An inspection report quality checklist before you send

Check identity, date and scope first

Open the generated PDF and read its cover. Confirm the project name, address, issuing company, inspector and inspection date. Reused profiles save entry time, but they also make it easy to carry the wrong business identity into a new job. Compare these details against the job instruction.

Read the comments for scope and limitations. If a room was inaccessible or part of the intended visit was deferred, say so clearly. A report that records no defects in a room should not imply the room was inspected when it was locked. Keep a distinction between the inspection date and any later date on which you issued or corrected the document.

Make each observation understandable

Review each item for a specific location, an observable condition and a useful next step. Replace vague phrases such as “needs fixing” with a description that tells the recipient what was seen. Check whether the stated cause is supported or merely an assumption.

• Can the reader find the item without calling the inspector?
• Does the description match the photos and captions?
• Is the assigned company correct and named consistently?
• Does the status reflect what is known, including unverified repair claims?
• Is the due date or requested response consistent with the accompanying message?

If the location fails the first question, improve it using a repeatable location convention. If the contractor is unknown, make that uncertainty visible instead of assigning a company merely to fill the field.

Inspect the actual photo output

Look at one context photo and the smallest important detail at a useful zoom level. Check that annotations point to the observation without covering it, captions refer to the right image and the selected report options include the intended photos. Continue through the document so the last item receives the same review as the first.

If detail is unclear, determine whether the source photo or export setting is responsible. A larger PDF will not fix poor focus. Use the photo quality guide to compare the same page across export settings when necessary.

Confirm the report includes the right items

A full report and a contractor report serve different purposes. Check the selection before generating and the resulting contents after exporting. In Pro, contractor filtering selects the issues assigned to that company; an unassigned item or a differently spelled company name may be absent from the intended copy.

For example, a project may contain four joinery items and one paint item. The full report should explain the overall record. A joinery-filtered report should include the four relevant items, but it should not be described as the complete project list. These counts are an illustrative check, not an app-generated acceptance rule.

Give the files distinct names when saving your issued copies outside the app. Avoid relying only on exported row numbers to match a later filtered list: include a stable item reference in your records when cross-report tracking matters.

Finish the release check

Choose the intended recipient, attach the checked file and open that attachment once more. Confirm any shared-storage link is accessible to the people who should receive it. State what action you need and whether this file replaces an earlier issue. The email templates provide a starting point.

Save the issued PDF and a brief issue note with the date, recipient and scope. Back up the working project separately. This quality check is a document review: it does not certify compliance, replace professional judgement or establish that every possible defect was inspected. Its purpose is to make the observations you did record clear and usable.

Check that every inaccessible area is described as a scope limitation rather than an implied clear result.

Review recurring clarification and correction work to improve the process behind your next report.