Inspections are often necessary at different points in time during a project, and they can also be necessary on a recurring basis for other processes such as periodic inspections of equipment such as elevators or boilers. Inspections cannot exist on their own in Infor Public Sector; rather, they are a child entity of a larger application process, case, or an asset entity. This is an important consideration, especially when supporting ad-hoc inspections. In order to create an ad-hoc inspection the larger entity must either already exist in the system or it must be created on the fly.
As with most other aspects of the system, IPS is highly configurable when it comes to Inspections. You can define any number of Inspection Types and Inspection Results. Inspections can have their own Attachments, Detail Pages and Grids, and other details.
Defining Inspection Types
Here are some considerations when defining Inspection Types:
Periodic vs. One-Time
These should typically be treated as two different Inspection Types. The One-Time Inspection will typically be part of an application process (Electrical Inspection, Structural Inspection, General Project Inspection, etc.), while a Periodic Inspection typically comes after the project is completed. Even if the inspections are very similar or the same it will usually make sense to create two different Inspection Types and design them in such a way that they can reuse Detail Pages, Grids, etc.
Re-Inspections
People are sometimes tempted to create a new Inspection Type to handle re-inspections. This is typically not the best choice. Chances are your re-inspection is going to have the same requirements / same questions as the original inspection. Use a trip number instead.
Task-Based
Inspection Types can be defined logically for each task they are meant to represent. For example, if a structure is being built or remodeled and electrical work is involved, then an “Electrical Inspection” will likely need to be performed, as will a “Plumbing Inspection.” The timing of Inspections comes into play here as well because these components of the project will probably be ready for inspection at different times.
Permissions
It is possible (and advisable) to grant permissions to specific user groups based on Inspection Types, so if you have a user or group of users that are responsible for a specific inspection task this should be its own Inspection Type.
Content
Inspection Types can be customized in much the same way as Application Types, so you can create Detail Pages and Grids to capture additional data about the Inspection. Our discussion of Detail Pages and Grids provides pointers on how to define different Detail Pages for AP Types, and similar rules will apply for Inspection Detail Pages and Grids.
Metrics
Knowing the time it takes between Inspection creation, assignment, and completion can provide insights into any potential bottlenecks and help organizations improve their time to permit. Defining different Inspection Types can assist with this analysis by providing more granular information that is easier to report.
Where to Now?
Read our Introduction to Infor Public Sector / Hansen CDR Configurations
