Quality Control

Quality Control is how you confirm a job was done right before it leaves your hands. A checklist walks the crew through the items that matter on a job (the work to inspect, the boxes to tick, the photos to take), and a manager signs it off at the end. This guide covers what a checklist is, who does what, filling items in, the share link for field workers, and approving.

What a checklist is

A checklist is a set of items the crew works through on a single job. Each checklist is built from a template: a reusable list of sections and items your company defines once and runs on every job that needs it. Starting a checklist creates a live copy tied to a job, so the answers, photos, and sign-off all belong to that job.

Who does what

Quality Control has two stages by design: the crew fills the checklist in, and a manager signs it off. The two are never the same person, so nobody approves their own work. Who can do what follows the role:

Employees can see and fill checklists they are assigned to. They mark each item and attach photos, but they cannot approve.
Managers can see every checklist in the workspace. They sign off a finished checklist, send it back to the crew, or waive a failed item with a stated reason.
Admins author the templates the checklists are built from. Template editing stays with Admins by default.

These are the default permissions for each role. A workspace Admin can adjust an individual person’s permissions from People & Access if your setup needs it.

Starting a checklist

Start a checklist by choosing a template and the job it is for. The new checklist opens with its sections and items ready to fill, and it stays attached to that job for the rest of its life. A checklist has assignees: the people expected to fill it in. Someone who can fill checklists sees only the ones they are assigned to, while a manager sees them all.

Filling items and attaching photos

Work down the checklist item by item, marking each one as you go. Where a photo backs up the work, attach it to the item: the photo is stored with the checklist and shows up on the finished record, so the proof travels with the paperwork. You can add more than one photo to an item.

A crew member out in the field does not always have a full QELM login, so a manager can generate a share link for a checklist. The link comes with a QR code you can print and tape up on site. Someone who opens the link (or scans the code) can join the checklist and fill items in without signing in to the full app.

The link is the access, so treat it that way. There is one live link per checklist, and regenerating it replaces the old one: a printed QR code you have already put up stops working once you mint a new link. A checklist that has already been signed off takes no more answers, so it cannot be shared.

Submitting and approving

When the crew has worked through the items, the checklist is submitted for sign-off. A manager then does one of three things:

Approve it, which signs the checklist off and closes it out. A signed-off checklist is final and takes no more changes.
Send it back to the crew when something needs redoing, so the items can be worked again before another sign-off.
Waive a failed item with a reason. Sometimes an item fails but the job can still be accepted (a known exception, a follow-up already scheduled). Waiving records why the item was allowed to pass, so the decision is on the record rather than lost.

Approving affects what the customer is told the work passed, so it is a deliberate action reserved for managers.

The checklist PDF

A finished checklist can be downloaded as a PDF: the items, their results, the photos, and the sign-off, on one printable document. Use it for your own records or to hand the customer proof the work was inspected.

A note on what you see

Quality Control shows only your own workspace’s checklists, templates, and photos, and everything is scoped to your workspace: a share link only ever reaches the one checklist it was minted for. If the screen looks empty, it usually just means no checklists have been started yet, or your plan does not include Quality Control. For how a job flows through QELM in the first place, see the Guides overview.