Chapter 12 - BluePrince - Inspections

Chapter 12: Inspections

Introduction

There are three ways to work with inspections in BluePrince. The first is from the Permit form, the second is from the Project form, and the third is from the Inspections form. The difference between these three methods is related to the scope of the data being processed. Working with inspections on the Permit form shows only inspections that are associated with that single (Building or Zoning) permit. However, working with inspections on the Project form allows you to work with inspections on all permits on the project, and both Zoning and Building types. The most flexible way to work with inspections is from the Inspections form. All inspections in BluePrince can be accessed and processed from a single location with this form.

Details about processing inspections on the Permit and Project forms are discussed in Chapters 5 and 6 of this guide. This chapter deals specifically with the Inspections form.

Overview

Open the Inspections form by clicking the Inspections button on the BluePrince Main Tool Bar. If your User ID is configured to view all types of Inspections, a side bar opens with a Zoning, Building, and Code Enforcement button to allow you to make a choice (see Figure 97). Click the type of inspection you’d like to work with; only one type can be processed at a single time, they cannot be accessed together.

 

Inspections Menu

Figure 97 - Inspections Button Side Bar Menu

Inspection Form Overview

When you have selected the type of inspection you want to work with, the Inspection form opens (see Figure 98). This form contains 4 Tabs: Enter Requests, Assign/Schedule/Route Inspections, Enter Results, and Print Results.

Inspections: Enter Request Tab

Figure 98 - Building Inspections Form: Enter Requests Tab

Enter Requests Tab

The Enter Requests tab allows you to search for an Inspection by Permit or Project information. The bottom table is a duplicate of the table found on the Inspections tab of the Permit form. You can work with inspections here just as you would on the Permit form; however, it is faster to find an Inspection on this form. You can Add, Remove, Request, Cancel, and also view Inspection Details.

Hint:  You may Enter Inspection Results on a single inspection by clicking the Details button above the Inspections Table to access the Inspection Entry form. If you wish to enter the results for all Scheduled Inspections, it will be easier to use the Enter Results tab because it automatically finds all Scheduled Inspections for you, filtered by Inspector Id.

The Assign/Schedule/Route Inspections Tab

The Assign/Schedule/Route Inspections tab shows all the currently Requested inspections (see Figure 99). From this tab you are able to assign inspections to inspectors, schedule inspections, assign routing order to scheduled inspections, and print out a list of scheduled inspections. A benefit of using this tab is that there is no need to find the related permits first.

All inspections that have been requested but have no results can be accessed from this tab. This includes Assigned and Scheduled inspections (because they must first be requested). There are multiple options on this tab that allow you to filter to see only inspections that have been scheduled (or not), or that have been assigned to specific inspectors or districts.

You can provide a valuable service to your contractors by placing inspections in Route Order after Scheduling. BluePrince can notify contractors of the order in which you plan to do them. This gives contractors information they can use to plan their day.

Inspections: ASR Tab

Figure 99 - Building Inspections Form: Assign/Schedule/Route Tab (A/S/R)

The Enter Results Tab

The Enter Results tab shows all Scheduled inspections for all Inspectors or for each Inspector (see Figure 100). Use this tab to enter the daily Inspection Results. This tab is useful for inspectors that don't typically enter in inspection information from their web enabled cell phones in the field. However, for those who do, the Enter Results tab will be rarely used.

Inspections: Enter Results

Figure 100 - Building Inspections Form: Enter Results Tab

The Print Results Tab

The Print Results tab can quickly display a list of completed inspections for a particular Inspector ID, on a particular day.

Enter Results

To enter results for an inspection, the first action you’ll need to do is to search for and find the inspection within BluePrince.

Search for Inspections

As described in the previous Enter Requests Tab section, the Enter Requests tab is divided into a searching section and a display section. To start your search for an inspection, you will need to search for the related permit or project that exists in your database. To the right of the word "Find" at the top left of this tab select whether you would like to search for a permit or project (see Figure 101).

Inspections: Finding Permit

Figure 101 -  Inspection Form: Enter Results Tab: Finding a Permit

Then, to the right of the word "Using", select the search criteria you would like to use to find the permit or project. Next, enter in the appropriate search values in the empty boxes to the right of the "Using" dropdown and press the Search button to find the permits you are looking for. Here you can also use the wild card (*). If any permits or projects are found that meet your criteria, they will appear in the table below the search boxes. Select a row in the top table to select the permit of interest and the bottom table will be refreshed with all the related inspections for that permit. You can add and remove inspections, request and view inspection details all from the bottom table.

Add/Remove Inspections

On the Enter Requests tab, inspections can be added or removed at any time after the permit’s status has been changed to Applied. You must first find a related permit as described in Search for Inspections section of this chapter above. If a permit has no inspections the bottom table will be empty.

To add an inspection(s) to the permit click Add. This opens the Available Inspections for Permit Type window (see Figure 102). This window shows all the inspections for the Permit Type. Check the inspections that you want. Note that if you check an inspection that is already on the displayed table, by default, that inspection will be added as a Re-inspection. You can however un-check the Re-Insp Column check box to add the inspection, but not as a Re-Inspection. You may also select all or none of the inspections by pressing the Select All or Select None buttons at the bottom of this window. Once you are sure that all of the appropriate inspections have been selected for addition to your permit, click Save to add those inspections and return to the Inspections form.

Available Inspections

Figure 102 - Available Inspections for Permit Type

The checked inspections will be displayed in the bottom table on the Enter Requests tab. To remove an inspection, select the Inspection in the bottom table and click Remove. The inspection is then removed from the table.

Request/Schedule/Cancel

On the Enter Requests tab, inspections can be Requested, Scheduled or Canceled at any time after the permit has been Issued. In order to perform any of these actions, you must first find the related permit as described in Search for Inspections section of this chapter above.

To Request and/or Schedule an Inspection, select the inspection you want in the bottom table of the Enter Requests tab and click the Request button to open the Inspection Request form. The Request form allows you to enter in a Request Date and Time. These values are automatically populated with today's date and the current time. These represent the date and time the Building Department received the request. The Desired Date and Time have default values of today and 9:00 AM. These values represent the date and time that the contractor wants the inspection to take place. The desired time is relevant in some jurisdictions, but in others it may not be. This field is completely optional based on your jurisdiction's preferences. Enter any Special Instructions that you or the Contractor want the Inspector to see in the big text box on the left side of this form.

At this point if you click Save, the Inspection is saved with a Status of Req (Requested). You can assign the Inspection at this time by making a selection from the Inspector drop-down. If you click Save when there is a value in the Inspector drop-down, the Inspection is saved with a Status of Asgn (Assigned). You can also Schedule the Inspection after assigning an inspector or district by clicking the Set button. This brings up the Scheduled Date and Time fields. The Scheduled Date and Time also have default values of today and 9:00 AM. You will probably want to change these values since they represent the actual date and time that the inspector is scheduled to make the inspection. Now, if you click Save, the Inspection is saved with a Status of Sched (Scheduled). Saving the request returns you to the Inspections form.

On the Inspections form, whenever a Requested, Assigned, or Scheduled inspection is selected, the Request button changes to a Cancel button. This allows you to Cancel the requested or scheduled inspection. Clicking Cancel does not remove the inspection, it resets the inspection back to having no status, which allows it to be requested at a later time.

View Details/Enter Results

On the Enter Requests tab, Inspection Details can be accessed at any time after the Inspection has been Requested or Scheduled. You must first find the related permit as described in Search for Inspections section of this chapter. To View Inspection Details, Enter Inspection Results, or Schedule a Requested Inspection, select the row you want in the bottom table and click Details to open the Inspection Entry form (see Figure 103).

Inspection Entry Form

Figure 103 - Inspection Entry Form

Hint: Alternatively, you can Enter Inspection Results using the Enter Results Tab. This Tab contains a table with all Scheduled Inspections for all or certain inspectors. The benefit to using the Enter Results Tab as opposed to the Enter Requests tab is that there is no need to find the related permit. Thus, if you want to enter results for the day's inspections, the Enter Results Tab is much more convenient. See Enter Results section.

On the Inspection Entry form, the upper left window labeled Permit Reference will display information related to the permit that this inspection is associated with. You will see that the upper right side of the form is exactly the same as the Inspection Request form. You can modify the Request or Desired Dates, Special Instructions or Schedule/Reschedule the Inspection by selecting an Inspector from the Assign box. You may also enter Inspection Results on the Results tab at the bottom of the form.

To enter results, click the Results tab and select the appropriate inspection status from the Status drop-down. The available status values are Needs Correction, Partial Pass, In Progress (only if your jurisdiction has configured this) and Pass.   In Progress is used to identify the inspection is still 'open' and while the inspector may revisit the site to re-inspect, no Re-inspection is actually created in BluePrince.

If an inspection is marked Needs Correction or Partial Pass, BluePrince will automatically create another inspection record for you. This inspection will appear in the bottom table when you return to the Inspections form.

If a Re-inspection fee has been configured for the Permit Type and a status of Needs Correction or Partial Pass is selected, the Reinspection Fee? check box to the right becomes enabled. In some situations you may not need to apply the fee, so BluePrince gives you the option to uncheck this box if you choose. If the box is checked, the permit Billing Account will be charged the re-inspection fee.

Once you have selected a status value, you may enter any Correction Notes in the Comments (Publicly Accessible) area. BluePrince makes these notes available to Contractors who have signed-up for On-line Permitting and Inspections. To enter any private notes you do not want the contractor to see, use the Notes tab.

On the Results Tab or Custom Tab you may enter any of the optional fields that your Building Department uses to track inspection activity.  The optional fields provided by BluePrince are Inspection Date, Start and End Times, Vehicle ID, and Odometer. Click Save to save your data and then click Close to return to the Inspection form.

Assign/Schedule/Route

To assign the inspection to an inspector, schedule an inspection, or to define the routing sequence for inspections, open the Assign/Schedule/Route Inspections tab on the Inspections form (see Figure 104).

Inspection Assignment

Figure 104 - Inspection Form: A/S/R Tab: Inspection Assignment/Schedule

This tab is setup with a numbered flow of 1 to 6 steps (there are only 5 steps if your jurisdiction has configured the "Use Specific Inspection Scheduled Time" variable to OFF). When this is the case, you can ignore the discussion about the fifth step below; Step 6 becomes Step 5 for your jurisdiction.

Step 1: Show

The first step requires you to find requested inspections by making a selection in the Show box. The default is to show all Inspections for all scheduled dates.  You have the option to use the dropdown box labeled “Inspector / District” to narrow your search by finding ones that are not assigned, ones that are assigned to specific Inspectors, or even those assigned to certain Districts. You may also specify the Sched(uled) Date as part of the search criteria, as None, All, Today or the specific dates of already scheduled inspections. If you change the selection criteria in the Show Box, click the Refresh button to show the results in the table below. Check the Thin Rows box to view each inspection returned in a single row format in the table.

Step 2: Assign/Schedule

The second step allows you to assign an inspector and/or schedule a date for inspections displayed in the table. Different combinations of the Inspector and Sched Date drop downs will allow you to Assign Only, Assign & Schedule or Remove an Inspector Assignment and Schedule, as described in Table 8. The Inspector drop down contains "None" and each of the user account IDs that are identified as Inspectors. The Sched Date drop down allows you to select "None" (no date), "Today" or a Specific Date from a calendar.

Table 8 – Functions available during the Assign/Schedule Step

Inspector Value

Sched Date Value

Allowed functions

None

None

Remove both the inspector assignment and scheduled date from an inspection.

Any ID

None

Assign an inspector to an inspection. If a scheduled date exists it will be removed.

Today or other specific date

Set both an inspector assignment and scheduled date on an inspection. Once you have selected these two fields click the Set button to enable the Update Step.

 

Step 3: Update

The third Step requires you to select the table rows that you wish to update with the Inspector Assignment and Scheduled Date that were selected in Step 2. You can easily select a single row with a mouse left click or multiple rows by holding the CTRL key down while making mouse left click(s). When you have selected all the rows you want, click the Update Selected Rows button on top of the table to update those rows. You can continue to change options in Step 2 and then Update Selected Rows in order to update all the necessary records on the table. 

Step 4: Route

The fourth Step requires you to organize the table in the order in which you plan to perform the inspections. You can move individual rows in the table or sort the table on multiple columns.

  • To move a row: left click and drag any grey numbered box on the left side of the table under the Ord column. Drop the row on top of another to place the dragged row below the other.
  • To sort: left click any column header on the table. A small orange triangle appears that points up to indicate the rows have sorted in ascending order on the contents of that column. Click on that column header again and the triangle points down to indicate the rows have been sorted in descending order. Hold the SHIFT key down while you click on another header column. This adds that column to the sort so that you can further refine the order of the returned rows. You can continue to hold the SHIFT key down and click additional column headers to add more columns to the sort.

Once you have arranged the rows into the order you want click the Set Route Order button. This will cause the numbers in the Ord column to re-sequence to reflect the order you have specified. If your jurisdiction has configured the "Use Specific Inspection Scheduled Time" variable to OFF, the fifth Step below is not displayed; however, you can enter Schedule Times by clicking on any cell in that column and typing directly in the table. To save your change press the ENTER Key or click your mouse anywhere except in that cell.

Step 5: Set Schedule Time

The fifth Step is optional and lets you schedule times for inspections in the table. Click the Show Drop Downs button to cause the Scheduled Times column to display a drop down of times from 8:00 to 6:45 in 15 min increments. Select a time from the drop down on each row. When you do so, the Show Drop Downs button changes to a Save SchedTime Changes button. Click the Save SchedTime Changes button to save your changes.

Step 6: Print

The sixth Step gives you the option to print the inspections displayed in the table. Check Include Scheduled Today Only to limit the printout to inspections that are scheduled for the current day. 

Select:

  • One Per Page - to print all the inspections in the table, each on its own page.
  • Selected Only - to print only the selected inspections in the table, each on its own page. You can select a single inspection by clicking a row or select multiple inspections by clicking rows while holding the CTRL key down.
  • Summaries Only - to print just the contents of all rows in the table.

Once you have selected the options you desire, click the Print button and a PDF file is created that is shown in Adobe Acrobat. You can then Print or Save the file for email or later use.

Enter Results

The Enter Results tab shows inspections that have been Assigned and/or Scheduled to an Inspector. The table is refreshed each time you change the selection in the dropdown which contains "All" and every Inspector Id. This tab is a fast way to find all inspections that have been Assigned and/or Scheduled. Select an inspection from the table and click Enter Results for Selected to open the Inspection Entry form (see Figure 105). Here you will be able to enter inspection Results and Comments, then Save. This tab is useful for inspectors that don't typically enter in inspection information from their web enabled cell phones in the field. However, for those who do, the Enter Results tab will be rarely used.

Inspection Results

Figure 105 - Inspection Entry Form - Results Drop-down Menu

Print Results

The Print Results tab is a convenient way to print all inspections completed on a particular day. You can also print all completed inspections for a particular Inspector Id, on a particular day. Use the Inspector drop down to select "All" or a particular Inspector's Id. Use the Inspected Date selector to pick “Today” or a Specific Date from a calendar. Click the Refresh button to refill the table according to the values you selected. Select the print options from the drop down:

  • One Per Page - to print all the inspections in the table, each on its own page.
  • Selected Only - to print only the highlighted inspections in the table, each on its own page. You can highlight a single inspection by clicking a row or highlight multiple inspections by clicking rows while holding the CTRL key down.

Summaries Only - to print just the contents of all rows in the table. Click the Print button to create a PDF file that is opened in Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can Print or Save the file for email or later use.

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