Top Checklist Apps for the Construction Industry

Top Checklist Apps for the Construction Industry

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Embracing technology is one opportunity for contractors in the construction industry to increase their productivity and streamline operations. Construction project management software is one category of software solution that can be deployed on job sites to manage how work gets done. This article covers some of the top construction checklist apps in the construction industry, with links to examples and templates you can access on the GoCanvas site. We will also share some of the key benefits for using construction checklist apps and the top use cases within the construction industry.

Historically, companies used paper forms as the primary mode of collecting data, but more firms are beginning to move away from paper-based processes. Companies are now switching to digital apps that can simplify the process for everyone involved and eliminate the headaches of using paper forms. Bringing the process into the digital world is beneficial to organizations in a number of different ways. Here are some of the key benefits:

Construction apps help to streamline work between the field and the office. Eliminating paper forms helps to reduce the time spent on manual and error prone processes that can waste time and decrease productivity for everyone involved. All data can be easily captured using a mobile device or tablet, without requiring an internet connection. Digital construction apps transform how teams work, both in the field and in the office, with a suite of tools designed to improve and manage workflows.

 

Digital construction apps for contractors help to ensure that data is consistent and accurate every time, with standardized fields for collecting information and best practices for data capture. Businesses also need greater visibility into their operations in real-time. Digital construction apps allow you to track issues in the field and have a quick turnaround time if another action needs to be taken, like scheduling further maintenance or repairs, for example. Construction apps for contractors promote best practices for data capture in the field and allow companies to easily roll up and summarize information for reporting.

There are many types of construction checklist apps available for job sites today. These can help with safety, quality, project management, and much more. Here are some of the top use cases to consider:

Safety and Risk Management. Checklist apps are useful for converting your paper forms into digital safety programs. Perform inspections, report incidents, assign toolbox talks, perform safety audits, and much more. Digital tools help you to assign and manage your safety programs, helping to formalize these programs and minimize your risk.

Quality Control. Construction checklist apps are widely used to ensure that quality standards are met. Quality control inspection checklists can be utilized during all phases of construction projects, and PDF reports can be generated automatically for key project stakeholders. Managing quality control checklists using construction management software can help your business avoid rework and delays. Construction checklist apps ensure this work is completed and can be monitored using dashboards and analytics.

Equipment Inspections. Routine equipment inspections are another popular use case for checklist app software. Preventative maintenance and equipment inspections can be performed from a mobile device or tablet, bringing this information directly to the cloud. Companies have found that real-time insights into field operations can help them become more proactive and address problems before they lead to larger issues for the project. Construction apps enable data analytics and help to make your data actionable.

Project Management. Checklist apps are commonly used by project managers to ensure that processes are being followed on every job site. Common checklists like pre-project and project close out checklists help to keep work organized and provide a digital way to manage workflows.

There are many types of construction checklist apps available for job sites today. These can help with safety, quality, project management, and much more. We have compiled a list of the top construction checklist apps used in the construction industry. 

GoCanvas provides a central platform to manage all of your job site operations.  Follow the links to access the construction checklist apps on the GoCanvas App Store and sign up for a free trial to see all of our digital checklist apps for contractors.

This worker safety app also helps ensure that all construction work employees comply with OSHA standards in order to reduce workplace injuries and increase overall standards for workplace safety.

The safety data sheet app enables employers to develop a hazard management program of occupational safety measures, including training, which is specific to the individual workplace, and to consider any measures that may be necessary to protect the health and safety of the work area.

Construction equipment operators and others who are responsible for preventive maintenance and equipment safety can use the electronic inspection form to perform complete equipment safety reports from anywhere in the field.

Personal protective equipment must be used and worn in many work situations in order to protect employees from harm and potential hazards. Use this convenient construction checklist to make sure that occupational safety guidelines are being enforced to ensure the safety of your employees.

The electrical work inspection app for employee safety provides an electronic self-inspection checklist that covers all aspects of electrical installations, including personal protective equipment, circuit breaker safety and electrical cords. 

Contractors, subcontractors and construction project managers can use the construction app to complete a new construction quality control inspection. The app inspects the pre-start phase, foundation phase of construction, rough phase, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pre-finish phase, and finish phase.

This checklist includes a building inspection checklist and tracks all aspects of a building including exterior, heating systems, electrical systems, housekeeping, fire safety, evacuation plans, and other miscellaneous areas ensuring compliance with building codes.

This checklist helps track all the necessary steps to complete before submitting new construction estimates. Capture all the details of different construction projects, including listing the preferred vendors, permits required, material prices and more. Use the information to create the final estimated cost for new construction contracts.

The startup checklist app is a smart alternative to project management software and paper forms at the job site. The construction project plan checklist covers everything from defining the scope of work at the job site, to developing the construction project plan and timeline. Once completed, the general contractor, management and other stakeholders can sign off on the project requirements electronically to ensure that all quality standards are met.

This helpful checklist is designed to help construction management teams and independent contractors. Use the construction checklist to make sure that all details are covered when handing off project work for quality assurance purposes, and that requirements from the general contractor and project managers have been met.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Home Inspection Checklists – Examples and Templates

Home Inspection Checklists – Examples and Templates

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Inspection companies are moving toward digital apps rather than using traditional paper forms. By going digital, inspections can be completed from a mobile device or tablet, so information is instantly available in a PDF report. For home inspections, going digital allows you to have all of the necessary forms available within an app for inspectors to use from anywhere. These can be run without an internet connection, giving your business the ability to digitize information from remote locations. Here are some of the main benefits of going digital:

Paper forms are notorious for becoming lost or misplaced over time. This can cause issues for a business when information is unavailable and it can create rework to fix the problems. Handwritten paper work is also known to contain mispellings, have incomplete sections, or other types of data entry mistakes. While paper work can be difficult to manage, digitizing this information solves many of these problems. Data becomes standardized, accurate, complete, and easy to access from the cloud.

One common challenge with paper forms for inspections is the process of taking the paper work and turning it into the final report to share with clients and stakeholders. This process can be manual and time-consuming, requiring employees to dedicate their time on work that can be automated. Going digital with inspection apps allows you to generate the reports in near real-time. Share PDF reports instantly with clients and cut down on the time it takes to complete the reporting process.

Having a centralized system for capturing, storing, and managing your data is a key benefit of going digital with home inspection checklists. You can manage all of your core business documentation from a single platform for field operations. Continue reading this article for examples of specific home inspection checklists using the GoCanvas platform for mobile forms and apps. You can follow the links to view the checklists and sign up for a free trial to see the inspection checklist templates in our PDF designer. GoCanvas has thousands of pre-built templates for all different inspection types and you can easily customize the forms to fit your unique business needs.

This app is designed as a comprehensive tool for inspection companies to use when performing home inspections during real estate transactions. Each checklist can be quickly and easily accessed from a smartphone or tablet for follow-up, or can be generated into a PDF inspection report and submitted to real estate agents, the homeowner, or other appropriate parties. 

This mobile app replaces paper inspection forms that are used to inspect areas of electrical installations prior to installing insulation, sheet rock, paneling and other materials that cover wiring. The perfect tool for electrical inspectors, building code enforcement teams and others who deal with electrical safety and electrical wiring at job sites, this electrical inspection form is easily accessible from any smartphone or tablet and can be customized to meet different building codes and electrical safety regulations.

Contractors and housing developers can use the new home water inspection app to ensure that a new home has been constructed to meet water conservation standards and regulations. Using a mobile app allows you to automatically generate PDF reports for clients and streamline the inspection process.

With the energy usage app, inspectors can perform energy audits quickly and easily right from their smartphone or tablet, making it easy to recommend cost effective energy conservation solutions. The comprehensive energy usage audit app covers a variety of audit data items that can affect energy consumption in the home, including the water heater, insulation type, number of windows and doors and number of floors. 

The Home Sewer Inspection Checklist is designed for plumbers, inspectors, and the Do It Yourself (DIY) individual who want to inspect their home sewer. This app includes inspection criteria as well as possible recommendation bases in the findings.

The mold inspection app covers indoor mold growth testing, monitoring indoor air quality, checking for excess moisture and water damage and signs of existing indoor mold spores and more. Once the professional mold inspection has been completed, the mold inspector can save the results electronically for their records.

The Radon Mitigation System Inspection Report mobile app is used for performing detailed examinations for inspection reports. The app is designed to be used by inspectors as a reference when conducting an assessment on a radon mitigation system.

Use this pool report to inspect the area for swimming pool safety hazard issues, safety certificates, diving board depth, pool safety barriers, storage of pool equipment, drain covers, leak detection, lighting system, and electrical equipment. The pool inspector can add notes about the pool structure, water chemistry, equipment and other notes as needed.

Using this checklist helps ensure that all areas of the chimney are in good repair and that the fireplace and chimney inspection checklist identifies any defects that need repair. If you provide fireplace inspections, professional chimney sweeping services, chimney cleaning, chimney restoration, chimney flue inspection services, chimney repair, or a variety of other chimney services, then this chimney inspection form is the app for you. 

The Wood Destroying Insect Inspection mobile app was designed for pest control company inspections. The app can be used for all types of wood destroying insects, including carpenter ants, termites, carpenter bees and beetles. Once completed, the pest control company can save the results for their records.

GoCanvas is a mobile platform that makes it simple for businesses to automate how work is done, replacing outdated processes and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on smartphones and tablets, helping companies easily collect information across their organization, share it instantly with others, and gain real-time insight on their business operations. GoCanvas can be easily customized by any type of business to empower their workforce, unleashing the value in data across the organization to help them connect better with colleagues and engage more effectively with customers.

GoCanvas is trusted by thousands of organizations throughout 70 countries, automating millions of workplace activities, making it one of the fastest growing mobile platforms in the world.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Top 4 Workplace Safety Apps

There are many great reasons to invest in workplace safety apps. Digital technology for safety can help modernize your operations and provide greater insight into safety issues and patterns. 

A digital workplace safety management program will lead to better overall outcomes for your business. Apps help to keep workers safe and productive, ultimately lowering risk for your business and ensuring safety compliance. This article highlights the top workplace safety apps to roll out in your workplace.

Employee health screening apps have become standard for businesses during the pandemic. This category of safety apps has been particularly useful in industries like retail, construction, manufacturing, and similar types of businesses that have needed to operate in-person.

The purpose of the technology is simple. It helps to screen employees daily to record their temperature, symptoms, and potential exposure to the virus. 

Key features include:

  • Alerts based on thresholds like high temperatures or symptoms
  • Photo capture (or manual entry) for thermometer readings
  • Required signatures
  • GPS location capture
  • Symptom tracker
  • Secure cloud storage
  • Online and offline data collection
  • Pre-populated info like employee names and badge numbers
  • Screening dashboard showing near real-time results
  • Employee health screening advice and resources
  • Vaccination Log
  • HIPPA Compliant to protect sensitive information

When workers are exposed to coronavirus, it can create delays and cause downtime or lost productivity. Minimize these risks by deploying simple health screening apps that can protect your business and your customers. With real-time reporting, you can hear about potential risks as soon as they are reported to minimize further exposure.

You can learn more about employee health screening apps by following this link.

 

Safety culture is a top priority for the construction industry and field crews. This category of safety apps is designed to digitize safety meeting content, so employees can watch videos and complete forms on their mobile devices.

Safety meetings, sometimes referred to as toolbox talks, can cover a wide range of topics. Apps can be used to formalize these programs and measure employee engagement with the meetings.

Key features include:

  • Workflow tools to manage and assign meetings
  • Toolbox talks available to complete from any mobile device
  • Digital signatures to record compliance
  • Real-time reporting on safety meeting attendance across job sites
  • Alerts to identify non-compliance
  • Program results stored in the cloud
  • Online or offline capabilities
  • Pre-built templates with hundreds of existing toolbox talks to choose from

When toolbox talks are run using a safety meeting app, it gives your employees an easy way to access critical safety information. Since safety meeting apps are digital, it gives your business an easy way to track and report on safety program data like meeting attendance and incidents. 

You can learn more about safety meeting apps by following this link.

Incident and accident reporting is a requirement set by OSHA. Safety apps can be used on job sites to provide the required forms to complete in case of an accident or near miss. By going digital with these forms, it ensures proper reporting procedures are followed and apps provide an instant way of reporting accidents through the proper channels.

Key features include:

  • Customizable mobile forms 
  • Required form fields to ensure data accuracy
  • Easily capture images, GPS stamps, and sketches of the actual site of the accident
  • Central cloud-based system for reporting and documentation
  • Access and share PDF files via email to stakeholders
  • Dashboards and reporting to analyze safety incidents across job sites
  • Pre-built templates for OSHA forms 300, 300A, 301, and more
  • HIPPA Compliant to protect sensitive information

Going digital with incident and accident reporting is a great alternative to using pen and paper. While paper forms can be easily lost or misplaced, digital apps and forms ensure that data is never lost and is shared in real-time with anyone that needs it.

Learn more about Incident and Accident Reporting apps by following this link.

Routine safety inspections are designed to audit and assess job sites. Safety apps can be used for safety inspections, using digital checklists and mobile forms. This type of app helps to streamline workflows by managing and assigning safety inspections in the field. Some common safety inspection apps include job safety analysis, PPE checklists, equipment inspections and more.

Key features include:

  • Easy-to-use digital checklists and image capture
  • Barcode scanning for equipment 
  • Digital signatures and GPS tracking to ensure locations
  • Dynamic form fields for faster data collection 
  • Data integrations to pre-populate any known fields
  • Pre-built and customizable templates based on use case

Using apps for safety inspections is a time-saver for inspectors in the field, making it faster to complete forms and eliminating the need to deal with manual-processes with paperwork. Apps also help operations teams to manage and assign work in the field, with instant reporting back to the office once work has been performed. 

Learn more about all of the types of safety inspection apps by following this link.

GoCanvas is a mobile platform that makes it simple for businesses to automate how work is done, replacing outdated processes and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on smartphones and tablets, helping companies easily collect information across their organization, share it instantly with others, and gain real-time insight into their business. Construction firms rely on GoCanvas to increase productivity, promote workplace safety, and create a competitive advantage. You can learn more about all of our safety management software solutions and forms here on our website.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Timesheet Forms: Why Going Digital is Better than Paper

Timesheet Forms: Why Going Digital is Better than Paper

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Timesheet forms are commonly built out using simple tools like Microsoft Word or PDF files that are printed out on paper for employees to record their hours worked. While this may seem like a simple solution for timekeeping, there are several key drawbacks that make paper timesheet forms less desirable for business operations. Continue reading for the top reasons to digitize your timesheet forms, rather than using paper time cards and sheets in Microsoft Word Documents or PDF files. 

Digital timesheet forms can be used as an alternative to paper forms and provide an option for employees to fill them out on a mobile device, PC, or tablet from anywhere with no internet connection required. Keep reading to learn the key difference between paper and digital forms for timesheet cards.

Timesheet forms using paper are known to be error prone. A common scenario is for employees to fill out their hours on a paper form, but then an error is discovered later by an office manager or administrator. In the worst case scenario, errors can lead to improper payments to employees or incorrect billing amounts to clients. Even if errors are identified early on, the best case scenario is that employees have to track down employees and spend the extra time and effort to correct these mistakes. In either case, errors can be costly for productivity and can lead to accounting mistakes that you do not want to happen as a business owner or manager. 

What causes errors to happen on timesheet forms?

There are many things that can go wrong with a timesheet form that is filled out by hand using paper. Here are some of the most common mistakes made by employees:

  • Calculation errors. Mistakes that happen when math is incorrect or numbers are filled out incorrectly.
  • Missing or incorrect fields. Many times employers need to require information in a timecard, like category of work performed or client to bill. If information is missing or incorrect, it creates additional work to track down and correct.
  • Buddy punching. While most mistakes on timesheets are purely accidental, buddy punching is a form of misleading hours worked. This most often happens when employees clock in or out early to cover for fellow team members, creating errors in the true number of hours worked.
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How do digital timesheet forms reduce errors?

No matter the cause of errors on timesheets, it’s important to limit these issues to ensure that proper data is being used for accounting purposes. Here is how digital timesheets help to ensure errors are avoided:

  • Automatic calculations. With digital timesheet forms, the software system is able to handle automatic calculations that ensure hours worked and labor rates are calculated correctly every time.
  • Standardized fields. With digital time card forms, data is collected in a standardized way to ensure that fields are correctly filled out by employees. Drop down lists, required fields, and other features allow you to control what data is collected and ensure accurate timesheets the first time.
  • Unique login and digital signatures. With a unique login to digital timesheets, you ensure that employees are clocking in their time accurately and signing off with their own digital signature to send for manager approval. Some timecards can even use GPS tracking on the mobile device for an added measure that work has been performed on site for a set number of hours and logged digitally using GPS.

At the end of the day, technology provides many benefits for employers and timesheets performed digitally are less error-prone compared to paper forms for time cards.

It’s very difficult to keep track of paperwork over time. It’s common for paperwork to be lost entirely or misplaced by staff. Even if paperwork isn’t lost, it can become an added cost to store in filing cabinets, on top of the direct cost of printing the paper in the first place. Although paperwork seems to be a low cost solution, the hidden costs over time can be quite high for a business. Lost paper timesheet forms can be a headache to manage, whereas digital forms simplify the process and bring information automatically to the cloud.

Here’s how digital timesheet forms ensure information is never lost:

  • Cloud storage. Digital timesheets are automatically saved to the cloud, meaning your employees can input hours from a mobile app and have it available in real-time to the cloud.
  • No internet connection required. Many businesses today that have contract or hourly workers are doing jobs out in the field or in remote locations. Digital forms do not require an internet connection, allowing employees to input their data into the app and have it sync whenever they are back on WiFi or cell service becomes available.
  • Automated data sharing. Data can be synced with other apps your business uses like Dropbox, Google Drive, Quickbooks, and much more. This ensures data is accessible in all of the tools you already use today and automatically synced to reduce manual work.

Paper timesheet forms create manual work, whether that happens because of an error or due to manual data entry that is required to get accounting or billing processed. Going digital helps to streamline the timesheet process, both for employees and operation teams. Contact the GoCanvas team to learn more about digital timesheet forms or sign up for a free trial to see how easy it is to digitize your forms.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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What is the Best Software to Create Forms?

What is the Best Software to Create Forms?

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There are many software solutions available to help your business create forms. Forms are used to capture data for a specific business purpose. Deciding on the best software for your business will require you to examine what features and functionality you need to accomplish your desired outcome. Software for creating forms should be both simple and powerful enough to help you capture all types of information needed. This article covers some of the top considerations when selecting the best software to create forms for your business.

The basic purpose of creating forms is to collect data. When deciding on a platform for creating forms, consider how data is captured, stored, and made available for reporting. 

All form builders are designed to capture data. But there are some important distinctions to make and not all form builders are created equal.

Understand how data is captured from users. You will want to determine how you need to collect data from your employees, customers, or partners. For example, if your teams largely operate in the field, having mobile forms will be required to capture data from a tablet or phone. You may also want the ability to collect data offline when in remote locations and have it sync to the cloud when WiFi becomes available. Knowing how you plan to collect data will help you determine what software solutions and features are needed to support your use case.

Consider what types of form fields are needed. You will want to understand the types of fields that can be used when creating forms. For example, some software solutions will allow you to build custom form fields like:

  • Image capture for users to upload a photo
  • GPS capture to log the location of the submission
  • Signatures to document agreements and records
  • Calculations for automatically performing math based on form fields
  • Barcode scanning for equipment or inventory
  • Drop down and multiple choice fields
  • Required fields to ensure accurate data collection

Balance ease-of-use and customization. Most businesses need forms to be customizable, yet easy to use. Some of the basic form solutions are easy enough to use, but fall short when it comes to making customizations to the forms. Best-in-class solutions today are designed with a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to quickly and easily develop mobile forms for data capture. Having the ability to make customizations (without requiring help from developers) empowers your team to move faster.

It’s important to understand how your business needs to use the data once it’s captured in the forms. For example, you may want need to integrate with:

  • Cloud storage and databases
  • Accounting systems to process payroll
  • Finance systems to process billing
  • CRM systems to access customer data
  • Other similar types of cloud-based systems

Syncing data between systems can improve data quality, reduce manual work, and enable data insights. As you evaluate technology, make sure to inquire about the types of integrations available. Some will be simple data connectors, while others may require a webservices API to connect your data. 

While there may be some upfront work involved to get your data integrated, there can be significant time savings in the future achieved through a connected data ecosystem.

Data analytics provide a way for your company to look for business trends and patterns. Identifying trends allows your business to take the appropriate next step and address any concerns or opportunities.

Capturing data through forms should enable and promote data analytics. This allows business leaders to dig into the data to better understand project performance, financials, and opportunities to drive business growth. 

Best-in-class form builders should allow you to both capture data and use that information for analytics and reporting. Make sure to understand how data captured can be used for analytics, so you can take advantage of the opportunity to leverage data to inform business decisions.

It goes without saying that apps and software should have the highest level of security and data privacy. The technology should be secure and enable compliance with any applicable regulations. 

For example, your business may need to be HIPPA compliant if you are processing medical information. Or maybe you may need to be GDPR compliant if you are processing and storing customer data. Best-in-class solutions will have the highest level of security and compliance, helping to ensure that your organization is following best practices for data security. 

The best software for your business will prioritize the data needs of your organization. This will ensure that you capture accurate information, integrate data into your processes, and share data to any one that needs it.

GoCanvas is a mobile platform that makes it simple for any business to automate how work is done, replacing outdated processes and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on all smartphones and tablets, helping companies easily collect information across their organization, share it instantly with others and gain real-time insights on their business operations.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

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GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

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What is a Work Order?

Work orders are used by field service organizations to manage work that needs to be performed for a client or on a job site. This guide explains everything you need to know about work orders and how your business can use them to operate more efficiently.

Companies that rely on field services need work orders to assign jobs and tasks. A common example could be an HVAC business with field technicians going into a customer’s home to perform repairs or maintenance. The work order is generated from the office and assigned to an employee in the field. 

Having work orders ensures that jobs are assigned to the right team member and there is a clear understanding of the scope of work to be performed once on site. More companies are moving toward digital work orders and field service management software to help simplify the process for operations teams and business owners.

Since work orders are used by many different industries, there are countless variations of a work order that can exist. Here are some of the most common types of work orders to give you a good idea of what work orders look like in practice:

An example of a work order for a residential services company could be pest control or landscaping project management. This type of work is generated by a customer that needs a service performed on the house, as part of a standing contract or routine home maintenance. Typically a technician is dispatched to a client site and given a description of the client request and instructions for the job.

An example of a work order for contractors could be a handyman business that is doing repairs or upkeep on homes. This type of work is requested by the client and the contractor assigns employees to a client site or job site with the tools and equipment needed to complete the work. Another example might be a painting contractor with teams in the field that are assigned locally to a paint job.

An example of a preventative maintenance work order could be an equipment maintenance and repair orders. These types of service businesses are dealing with work orders to assign technicians on a regular cadence to ensure that equipment is operating properly and performing routine maintenance or repairs.

An example of an inspection service work order could be for a home inspection business or building inspections. These types of services are assigned to inspectors in the field that use checklists and create a report on the condition of a property for home owners, property managers, and real estate transactions.

An example of a work order for a utilities business could be for an oil and gas company with production repairs taking place in the field. This type of work order is typically an internal request so that utilities companies can easily assign maintenance jobs to the right workers in the field.

Now that you know some common examples of work orders in action, this section covers some best practices on how to write a work order. Although there are many different use cases for work orders, here is our list of the most common items to include when writing a work order:

  • Address and location information: Providing the job location is critical so teams know where the work needs to be performed.
  • Designated contact information: It’s important to have the designated person’s contact information, in case there is an expected delay in arrival for performing the work or if questions happen to arise in connection with that work order. This contact may also be different from the requestor if there happens to be a facility manager or other worker that is present instead. 
  • Due date: Having a due date for a work order is important for preventing a backlog of work and it gives you the ability to predict downtime due to maintenance or repair work going on.
  • Request date: You will want to keep track of when requests were submitted, and including a date helps to ensure that work requests don’t fall through the cracks.
  • Requestor information: It’s possible that a different person will be present than the person who actually submitted the request for work or maintenance service. It can be helpful to have the requestor’s information to reference, in case there are questions related to the request.
  • Assigned field technicians or maintenance team: Work orders should always contain information about the teams that are assigned to fulfill the order. This helps companies track work being performed and helps to ensure that the correct individuals are responding to the request.
  • Instructions for work to be carried out: Work orders should always include detailed instructions to avoid any ambiguity about the required work.

 

By following these best practices and including all of these elements in your work order requests, your team will encounter fewer issues when carrying out maintenance tasks and this will help your teams maximize their efficiency.

Field service companies are set up with various forms to complete work and document information for the client. This is often referred to as a quote to cash process and here are some key terms to understand and differentiate between.

Quotes and estimates. Typically a bid, a quote, or an estimate is sent for review to the client. The client may want to review different companies and assess which option is best suited for their needs. Once a decision has been made, an approval is given by the client and this will typically kick off the work order.

Work order. As we have covered in this article, the work order is generated and dispatched with the appropriate information to the field service team who performs the work.

Invoice. Once the work order has been completed, typically this initiates the invoice process. Invoices and work orders are not the same thing, but the invoice will mirror closely the work order with the job details and scope of work performed. The invoice is different in that it will reflect the exact prices, materials, and quantities that were actually used on the job and calculate the final bill for the customer.

Payment. Once the invoice report has been received by the client, they are able to submit payment terms and close out the work that has been performed. More companies are leveraging digital payment solutions to provide clients with an instant method of payment via credit card to get paid faster and to provide an instant digital receipt for documentation.

All of these steps take place for service companies, which is why it is often referred to as the quote to cash process and getting this right is crucial to getting paid on time and to ensure a seamless customer experience. 

Work order management software is growing in popularity for field service companies. This type of software is designed to streamline how your business operates.

This category of software is designed to support the entire quote to cash process, giving businesses of all sizes the ability to take advantage of digital tools for increasing productivity and creating a competitive advantage. While businesses have historically relied on paper to do business, the trend is to move toward integrated and streamlined digital forms.

The major pain points for using paper forms include:

  • Lost work orders. Paper forms can easily be misplaced or lost.
  • Illegible handwriting. Messy handwriting can create confusion or errors.
  • Incomplete information. Technicians can forget to include required information.
  • Calculation errors. Performing math by hand can easily lead to calculation mistakes.
  • Manual processes. Employees need manual data entry and other tedious processes to get the job done.
  • Inability to scale. Paper forms are time-consuming and create busy work that slows down business growth.

Work order management software has tools to automate manual work, standardize how data is collected, and share information in real-time between the field and the office. This type of software is designed to increase productivity, helping employees focus more of their time on work that matters and less time on manual processes. 

Want to learn more? This article shares three of the top reasons to leverage work order management software for your business.

GoCanvas is a leader in field service management software solutions, trusted by thousands of companies worldwide to increase productivity and streamline operations. Leverage our no-code platform for an easy-to-use work order management solution and to digitize your quote to cash processes. Contact our team to see how it works or sign up for a free trial to get started today.

 

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Best Invoice App for Contractors

Best Invoice App for Contractors

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Software solutions for contractors are growing in popularity, with specific apps to help with different types of business projects. One such example are invoice apps that enable contractors to provide a digital invoice to clients. This article covers how invoice apps work and where you can find an easy-to-use template for your business.

Typically an invoice app will be used by businesses and contractors that work directly with their clients. Here are some examples of common use cases for invoice apps:

  • Contractors: Contractors often invoice clients for work like home repairs, HVAC, maintenance, construction, residential services, inspections, and more. Contractors typically provide an estimate and submit the invoice once work has been completed with exact labor and materials used.
  • Transportation and Logistics: This type of business requires deliveries to be made through trucks or van fleets. Drivers can be responsible for confirming delivery has been made and invoicing the client once services have been completed.
  • Professional services: Many professional services businesses like independent contractors will provide direct business services, for things like freelance consulting, or legal work. These businesses will use invoices after project completion to bill for their time.

This should give you an idea of what types of businesses benefit from using invoice apps. Most invoice apps are completely customizable for the business type, giving you the flexibility to search for a template and modify the app based on the information you need to collect. 

An invoice app is designed to provide software and mobile technology to create client invoices from a mobile device or a computer. Here’s the basic concept on how invoice apps work:

Invoice apps allow you to create digital forms that are used by the contractor or business to fill out the specific details of that job. Typically templates are built and include all of the relevant fields needed to document, like prices, quantities, time worked, scope of work, client information, and other related project fields.

Once the mobile forms are built, contractors on the job can fill in the details using a mobile device or tablet to generate the exact invoice right on the spot. 

After the form has been completed, the invoice app will send a digital document to the client that breaks down all of the job as filled out in the app. This is typically sent via an email link, so that the client can open up their inbox and review the work completed.

A main feature of the invoice app is the ability for the client to sign off on the completed work. Signature capture allows the client to sign off on work and create the final signed copy documenting an agreement.

Many times another option for the invoice is to offer a digital payment processing solution within the invoice app. By connecting to payment processors like Square, it gives the option to the client to pay via credit card on the invoice. If getting paid faster is a priority, this can be a good option to allow customers to pay securely through the app and processed by Square directly to your bank account. 

It’s common for the final step to share the completed digital paper work via email to the client, to keep for their records. A digital receipt sent as a PDF file is helpful for clients to have in their inbox and helpful for your business to ensure that documents are always saved to the cloud for good record-keeping. 

Invoice apps can be as simple or as complex as you need them to be. For example, you may want to set up data integrations to ensure that data syncs between your invoice app, accounting system, CRM, and other places you store data. For other businesses, just having a simple invoice app is a much better solution than traditional paper forms, giving a central place to manage all of your invoices digitally.

Your business will know when it becomes time to utilize an invoice app. Here are some of the most common pain points that determine when it makes sense to move to a digital invoicing solution:

Does your staff get overwhelmed with the amount of paper work needed to manage operations? This is a top sign that going digital can save your business time and money. There are many hidden costs associated with paper usage like manual data entry, lost or missing papers, errors and rework, and inefficient workflows. When the busy work keeps stacking up, it becomes time to consider apps to streamline and automate more of the office work.

Often related to the challenges with paper, you may notice that your business is growing rapidly, but challenged to scale efficiently. Unfortunately, as the business grows in complexity, it can create more of the manual work and tasks for operational staff to support. This is when it becomes time to lean on software that can boost your productivity and help your business work more efficiently. 

The productivity challenges and paperwork may be a pain to deal with, but rising competition is often the biggest argument for switching to mobile and digital solutions. If other contractors or businesses you compete with provide a digital experience for customers, you may be falling behind in terms of what customers want. At the end of the day, technology is all about making it easier for your customers to do business with you and there is a significant opportunity for contractors that embrace digital technologies. If your competitors are lagging behind in this area, moving first can create value for customers and result in repeat business, referrals, and online reviews stating how easy it is to do business with your company.

GoCanvas is a leader in mobile forms and software to streamline operations and increase productivity. Our invoice apps can be customized to fit any business or contractor’s needs – simply start with one of our pre-built templates and use our no-code designer to fit your requirements.

 Try out our invoice app here or search thousands of app templates available here on our website.

work order and invoice template

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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5 Best Construction Inspection Templates

5 Best Construction Inspection Templates

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Many jobs in construction require daily, weekly, and monthly inspections for safety compliance and project management tasks. This article covers some of the most common construction inspection types and templates that can be used to simplify the process.

Inspection templates are helpful to use so that you don’t have to start from scratch. Paper forms and Word documents are one way to create a template, but many companies are moving toward inspection software and mobile forms to make it easier to manage. 

A construction inspection template is typically a pre-built form that is available within the inspection software platform that has many of the fields that you would need to collect for that particular inspection type. Templates are generally meant to be customized, so you can input any project or client specific details that are required. Most inspection software templates are very simple to customize, using a drag-and-drop editor to make the template customizations online. 

Once the template is created, it’s available to inspectors or managers in the field who can go through the checklist items using a mobile device and a PDF report is generated once finished.

Using inspection templates helps to ensure that data is collected in a standard way and required fields are never left blank. Inspection software and forms help bring all of the inspection forms into a central, cloud-based system that is easy to access and easy to share the information with all project stakeholders. 

GoCanvas has worked with leading construction companies to digitize their forms and streamline operational tasks. All of our inspection templates are designed to work with other forms you use on the job site, like work orders, safety meetings, contracts, and more. Follow the links below for some of the most common inspection templates and register for a GoCanvas free trial to see how the product works. 

Daily site inspections are used on many construction projects to report on the daily progress updates for that job site. This gives management and clients a report to communicate the work being done in the field.

Construction firms are going digital with these daily site inspections, with apps to help make the entire daily reporting process painless for site managers. The daily site inspection app from GoCanvas is used to document weather conditions, monitor who has been on site for the day, collect notes for the project, capture images of any issues, and much more. 

Access the Daily Site Inspection template from our free trial and use our no-code builder to easily customize the form to include other relevant information for your job sites.

Building inspections are often required to report on the overall condition and safety of the buildings according to their permits and code. The building inspection app from GoCanvas makes it easy to ensure that buildings are in compliance with permit issuance and do not have code violations.

Building inspectors can use the simple checklists and forms on their mobile devices or tablets, collecting the required information and automatically generating a branded report once they are finished. This app can also be used in conjunction with work orders, making it simple to assign follow up corrective actions after an inspection has been completed.

Access the Building Inspection template from our free trial to see how GoCanvas can help save your business time and money by streamlining how you collect and report on information digitally.

Construction equipment operators and teams that are responsible for preventative maintenance can use the equipment inspection template from GoCanvas to perform complete equipment safety checklists on a mobile device or tablet. 

The template is useful to ensure that heavy construction equipment is in good condition and to identify any issues that require attention. This template can also be used to ensure that your workplace is in compliance with OSHA standards for heavy equipment safety.

Access the Equipment Inspection template from our template library and use the GoCanvas form builder to modify the template to be used across different types of equipment and job sites.

Quality control inspections are designed to check for quality standards and advise where corrective action is needed. This QC template from GoCanvas can be used for many different purposes, including construction projects, building code, work environment, welding processes, environmental monitoring, and more.

Going digital with quality control inspections helps to instantly capture, record, and update quality audits with regards to quality standards in real time during the inspection process. Once the QC inspection template checklist has been completed using a mobile device, a PDF is automatically generated that can be emailed and is stored in the GoCanvas Cloud account for easy access.

Access the Quality Control Inspection from in our template library.

Job site safety inspections are designed to ensure OSHA compliance and best practices are followed in terms of worker safety. This safety inspection template from GoCanvas can be used as a reporting tool for hazard analysis, identifying pertinent safety issues and working conditions for employees.

The safety inspection template can be used on a mobile device so that safety inspectors, safety managers, general contractors, and project managers, any contractor or site inspector can use the app to quickly and easily complete site inspections and send the results directly to the project managers and the safety compliance team. 

Access the Safety Inspection template in our template library for an easy-to-use digital inspection app that can help to keep workers safe and productive on the job site.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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3 Challenges with Paper Timecards and How to Avoid Them

3 Challenges with Paper Timecards and How to Avoid Them

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Paper timecards are costly in the short and long run. If you want to influence your bottom line, ditching them for a better alternative should be inevitable. This article covers three of the top challenges with paper timecards and how to avoid them using timecard apps. 

Buddy punching is one form of time theft at work. Through this tactic, employees use their colleague buddies to clock in times not worked.

For example, if one is running late, they’ll most likely request their friends to clock them in without your knowledge. Another scenario is when one wants to check out unusually early. So, they ask their friends to clock them out at the checkout time. 

The worst scenario is when a team member fails to show up entirely but still uses a friend to clock them in and out.

According to a study by Replicon, 75% of small-scale businesses in the United States see a significant drop in annual revenue because of buddy punching. Paying employees for hours not worked adds up to your payroll. It’s costly in the long run because you’re paying out of your pockets instead of what they produce. The American Payroll Association confirms that 50% of employers’ costs are on payroll management.

Managing time worked by employees can be a hassle, especially when using paper timecards. This is because there’s no way to hold them accountable. Often, this is due to the shortcomings of paper sheets like the inability to track team member activity. Also, there’s colleague loyalty. Without a reliable system to clock time, colleagues will always want to protect their buddies.

To minimize buddy punching, you can ditch paper timecards and use digital timecard apps instead. Digital apps have features to discourage buddy punching and make it much more difficult for employees. For example, timecard apps may have features such as GPS tracking, geofencing, unique passwords/logins, or even biometrics systems in advanced systems. Here’s how it works:

  • The GPS tracker helps track team members’ location, making it hard to lie about their check-in and check-out times.
  • The geofencing feature works more like the GPS tracker. The only difference is that it’s used to create a buffer around the workplace. Beyond this barrier, your employees can’t clock in time, helping to limit cheating.
  • Unique logins/passwords are a standard best practice for online systems and encourage workers to login from their own mobile phones when tracking their time, rather than a punch card system.
  • Some apps may even feature a unique system like biometrics for logging in. For example, the biometrics system uses fingerprints that can’t be manipulated.

Overall, timecard app technology pushes for accountability among employees because you can monitor their usage within the app, helping to discourage buddy punching.

The human error challenge is hard to avoid, especially when using analog systems to run a business. In particular, using paper timecards to clock in time increases the rate of human error in payroll systems. 

Potential errors from paper timecards include inflated work hours and wrong entries due to lack of accountability and illegible writing. This means that if you detect the problem on time, you’ll have to re-do the entries to correct the mistakes.

Unfortunately, not many business owners can detect these errors on time, costing their payroll eventually. As a business owner or manager, it’s difficult to have oversight into such minute details like hours, meaning this can go unchecked. 

The good news is: that shouldn’t be the end of your story if you’re a business owner. Yes, errors are prone to occur. However, with a timecard app, this shouldn’t cost your payroll anymore. Timecard apps are built to sync with accounting software, automatically enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of recording.

Timecard apps help to minimize human error and help you to save more that would otherwise go to payroll management. It’s not fair to pay extra wages because of wrongful recording or have to deal with payroll disputes. Have a timecard app will cut down on the errors that are common when dealing with paper timesheets.

Tracking employees’ time using paper sheets can also be hectic and it can create manual workflows for your staff. Here are some of the common workflow challenges with paper timecards:

  • Tracking down missing or incomplete information
  • Correcting errors or mistakes
  • Manual data entry to submit timecards into accounting system
  • Travel time if employees in the field need to complete paper work in the office

Paper sheets create some frustrating manual work that can slow down your business growth and frustrate your employees. Because manual work is inefficient, it can also have the compounding effect of impacting your team’s morale and then their productivity when they are forced to spend so much time on “busy work.”

All of this can make it difficult for growing businesses to scale efficiently. Paper work can not be automated, so the faster you grow, the harder it becomes for your staff to keep up with the growing paper work from employees.

Switching to digital timecard apps because they help streamline business processes and automate how work gets done. Through timecard apps, data is submitted in real-time from employees in the field, eliminating time-consuming, manual workflows and data entry. Managers can also set up automatic notifications for employees to get alerted when a timecard is due, meaning they don’t have to send manual reminders or track people down. Finally, data can be integrated from timecard apps into accounting and payroll systems like QuickBooks or Sage for real-time data sync.

If you’re still using paper time cards, you may have run into some of these hidden challenge that negatively impact your business. Going digital can help provide  a more reliable solution with timecard apps that help productivity and accuracy of data collected from employees. Contact the GoCanvas team any time to set up a quick demo of our timecard app solution or sign up for a free trial here to learn more.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Complete Guide to Vehicle Inspection Forms

Complete Guide to Vehicle Inspection Forms

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A vehicle inspection form is used to document the condition of a vehicle. These forms have many different uses, both for personal vehicles and companies that operate commercial vehicles or fleets. Different types of vehicle inspection report forms will have different fields used to assess the vehicle based on the goal of that inspection. For example, a pre-trip inspection will look for safety concerns before operating a vehicle on a trip, whereas a multi-point inspection will provide a greater level of detail if performed only on an annual basis.

Typically a vehicle inspection form is used by a licensed inspector or mechanic to give an official assessment of the vehicle. However, there are also vehicle inspection forms that can be used by individuals or drivers to ensure the safety of their vehicles. 

Whatever your goal is for a vehicle inspection form, consider searching the GoCanvas website for all vehicle inspection forms. With thousands of forms, you can get started with one of our pre-built templates rather than creating your own from scratch.

Once the data is collected in the vehicle inspection form, it’s common for the information to be presented as a vehicle inspection report. A vehicle inspection report will document the findings from the inspection and make any necessary recommendations needed for the maintenance of the vehicle.

One benefit of using inspection software is the ability to streamline the data collection and reporting process. For example, a digital vehicle inspection is performed by a technician using a tablet device to rapidly collect information on an easy-to-use digital checklist. The inspector can upload photos, insert recommendations, and sign digitally. Once the inspection is complete, a branded PDF report can be generated to send to any stakeholders or clients to have for their records. 

GoCanvas provides inspection software and forms that can be used by your business to perform vehicle inspection checklists in the field. Using a mobile form on a tablet, inspectors can use the software to perform faster inspections and your office can have an instant report generated to the cloud and shared via email. 

Why use GoCanvas?

Companies are switching to GoCanvas to eliminate paperwork and cut down on manual, time-consuming processes such as annual vehicle inspection reports. If you need to perform many inspections to scale your business, consider leveraging software like GoCanvas to increase efficiency and eliminate the use of inspection sheets. A recent survey from GoCanvas customers found that they are able to:

  • Shorten the time to receive completed forms by 55%
  • Increase the amount of work completed by 24%
  • Increase the amount of time spent manually re-entering form data by 29%

You can get started for free with any of our vehicle inspection forms or you can contact our team here to learn more about our software for vehicle inspections and more. 

As we mentioned in the article, there are many vehicle inspection forms. In the next section, you will find a complete list of the top forms used for vehicle inspections. Here are some of the common areas of a vehicle inspection checklist:

  • Brake system
  • Coupling devices
  • Exhaust System
  • Fuel System
  • Lighting Devices
  • Safe Loading
  • Steering mechanism
  • Suspension
  • Frame
  • Tires
  • Wheels and Rims
  • Windshield Glazing
  • Windshield Wipers

Looking for a specific vehicle inspection form? Here are some examples and templates you can use to get started. Follow the links below to find the inspection forms and you can use the GoCanvas app builder to easily customize your vehicle inspection forms depending on your needs. Our no-code builder allows you to drag and drop form fields into the designer, giving you a simple way to create vehicle inspection forms for any need. Here are 8 common vehicle inspection form examples and templates to work from:

#1. Annual vehicle inspection form

The easy-to-use safety inspection app is perfect for annual vehicle inspections of fleet cars, commercial vehicles, rental car inspections, and more. The customizable electronic inspection form covers important car inspection details that should be covered by the driver or inspection team, including the motor, safety features, wheels-rims, frame, brakes, tires, steering mechanism, and more. 

Access the template here.

#2. Multi-point vehicle inspection form

The easy-to-use vehicle multi-point inspection app can be used for a variety of tasks, including pre-purchase inspections, vehicle insurance inspections, and dealership inspections, and as part of a general preventive maintenance program.

Access the template here.

#3. Commercial vehicle pre-trip inspection form

The Commercial Vehicle Pre-Trip Inspection Checklist mobile app is designed to test your ability to check a variety of commercial vehicle safety equipment and vehicle components. This ensures that drivers, vehicles, and products reach their destinations safely.

Access the template here.

#4. Daily vehicle inspection form

This Daily Vehicle Inspection Report Mobile App includes the minimum information to be recorded on a daily vehicle inspection report and can be used as a daily log of mandatory safety inspections. Use this vehicle maintenance tool to best monitor your commercial motor vehicle’s windshield, tires, wipers, power steering, parking brake, and more to identify any deficiencies.

Access the template here.

#5. Used Car Inspection Checklist Form

This thorough and extensive pre-purchase vehicle inspection form app makes sure that car inspection technicians conduct all the necessary inspections and repairs during the inspection process before giving motor vehicles to their owners.

Access the template here.

#6. Forklift Safety Inspection Form

This forklift inspection checklist helps ensure safe operation and helps identify areas where forklift maintenance may be required. This forklift inspection checklist covers all areas of the electric forklifts, including fluid levels, tires, forklift trucks, forklift operator safety equipment, and more. Once the form has been completed, the app saves the checklist for your records.

Access the template here.

#7. Fleet Vehicle Inspection Form

As an important component of a fleet management program for a fleet manager, this preventive maintenance checklist app includes a detailed driver vehicle inspection report that promotes driver safety and vehicle integrity by identifying necessary repairs. Use this checklist template app for industry standard compliance, safety, and preventative maintenance through solutions based on real-time tracking and observations. 

Access the template here.

#8. DOT Vehicle Inspection Form

If your company hires drivers of commercial vehicles, you will want the DOT Driver Vehicle Inspections Mobile App available for everyone on your team. This digital checklist or pre-trip inspection form gives the driver assurance their company vehicle is safe for driving – or they can make a note of a maintenance issue.

Access the template here.

About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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