Description: Site Category isn't just a label — it changes which custom site fields, default priorities and map colors a site gets.
Overview
Every site has a Site Category. It's easy to treat it as a filing label, but it quietly changes how the site behaves — which custom site fields it has, which default action item priorities inspectors can choose, and how it appears on the dashboard map.
Two sites can behave differently because of it, so it's worth knowing what it drives. This article covers that.
The Categories
Fourteen, listed alphabetically on the site form:
Common Plan of Development · Construction · Dewatering · Industrial Facility · Land Development · Long Term Stormwater Management · Low Erosivity Waivers · MS4 Asset · MS4 Facility · MS4 IDDE · MS4 Public Education · MS4 Public Involvement · MS4 Stormwater Management Plan · Outfall
Six carry an "MS4" prefix. Those cover municipal separate storm sewer system programs.
💡 If you're an operator rather than a municipality, you almost certainly want one of Construction, Common Plan of Development, Low Erosivity Waivers, Industrial Facility, Long Term Stormwater Management or Dewatering.
What the Category Changes
1. Which default action item priorities inspectors can choose
This is the one that causes confusion.
On Construction, Common Plan of Development and Low Erosivity Waivers sites, an inspector opening an action item sees only two priorities by default — 7 Days and Immediate Action Needed.
Every other category also offers 30 Days, End of Quarter and Non Specific.
📝 If the options differ between sites, check the category. An inspector who works a Construction site and an Industrial Facility sees a different priority list on the same form, and the category is why.
(This applies when the form uses the standard priorities. The form decides first — one set up with your own custom priorities uses those, and the site category never comes into it. A form can also offer Operator Signature on top, whichever category the site is. See Creating an Action Item.)
2. Which custom site fields the site has
Custom site fields are defined per category and per organization. So the extra fields on a Construction site are a different set from those on an Outfall.
On the site page they appear under Additional Site Fields, followed by the category name — for example Additional Site Fields | Construction.
Changing a site's category changes which extra fields apply — but nothing you already entered is deleted. The old category's fields stop being displayed, and the values you entered against them are kept. Change the category back and they reappear exactly as they were.
The new category's fields start empty — unless the site has held that category before, in which case whatever was entered then is still there and comes back filled in.
3. How the site looks on the dashboard map
Map markers are colored by category, and the map's filters let you show or hide whole categories at once. That's the quickest way to see just your construction sites, or just your outfalls.
4. What appears in the calendar
The inspections calendar lists each site's category beneath the site name, so you can tell what kind of site an inspection belongs to.
📝 The category's wording varies slightly between screens. In a few places ComplianceGo shows a category's internal name — for example COMMON_PLAN_DEV on the inspections calendar, rather than Common Plan of Development as it appears on the site form. It's the same category either way.
Choosing a Category When You Add a Site
Site Category is required when you create a site.
ComplianceGo pre-selects the category you use most across your organization, so if nearly all your sites are Construction, that's what a new one starts as. Check it rather than accepting it — the default is a convenience, not a judgment about the site in front of you.
Changing a Category Later
You can change it on Edit Site — it's a dropdown, and it's required.
Before you do:
Note which extra fields the site currently has. The new category has its own set, so the current ones stop being displayed — their values are kept, but you won't be able to see them while the new category is set.
Expect the priority list to change for inspectors on that site.
Expect its map color to change, and for it to move between map filters.
Changing category on a site with inspection history doesn't rewrite that history. Past inspections keep the answers and action items they were completed with. It's the future behavior of the site that shifts.
What Happens Next
The site's extra fields switch to the new category's set.
Inspectors opening action items on it get that category's default priority options.
Its marker and filter grouping on the dashboard map change.
Completed inspections and their reports are unaffected.
FAQ
Q: An inspector sees fewer priority options on one site than another.
A: If the form uses the standard priorities, the site's category trims the list. Check Site Category on both — Construction, Common Plan of Development and Low Erosivity Waivers offer only 7 Days and Immediate Action Needed. If the form uses custom priorities, it's the form that differs between those two sites, not the category.
Q: Extra fields I filled in have vanished.
A: The site's category was changed, so a different field set is being displayed. The old values aren't deleted — change the category back and they reappear exactly as they were.
Q: Additional Site Fields is empty on a new site.
A: No custom fields are defined for that category yet. An Org Editor defines them per category.
Q: Two similar sites have different extra fields.
A: They're in different categories, and custom fields are defined per category. Compare their Site Category values.
Q: A site is the wrong color on the map.
A: Marker color follows the category. Correct the category on Edit Site.
Q: A site is missing from the map.
A: Its category is filtered out. Check the map's category filters.
Q: The category was wrong from the start.
A: It defaults to your organization's most-used category, so this happens. Change it on Edit Site.
Related articles
Creating an Action Item
Adding Contacts to a Site
Why Something Is Read-Only or Missing