Defects and recommendations allow your business to systematically track findings on site, ensuring they are resolved or quoted for. This feature bridges the gap between engineers identifying problems via the mobile app and office staff managing the follow-up work, ensuring compliance and maximising revenue opportunities.
Defect vs Recommendation: What's the difference?
A defect is something that must be fixed - anything affecting safety, performance, or reliability, like a faulty valve or boiler lockout. Defects require immediate attention or scheduled repair to keep the system safe and operational.
A recommendation is something that adds value through upgrades, efficiency improvements, or enhancements like smart thermostats or magnetic filters.
When an engineer logs a defect or recommendation on the mobile app, it appears instantly in the web dashboard. This allows office staff to review the details, photos, and risk levels, and then quickly generate proposals or track the work through to completion.
Read more about how defects & recommendations are created in the mobile app.
The defects & recommendations widget
Located on the customer dashboard, the defects and recommendations widget provides a quick look at your current workload. It displays the total number of defects and the total number of recommendations, helping you track outstanding work and identify revenue opportunities at a glance.
➡️ On the navbar, click Customers
This widget also serves as a direct entry point to the dashboard, applying specific filters based on where you click.
Clicking the number for either open defects or recommendations loads the dashboard with those specific filters applied.
Open the dashboard
➡️ Click View all defects & recommendations to open the dashboard
This link loads the dashboard using your last viewed settings. Any filters or view types (Kanban or List) you used previously will be retained.
Defects and Recommnedations dashboard views
The dashboard offers two ways to view your data: a kanban view and a list view. You can switch between the list and kanban views using the
buttons at any time depending on whether you are visually tracking progress or managing bulk data.
Kanban view
The Kanban view is designed for visual workflow management, similar to a project board. It displays records as cards organised into columns, where each column represents a stage in your process.
Moving items: Click and drag a card from one column to another to update its stage (e.g. moving a card from "New" to "Reviewing").
Card details: Each card provides a snapshot of critical information including customer details, risk level, and current status.
Pipelines: The kanban view displays one pipeline at a time. Use the dropdown at the top to switch between different workflows (e.g., separating "Fire Safety Defects" from "Plumbing Recommendations").
List view
The List view transforms your data into a structured table, grouping items by customer. This view is essential for administrative tasks, reporting, and handling high volumes of records.
Table format: Items are listed in rows, allowing you to scan large amounts of data quickly.
Expansion: Click on the customer row to expand the section and view the full details of the records.
Record management: Provides access to edit the record details, which is not available in the Kanban view.
Understanding statuses
Records move through a specific lifecycle to help you track progress. Understanding these statuses ensures you know exactly where each defect or recommendation stands.
Open: The item has been logged by an engineer but no action has yet been taken beyond initial report.
In proposal: The record has been added to a proposal.
Job created: The customer accepted the proposal, and a job has been raised to do the work.
Resolved - fixed: The job has been completed or the defect/recommendation manually marked as fixed.
Resolved - not fixed: The defect/recommendation was reviewed but will not be fixed, for example, if the customer declined the proposal.
Automatic updates
To save you time, Commusoft automatically updates statuses when you complete certain workflows:
Creating a proposal moves the status to In proposal.
Accepting a proposal moves the status to Job created.
Completing the job marks the original defect as Resolved - fixed.
Status reverting to open
In some cases, a status may automatically revert to Open to ensure no work is missed. This happens if:
The proposal is partially accepted: A customer may choose to accept some recommended works but reject others on the same proposal.
Any items that are not selected by the customer will revert to Open.
The job is aborted: If a defect was converted into a job (status Job created), but that job is subsequently aborted, the defect status will revert to Open.
Managing your defects & recommendations
Once you have selected your preferred view, use the following tools to manage your data, generate work, and resolve records.
Filtering and searching
The toolbar at the top of the dashboard allows you to refine what you see. These tools work across both views to help you focus on specific tasks.
Search: Use the search bar to find specific items by customer name, address, or keyword.
Filter: Click the filter icon to refine your view by specific criteria such as Engineer, Date range, or Category.
Changing pipeline viewed is only available on the kanban view.
Reorder records: Click the
icon to reorder the records.
In the list view
You can perform quick actions directly from the table row to navigate to related records or update information.
Navigate to asset: If the record has an asset associated, click the asset name to open the asset record in a new browser tab.
Navigate to job: If the status is Job created, click the status text to open the associated job in a new browser.
Change stage: Click the current stage name to select a new stage from the dropdown list for the assigned pipeline.
View details: Click View to open a side panel displaying the description entered by the engineer and any photos added for further review.
Edit details: Click Edit to update record details.
You can only edit records with an open status. Once a proposal is created or the status changes, editing is locked.
Delete: Records with an Open status can be deleted. This removes the defect or recommendation from the system entirely and is irreversible.
To maintain accurate historical reports of defects and recommendations, mark the record as Resolved - Not fixed if it will not be proceeding.
Creating the proposal
You can generate a proposal directly from a defect or recommendation. This links the identified defect/recommendation to the opportunity, ensuring the engineer's notes and photos are carried through.
Check the box next to the defects and recommendations you want to include.
List view: Because this view shows all records, you can select multiple items across different pipelines for the same customer.
Kanban view: Because this view filters by pipeline, you can only combine items that exist within the currently selected pipeline for the same customer.
Click Add proposal.
Fill in the opportunity details in the side panel and click Save.
You will then be taken directly to the proposal builder, where the selected defects and recommendations are automatically added as options.
Once the proposal is sent, it remains linked to the original defect. If the customer accepts the quote, the system creates the job and automatically updates the defect status.
Read more about creating opportunities and building proposals.
Resolving defects or recommendations
Ideally, they are resolved automatically when the associated job is completed. However, you may sometimes need to resolve defects/recommendations manually, for example, if a customer decides not to proceed with the work.
Check the box next to one or more items.
Click Mark as resolved.
Choose a resolution status:
Fixed: The defect/recommendation has been rectified.
Not fixed: The defect/recommnedation is closed but was not rectified (e.g., customer declined work).
Type confirm, then click Confirm to save the status change.
Once an item is marked as resolved, it cannot be reopened. Ensure the work is complete or the decision is final before changing the status.
Common questions
Can I create multiple proposals from a single defect/recommendation?
Can I create multiple proposals from a single defect/recommendation?
No, each defect or recommendation can only be added to one proposal during its lifecycle. However, a single proposal can include multiple defects and recommendations. If your engineer discovers several on a job, they should log each one separately, then you can add them all to one proposal.
Can a defect be associated with more than one asset or location?
Can a defect be associated with more than one asset or location?
Yes, a defect can be linked to multiple assets and/or specific site locations. This is useful for complex jobs where a single defect/recommendation may affect more than one piece of equipment or area.
Can engineers mark defects or recommendations as resolved?
Can engineers mark defects or recommendations as resolved?
No, once a defect or recommendation is reported, the office staff will take over to discuss them with the customer and create the proposal if needed.
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