates are built and edited by Essential — open the Essential Assistant and use the **Talk to a human** tab to have it turned on or off for one of your reports. New service questions are required as soon as they are added. An existing report is unchanged until a new version is published with it switched on. ## What the technician sees With **Required** on, the asset is not complete — no green check, it stays in the unanswered filter, and the report cannot be published — until the technician answers the question **and** the service's date is settled. The question always needs an answer: Done, Not Done, or N/A. The date counts as settled when any of these is true: * A completion is already on file for that asset and service — the date is inherited, so answering the question is all that's left. * The technician answers **Done** — that records a completion dated today. * The technician sets the next due date on the question's date row. * The technician answers **N/A** on the question itself. In practice the only extra work is **Not Done on equipment with no history**: there is no date on file and Not Done doesn't create one, so the technician either sets the date or marks the service N/A. That is the moment this setting exists for. ## Answering N/A Service questions offer three answers: **Done**, **Not Done**, and **N/A**. N/A means this service is not tracked for this piece of equipment at all — it was never on a schedule that applies here. Choosing N/A hides the date row, and on publish it **deletes that asset's completion history for that service**. With no completions left, the service stops producing a next due date for that asset and drops out of due tracking. That deletion cannot be undone, so use N/A only when the service genuinely does not apply to the equipment. If the service simply was not performed on this visit, answer **Not Done** instead — that keeps the history and lets you record when it actually was last done. ## Recording a date without marking the service Done The date row is available whatever the answer is. Setting a date on a question answered **Not Done** records when the service was last performed, without claiming it was done on this visit. That is the normal way to backfill history for equipment you have just taken on. > **Where to find it:** On an open inspection report, the service questions (Done / Not Done / N/A) and the date row beneath them. To have **Required** switched on for a report, use the Essential Assistant's Talk to a human tab. ## Related guides * [What a service completion is and how it's recorded](/administration/how-recurring-service-automation-works-the-full-cycle/what-a-service-completion-is-and-how-its-recorded.md) * [What "Awaiting Service Completion" means and how it clears](/administration/how-recurring-service-automation-works-the-full-cycle/what-awaiting-service-completion-means-and-how-it-clears.md) * [How recurring service automation works (the full cycle)](/administration/how-recurring-service-automation-works-the-full-cycle.md) * [The field types you fill in on a report](/field-operations/inspection-reports/the-field-types-you-fill-in-on-a-report.md) * [Save a draft and publish an inspection report](/field-operations/inspection-reports/save-a-draft-and-publish-an-inspection-report.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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