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.
Four things are required:
The type — Violation or Exception.
The Definition — whether the requirement being breached is a permit condition or a general control condition (your sewer use ordinance). This decides which list you pick from next.
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.
💡 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.
The table is read-only — clicking a row does nothing. The exception is the legal control name, which is 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 Add New save?
A required field is empty. On Add New, Type, Definition, legal control and date/time are all required.
Why does the legal control list look wrong?
The Definition is set to the other kind. Switch between permit 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 does clicking a row do nothing?
The table is read-only. Only the legal control name is a link.
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