Overview
While filling in an inspection you can record nonconformances — the things you found that don't meet a requirement. Each one is either a violation or an exception, is tied to the permit or ordinance it breaches, and can carry its own photos and documents.
Violations and exceptions
Both mean a requirement isn't being met. The difference is consequence:
Type | What it means |
Violation | A compliance issue — subject to enforcement, and it affects the location's compliance status. |
Exception | A condition isn't being met and may still need a response, but it does not affect the location's compliance status. |
Pick the one that matches what you found. If you're unsure whether something rises to a violation, your program's own policy decides — the system doesn't reclassify it for you.
Adding a nonconformance
On the inspection record, find the Nonconformances table and click Add New. The Add Nonconformance window opens.
These are required:
The type — Violation or Exception.
The Definition — Specific Control Condition (a permit) or General Control Condition (your sewer use ordinance). This decides which list you pick from next.
Classification (violations only) — what kind of violation it is, such as Limit Exceedance, Interference, Pass-through, BMP Violation or Sampling Requirement. An exception doesn't ask for one.
The legal control — the specific permit or general control. Every nonconformance has to point at one, because a requirement only exists if some legal control imposes it.
The date and time it occurred.
⚠️ Choose the Definition before the legal control. They are two separate choices, and the Definition determines whether the next dropdown lists permits or general controls.
Then, optionally:
Description — anything you want on the record. Worth using: it's what a colleague reads months later.
Outfall — leave it empty when the finding isn't tied to one. A meter that isn't calibrated belongs to an outfall; missing secondary containment doesn't.
Attachments — photos or documents. These attach to that one nonconformance, not to the inspection as a whole, so a photo stays with the finding it evidences.
SNC eligible (violations only) — marks the violation as eligible for significant noncompliance (SNC) evaluation. Once it has been saved as eligible, it can't be unmarked here.
💡 You can add as many as you need to a single inspection.
After the inspection is completed
⚠️ Completing an inspection locks its nonconformances — they can no longer be edited. Check the type, the legal control and the date before you complete the inspection, because afterwards the record is fixed.
Reviewing them later
Once an inspection has at least one nonconformance, a Nonconformances tab appears on its overview page listing them all.
Click a row to open that nonconformance's Nonconformance Details page. The legal control name is also a link: clicking it takes you to the permit or general control the nonconformance was recorded against.
💡 No tab means no nonconformances were recorded on that inspection.
FAQ
Why won't the nonconformance save?
A required field is empty. Save Nonconformance needs Type, Definition, legal control and date/time, and Classification too for a violation. The date/time can't be in the future.
Why does the legal control list look wrong?
The Definition is set to the other kind. Switch between Specific Control Condition and General Control Condition.
Why can't I edit a nonconformance?
Its inspection has been completed. Records are locked once the inspection is complete.
Why don't I see a Nonconformances tab on an inspection?
None were recorded. The tab only appears when at least one exists.
Why isn't an attachment where I expected it?
Attachments belong to one nonconformance. Open that nonconformance rather than the inspection's own files.
Related articles
Understanding Nonconformances on Sample Reports
Classifying Industrial Users with IU Types