November 2017
REPORTS
- Schedule your own reports: Now you can schedule any report, including a favorite report (with filters) to be automatically sent out as a scheduled autoreport to a list of email address(es) of your choice - not just the email addresses on the Company, Project, and Responsible Party Setup pages.
INSPECTIONS
- Selection process speed improvements (beta): Using the "Enter New Inspection (Beta), the selection process has been accelerated for standard and ITP inspections, especially with poor connections. On your first inspection, all dictionaries needed for all selection processes are downloaded (synced) to your local device. So you may see a slight time lag here, but this will only be for the first time you log in and start your inspections. After that, you should notice a faster selection process when doing your inspections online.
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UI Change with "Go to Plan Mode" button on Beta version: When using the "Enter New Inspection (Beta), you'll notice that Plan mode is available at phase mode only. (was available at project level). Checkbox toggle from plan mode to selection mode (was button).
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Responsible Person Selection: When selecting a responsible party during the inspection selection process, Responsible Persons will be linked together along with to responsible party. Previously, responsible persons were selected in step after responsible party.
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Default Responsible Person: Now when a responsible party has an appointed responsible person for a project or there is only one person, that person is the responsible party's default for the project. It is shown as <responsible party> - <person> on the responsible party selection. If there is more than one person, each person is displayed in the <responsible party> - <person> format. This is useful when you have a Vendor (Responsible Party) that works on more than one of your projects. You can now designate the "Lead" for that Vendor (RP) on each project and only include the Vendor on the Responsible Party Setup Process screen once instead of once for each project.
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Refinements to the inspection saving handles interrupted uploads like offline inspections that still need to be synced using standard reminders.
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Picture editor UI is updated to maximize picture size on smaller devices. The menu is always on the long side so pictures can take up the maximum width on the device.
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Email notification address is expanded to handle long lists of long email addresses. (1000 characters)
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Email notification inspection notes: Inspection notes (located in the blue header on your inspection) will now be first in the body of the email so that email previewers can see the most important information first. Previously notes were at the end of the email after project information.
SETUP
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Responsible Persons: Now, when "Affiliated" users are added, they are also added as Responsible Persons for their affiliated Responsible Party. This unifies users and crews whereas before they were added separately in parallel. This also avoids having to add users as vendors. The structure facilitates imports from Procore and other software that connects users to responsible parties. When a new crew is added, FTQ360 automatically adds an inactive restricted edit-only user ready for use when the user becomes active in FTQ360.
DASHBOARD
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Priority panel is now on the priority open item dashboard. Now open items are graphed by priority. Default priority is set on each checkpoint and can be changed on the inspection checklist for open items.
September/October 2017
DASHBOARDS
- Dashboard Data Downloads: You can now download the data displayed on your dashboard screen. Click the small download icon on the top right-hand side of each chart area and a CSV file of the underlying data is downloaded. This makes it easy to copy the data and use it in other spreadsheets, reports and management dashboard software.
- Priority Open Item Dashboard Improvements: We've made some major improvement to the Priority Open Item Dashboard. You'll find new graphs and filtering options such as separate options for Primary Responsible Party and Open Item Responsible Party. This is useful for companies that assign a foreman, superintendent or project manager, etc. as the primary responsibility (the RP listed in the header of the inspection screen) and a vendor or a different RP for the open items. The new dashboard also lets you view and filter data by Checklist and Category of Open Item, giving you a more granular view of your data. In addition, an R4R (Ready for Review) column has been added to the detail grid on the lower portion of the dashboard. This let you sort by and change R4R statuses.
- Separate ITP Dashboard: We've separated the ITP Dashboard from the Priority Open Item Dashboard. This separate dashboard is accessible from the Inspection menu. Go to Inspection on the top menu bar and select ITP Dashboard. Previously, the only way to see the ITP dashboard was through the Open Item Dashboard.
SETUP
- User > Checklist Setup Filter: Now you can select the checklists a user with "Inspect" permissions can access or use. When a new user is added, FTQ360 will pre-select all checklists for the user making them all available for use. If you would like to remove access to any checklists, select the new user on the User setup screen; next go to "Checklist" on the left-hand process menu in the User Setup Process area and de-select any checklists the user/inspector does not have permission to use or access. This provides an easy way to view an inspector's access and restrict as necessary.
- User > Project Setup Filter: Now you can select the projects a user can access or use. When a new user is added, FTQ360 will pre-select all projects for the user making them all available for use. If you would like to remove access to any projects, select the new user on the User setup screen; next go to "Project" on the left-hand process menu in the User Setup Process area and de-select any projects the user does not have permission to access. This provides an easy way to view user's project access and restrict as necessary.
- Responsible Party > Project Setup Filters: Responsible Party setup now has a Responsible Party Project screen. You can use this option to select and/or view which projects an individual Responsible Party is working on. The Responsible Party > Project screen is the same information but presents it in a different way than the information on the Project > Responsible Party screen. In some instances, it will be faster to use the filters on the Responsible Party > Project screen vs. the Project > Responsible Party screen and vise versa. For example, if you do not want a newly added Responsible Party to be selected/assigned to all existing projects, then after adding the new Responsible Party, you will want to go to the Responsible Party > Project option on the left-hand menu in the Responsible Party Setup Process area and select ONLY those projects your new RP will be working on. However, when you are setting up a new project, it will make more sense to use the Project > Responsible Party screen to select and assign RPs to the project. For example, if you do not want all Responsible Parties to be selected/assigned to a newly added project, then after adding the new Project, go to the Project > Responsible Party option on the left-hand menu in the Project Party Setup Process area and select ONLY those RPs who will be working on your new Project.
- Project Setup Screen Private Notes: A Private Notes column lets administrators add notes that do not appear on inspection reports. Currently, text in the "Information" column appears in the Project Details area on Inspection Reports.
OFFLINE AND PICTURE UPLOADS
- Inspections Saved to your Device: The inspection saving process has been upgraded so that all inspections - online and offline - are saved first to your device before saving to the FTQ360 server network. (autosave and save button). This secures the data on your device before attempting to upload while online and serves as a backup for retries if the network fails.
- Alert for Poor Cell Connection: FTQ360 now alerts you when there is a poor connection that may cause slow uploading of pictures and attachments to the server network. The Alert, "" is just informative and no action is needed by the user. There is also a notice when autosave has taken place.
On inspection saving, if there is a slow connection, the inspector is given a choice of going back to the inspection or go offline, avoiding long waits for processing. - Offline Sync Screen Improvement: only includes the list of projects the inspector can inspect. This helps avoid errors and simplifies long lists for inspectors.
REPORTS AND IMPORTS
- Run Online Reports include Location Filter: A Locations filter is added to Run Online Reports. Now you can focus on a Location, for example a room, and find inspections or deficiencies by room.
- Locations have been added to the equipment csv import screen and the download from the equipment setup screen. This continues our build out of location related features.
MISC.
- The picture editor has a curly box as a more precise method of highlighting an area of a picture.
August 2017
- COMPANY NAME ADDED TO EMAIL NOTIFICATION: Email notifications now include the company name in the email subject line. This helps responsible parties recognize which company is sending them the report. This follows the same format used by the automated report runner.
- CHECKLIST INSPECTOR FILTER: On checklist setup (Setup > Checklist Setup Process > Inspectors) you can select which inspectors can use the checklist. This lets you limit which checklists inspectors can use regardless of the inspections selected for any give project. This lets your simplify the experience of subcontractors that self-inspect as well as third party inspectors such as architects, engineers and special inspectors that only need a limited number of checklists.
- CHECKLIST PROJECT FILTER: You've previously been able to select Project Checklists and now you can select Checklist Projects. This gives you the ability to simplify the experience of inspectors that self- inspect as well as third party inspectors that are used on a limited number of projects.
- NEW CHECKLIST ADDED TO ALL PROJECT: Now when you create a new checklist, it will automatically be available to all projects. If you don't want it available to certain projects, you can deselect the project(s) under "Projects" on the left-hand menu of the Checklist Setup Process page. In the past, when you created a new checklist, FTQ360 did not automatically make it available to projects that had some checklists deselected. This was causing some confusion when users went to do an inspection, selected a project and didn't see the checklist they just created.
- RESPONSIBLE PARTY/RESPONSIBLE PERSON OPTION: When setting up a project, you can now designate a lead Responsible Person along with the Responsible Party. This is useful when a large subcontractor works on multiple projects and has different personnel as the main contact for each of the projects. It also works for a company's construction department (as RP) that has several superintendents (as RP personnel), and each project has an assigned superintendent. The inspection selection process defaults to the responsible person once the RP is chosen.
- OPEN ITEM RESPONSIBLE PERSON: When you have an open item on a checkpoint, you can now select a responsible person. This is useful when you have large subcontractors that have different personnel as the main contact on different projects. Immediate notification of deficiencies will be sent to the responsible person.
- OPT-IN TO SEE CORRECTIVE ACTION NOTES ON PDF REPORTS: Now you have the ability to opt-in to including corrective action notes on reports or keeping them hidden. This gives you the ability to hide corrective action notes when they are used for private internal communications. This is an account-wide setting.
- OPT-IN TO HAVE NEW STYLE "X" REPORTS AS DEFAULT: Now you have the ability to opt-in to using the modern inspection report format for immediate email notifications. The setting is chosen with a checkbox on Menu > Reports > Activate Reports > Email Customization and Other Settings.
- NEW DEFICIENCY REPORT FORMAT: Modern style inspection and deficiency reports are now available. The reports have the same report number as the classic version with a suffix of "x". For example FTQ-439x.
- RESTRICTED USER RPs SEE ONLY THEIR OPEN CHECKPOINTS: Now when a restricted user goes to an inspection, the user will see only their OPN and QC checkpoints. This makes it easier for Responsible Parties logging in to view their deficiencies, especially when OPN items are scattered about a long inspection or punch list. The account preference setting in the FTQ360 database will default to existing (no change). When restricted users view a checklist. When affiliated with the inspector's RP they can view all checkpoints. When the primary responsible party they can view all checkpoints Otherwise they can view only OPN checkpoints affiliated with the user's RP. This approach simplifies the inspection view for users who report correction of open items. It allows them to easily see only their items on long final QA checklists.
- LOCATIONS ADDED TO PRIORITY OPEN ITEM DASHBOARD: If you've added Locations to a Project or Phase, you can now filter on the Locations in your Priority Open Item Dashboard and Inspection Dashboard. After selecting a project, the phase and location graphs become visible, and can be selected as a filter. This is very useful for seeing open items for a specific location.
- NEW DEFICIENCIES REPORTED ON EXISTING INSPECTION: Previously the deficiencies inherited the creation date of the inspection, and when deficiencies were added after the creation date, this did not trigger the auto reporting of the new deficiency. Now, new deficiencies are reported based on the date the deficiencies were added.
- UNSHARE INSPECTIONS: You can now refuse any inspection a partner shares with you by unchecking the sharing box in the blue inspection header. When unchecked by recipient, the inspection is no longer "shared", and is no longer visible. This is useful when you make a working copy of a shared inspection (to assign your responsible parties to open items) and no longer need the original inspection to be visible in your account. The originator group can check the shared again if required.
- EDITING/RE-EDITING OF PICTURES: Now you can edit or re-edit any photo added to an inspection. Click on the edit icon on the photo in your inspection. This will open the picture in the photo editor. The new version is saved to the inspection in date order. The original photo can be deleted if it is no longer relevant. This is useful if you want to edit or have a time stamp added to photos that you multi-selected from a file since multi-select bypasses the editing tool.
- PROJECT/COMMUNITY DIVISION SELECTION OPTION: Previously, the "Division" field on the Project/Community Setup Process screen was only a way to organize your Projects/Communities within the Setup area. Now, the "Division" field is live and will be used as part of the inspection selection process. When division names are added in project setup, the selection process will ask the inspector to select the division before selecting the related project. This is helpful if you have a long list of Projects/Communities from which your inspectors must select. For example, if you are a home builder and have communities in several divisions or regions (e.g. North, South, East, West). When you put the division in the "Division" field next to each Project/Community, then FTQ360 will show the Divisions (e.g. North, South, East, West, & Undefined if applicable) on the first screen and then only the Project/Communities associated with that division.
- OPTIMIZED LARGER PICTURE SIZE: Modern 401x reports are optimized for square pictures. The row height was increased by 1 inch to create even picture borders.
- EQUIPMENT LABEL ON INSPECTION: A small tweak labels equipment as such in the Inspection header. Previously, only the name of the equipment was displayed.
July 2017
- NEW "RF" COLUMN: The Priority Open Item Dashboard now includes a column for "RF" or Risk Factor and is sorted on this column by default. This column is in the detail section found at the lower part of the screen. Risk Factor "RF" is generally a number that indicates the priority, risk, or severity of an issue. The "RF" can be preset for each checkpoint in Setup and/or can be changed during the inspection process when an Open (OPN) Item/Deficiency is created.
- CHANGES TO FILTERING/SORTING ON READY, OVERDUE OR NEXT 7 DAYS: We've removed the separate detail sections for "Ready", "Overdue" and "Next 7 Days" in the Priority Open Item Dashboard detail area. However, you can still sort or filter on these status types. Just select the appropriate graph item in the "Due Date" graph box at the top of the screen. To go back to the original screen, click the "X" in the upper right-hand corner of the Due Date graph box.
- NEW REASON CODES and CORRECTIVE ACTION CODES: You can now add Reason Codes and Corrective Action Codes to your Open Item/Deficiencies. This gives you one more layer of clarity when analyzing your deficiencies. To add your Reason Codes and Corrective Action Codes, go to Setup > Customization > Common Checklist Items. Select "Reason Codes" or "Corrective Action Codes" on the left-hand menu. Once you create your list, it will show up on Inspections when an Open Item/Deficiency is created allowing your inspectors to select a pre-set code.
- REMOVED DUPLICATE NOTES FIELD ON INSPECTIONS: Now overall inspection information such as notes, status and due date appear only in the header section. Duplication of these items is removed from the bottom of the inspection.
- COMPANY NAME ON EMAIL SUBJECT LINE: The account company name is added to the default subject line on immediate notifications and automated reports. This alerts recipients that the email is from the company even though it is sent by FTQ360.net.
- CORRECTIVE ACTION NOTES ON NEW "x" STYLE REPORTS: When a inspection checkpoint has corrective action notes they appear on new style inspection reports. Previously this field was hidden from reporting. You can run these reports in REPORTS > RUN ONLINE REPORTS. If not currently on your Reports screen, go to REPORTS > ACTIVATE REPORTS and search for "x". Select the "Show Online" checkbox to make them available to run online.
- CORRECTIVE ACTION and/or REASON CODES ON NEW "x" STYLE REPORTS:When an inspection checkpoint has a reason code and/or a corrective action code they appear on new style inspection reports. You can run these reports in REPORTS > RUN ONLINE REPORTS. If not currently on your Reports screen, go to REPORTS > ACTIVATE REPORTS and search for "x". Select the "Show Online" checkbox to make them available to run online.
- INSPECTION REPORT - NEW FORMAT: The default Inspection Report is currently FTQ-401a. We've designed a more modern looking report (FTQ-401x). The new 401x report was designed for easier readability. It's less condensed, thus easier to scan. It has larger pictures, 2 across instead of 3. Another benefit is that it handles horizontal matrices very well and does not split wider matrix columns on to a new page. You can run this new report in Reports > Run Online > FTQ-401x. Please activate the new report if it's not currently available. All future Inspection Report enhancements will be made on this report. Please give us your feedback so we can continue to make improvements.
APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2017
- READY FOR REVIEW MADE VISIBLE: The ready for review feature is made visible to all inspectors. Previously, this was only visible to responsible parties. R4R gives responsible parties the ability to report to the inspector that the item is ready for the inspector's review.
- CORRECTIVE ACTION NOTES MADE VISIBLE/WORDING CHANGE: The responsible party or other stakeholder has the option of adding corrective action notes and pictures. This field was previously only available to responsible parties. Now, the field anyone with editing permissions can use this notes field. It is to be used by responsible parties who want to add notes about corrections they have made or just leave comments. It replaces the previous responsible party notes field.
- READY FOR REVIEW NOTIFICATIONS: The inspector is notified of ready for review items in several ways.
- Message bell: Instant message is displayed on the inspector's message bell.
- Priority Open Item Dashboard: Ready for review items are displayed on the priority open item dashboard.
- R4R Reports: Online and Automatic R4R Reports of items waiting for review can be sent daily or weekly as a reminder.
After reviewing the item the inspector can approve the correction by setting the item to QC status or uncheck ready for review to reject the correction.
Restricted users have the ability to add pictures, corrective action notes and check ready for review. Restricted users cannot approve their correction by checking QC or otherwise change any of the inspector's observation notes or pictures.
- ATTACHMENTS MANAGEMENT SCREEN: A new attachments management screen lets you review and backup inspection pictures individually or in a bulk zip file. The screen lists each attachments with a thumbnail and information about the file and a link back to the inspection. Various filters let you narrow the list to a project, checklist, or a search term such as an inspection id. Downloads can include about 1000 pictures before reaching limit.
- PROJECT OR PHASE LOCATIONS: Locations can now be added to a project or a project phase. Any location can apply to the complete project or be restricted to a single phase. Locations give you another level of refinement when inspecting or locating deficiencies. Uses include setting up a high-rise project with apartment unit locations.
- INTERACTIVE REPORT - OPEN ITEM BY LOCATION: A new interactive report lets you view open items by location.
- PRIORITY OPEN ITEM DASHBOARD - LOCATION: Locations have been added to the priority open item dashboard. Now when a project has locations you can use the interactive filters to select a specific location and view open items for that location.
- CHECKPOINT CATEGORIES: Now checkpoint setup includes Categories. This lets you assign a trade/category to checkpoints. You can also create categories for any type of "Tag" or way you'd like to see information broken down for analysis.
The benefit of assigning categories on the checkpoint level is that you can have checklists to inspect multiple trades with each checkpoint having its own category. This is a useful feature for milestone inspections such as pre-drywall that include checks for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. Single trade inspections such as "Concrete Pour" automatically default to the category of the inspection.
Checkpoint categories can be updated anytime and retroactively reflected on category reports.
Checkpoint categories are transparent to inspectors and do not affect the inspection process. - SCORING CHECKPOINT: Now you can add scores anywhere on a checklist. When you add a Scoring Checkpoint in the Checkpoint area within Checklist Setup Process, you can choose a "Category" for that checkpoint. Our default Categories are trade-specific such as Concrete, Electric, HVAC, etc., but you can have Categories for anything you would like. Scoring data is tabulated on the inspection report and performance reports.
- REMEMBER ME ON MOBILE APP: Remember me checkbox is now available when logging in on mobile devices.
- JOB-READY CHECKBOX IN CHECKPOINT SETUP: Checkpoint setup has a new job-ready checkbox that identifies the checkpoint as being related to verification of prior work. Unchecked indicates that the checkpoint is related to verifying completed work. This is a useful feature for assigning accountability for job-ready performance to others and accountability for completion of work to the primary responsible party. Reporting of job-ready issues do not reflect negatively on the primary responsible party, particularly important when using inspections for performance management and subcontractors self-inspections. This also gives FTQ360 the ability to link job-ready checkpoint data to the party responsible for the previous work.
- ADDITIONAL ON-LINE SUBSCRIPTION PLANS: On-line subscription plans have been added for 60,70,80,90,100 users. Previously only 50 users plans were available without special arrangements.
- NEW SIMPLE DEFICIENCY STATUS REPORT: A new report lists open and closed deficiencies in a simple table that can be selected by project. This is useful as a simple deficiency status report for project submittals. FTQ-903.
- ITP NOTES VISIBLE: ITP notes are now seen during the "Inspect by Plan" mode. This gives the ability to have ITP with line items that use the same checklist for different purposes. For example a specific room or piece of equipment.
- RARELY USED DATA COLUMNS REMOVED: Rarely used data columns have been removed from some setup screens in the interest of simplification. For example project-specific checklists,
- OPEN ITEM RESPONSIBLE PARTY DROP-DOWN LIST REDUCED: When choosing a responsible party from the drop-down list for an open item checkpoint, only project responsible parties are listed. This avoids overly long lists that can occur with all responsible parties were listed.
FEB/MAR 2017
- NEW "FTQ360 MOBILE INSPECTIONS" ANDROID is released. Designed for use with the mobile inspections format and has increased offline storage capacity. Easier to use with improved reliability. Pictures are also saved automatically on the picture gallery.
- FTQ360 ON WINDOWS BROWSER. Now mobile windows users can use FTQ360 to inspect, take pictures and sign-off directly from the Chrome browser on their Windows devices like the Windows Surface Pro.
- FTQ360 PROCORE APP. FTQ360 provides a seamless bi-directional integration with Procore, sharing project information and quality management data. Start using FTQ360 for new as well as ongoing projects and keep data synchronized with two-way sharing of project, vendor, user, inspection and punch list data. Procore users have single-login access to FTQ360.
- PRIORITY OPEN ITEM DASHBOARD. The new Priority Open Item Dashboard gives you real-time punchlists with charts showing open and past-due items by project, inspector, and responsible party. Interactive click-filtering on any chart narrows down the focus to only the items that interest you. You can update multiple items at once. Just click on one of the selection boxes next to an item and a gold bar appears at the top left of the items. Click on the option you want to change such a status, due date, or responsible party. Changes will be made to all the items you selected.
- INSPECTION ACTIVITY DASHBOARD. The new Inspection Activity Dashboard is a real-time charting of inspection activity over time by project and inspector. Interactive click-filtering on any chart narrows down the focus to only the inspections that interest you.
- IMPROVED LOAD TIMES. Long inspection checklists load more quickly. Now the checklist loads sequentially rather than waiting for the entire checklist to process. We're continuing to look for ways to optimize speed.
- OFFLINE ENHANCEMENTS. Inspecting offline is now very much like inspecting online, except of course, being limited to synced checklists and inspections. This makes it easier for inspectors to learn and use offline capabilities.
- MAIN MENU ENHANCEMENTS. The main menu is easier to use on cell phones. It expands from the left side and collapses neatly behind a menu icon.
- DATA DOWNLOAD QUERIES. New Data Download Queries have been added to provide listings of login activity (1017), open item details (1018, 1019) and inspection activity (1020).
- DATA DOWNLOAD - INTERACTIVE MATRIX. Data lovers can now interactively analyze export query data online. After you run the data download query you have the option of viewing the data on an interactive matrix screen. You have the ability to drag fields and drop them to create columns and rows. The matrix automatically totals and summarizes the data. Actually pretty amazing!
- ITP AND STANDARD INSPECTION SELECTIONS. Inspecting by ITP and standard inspection selections are unified into a single simplified process. ITP inspectors can switch to standard selection process and back. The inspection selection process is faster now. Use the blue button to the left of the dark blue search box on the right hand side of the inspection selection screen. The button will say either "Go to Plan Mode" or "Go to Selection Mode" depending on what screen you are currently viewing.
JAN 2017
- INTERACTIVE REPORTS: A series of interactive reports drill down to checkpoint detail by responsible party, checklist, and project
- INSPECTION NAVIGATION - LIST ICON: Now you can easily navigate to any section of a long checklist. Press the navigation icon and you will see bookmarks for heading sections and dynamic buttons. Press and you zip you directly to that part of the checklist. This gives you the ability to inspection in a different order than the sequence of your checklist and jump to different sections as needed.
- "ANY STATUS" INSPECTION FILTER: Now you can filter checkpoints on an inspection to easily see the checkpoints that need your attention. For example, with the press of a button you have the ability to see just open items or just unchecked items that you need to see.
- INSPECTION PROGRESS BAR: There is a new progress bar on the inspection checklist. It shows you how many items were checked, percent complete, and a color-coded bar indicating the status of the checkpoints.
- RESTRICTED W/INSPECT PERMISSION: Restricted inspectors have additional permissions. They continue to see only inspections that involve them as inspector or the primary responsible party, or checkpoints on inspections where they are responsible for a deficiency. The main change is that you can now give them permissions to initiate inspections like a normal inspector. This allows subcontractors to perform pre-installation inspections and third party inspectors to inspect anything.
- NOTIFICATION BELL: Inspectors are notified when someone else make a change to one of their inspections. The inspector's message bell turns color when a subcontractor reports an open item is ready for review or anyone else makes a change to his inspection. The inspector can tap the message and go directly to the inspectio
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