Description: Start a due inspection, answer the form, add photos and action items, then sign it off and choose whether to send the report.
Overview
This is the core of ComplianceGo: open the inspection that's due, work down the form, record what you found, and sign it. Once signed, the inspection is complete and its report becomes part of the site's permanent record.
This article covers the whole process, from starting the inspection to deciding whether the report goes out.
Before You Begin
You need a role on the site that allows inspecting: Inspector, Backup Inspector, or Editor (at site or organization level). Viewer is the only role that cannot complete an inspection.
The inspection must be showing as Due, Late, or available.
Starting the Inspection
Open the site.
Find the inspection. Each grouping on the site page is its own dropdown: Due, Late, Available Inspections and Available Weather Inspections. Available Inspections and Available Weather Inspections are separate groupings.
Click Start Inspection.
The inspection opens and its status becomes In-progress.
📝 Starting locks the form version. Whatever version of the form is live at this moment is the one you'll fill in, and it stays attached even if someone edits the form later, so the report always regenerates correctly.
Checking the Context at the Top
Above the questions sit several sections. Which of them appear depends on the form and on how the inspection was set up:
Section | What it gives you |
Disclaimer | A fixed ComplianceGo disclaimer about regulatory responsibility. The wording is the same everywhere and cannot be changed |
Inspection Date and Time | The date and time recorded on the inspection. Editable unless your organization has backdating switched off, which locks it. This is set at organization level only, never per form |
Weather | The weather recorded for this inspection. This dropdown is controlled at the form level. It is not the same thing as Weather History, which is set on the inspection assignment and is appended to the end of the completed report — see Scheduling a Recurring Inspection |
Permits | The site's permits, so you can check them without leaving. Controlled at the form level |
Attached Site Maps | A link to a live version of the site's maps. Select which of them should be included on this inspection |
Current Open Action Items | What's still outstanding from previous visits |
Each of these sections is worth opening before you start.
If a prior inspection exists, Copy and Edit Last Inspection copies its answers forward. If there's no completed prior inspection, it says so.
📝 Not every answer copies. Individual questions can be set not to carry forward — configured per question in the form builder — so check the copied form rather than assuming everything came across.
Answering the Questions
Questions appear in the order and grouping the form was built with. Some forms number their questions and divide them into titled sections; others don't.
Answer types are set per question when the form is built. A question might offer Yes / No / N/A, a dropdown, checkboxes, radio buttons, a switch, a number, free text, a photo upload or a table — with whatever choices that form defines. Free-text boxes and instruction text can sit anywhere in a form, not only at the end.
⚠️ Only required questions are enforced. A required question is marked with a red asterisk; which questions are required is set per form and per question when the form is built. A question that isn't marked required can be left unanswered, and the inspection will sign and complete with no warning and no prompt.
Adding Evidence and Action Items
The toolbar at the top of the inspection stays with you as you scroll:
Control | What it does |
+ Add Action Item | Document a corrective action from what you just found |
Note (page and pencil) | Add a note to the inspection |
Attach (paperclip) | Attach a document |
Camera | Add a photo |
Map | Open the site map selector |
Controls | Add controls (BMPs) to the report — appears only when the form includes them |
📝 You may not see all of these. The note, attachment and photo controls are each switched on per form, so two forms at the same site can offer different toolbars. If one you expected is missing, it isn't enabled on that form.
Signing the Inspection
Scroll to Electronic Signature.
Read the certification above the signature line. Its wording comes from the form itself, so it varies from form to form, and some forms carry none at all.
Check the signature line. Your first and last name from your ComplianceGo account are added to it automatically.
Optionally enter your (Title) and click Save Title to keep it for next time.
Turn on I confirm that I signed above.
The completion buttons stay grayed out until that toggle is on. An Add End Time option also appears, if you want to record when you finished.
Choosing How to Finish
Four options sit at the bottom. Please note the first two are similar but are not the same:
Button | What it does |
Sign and Send | Completes the inspection and sends the report to the site's notification recipients |
Sign and Don't Send | Completes the inspection without sending anything |
Finish Later | Saves your progress and leaves it In-progress |
Delete Inspection | Discards it |
⚠️ Sign and Send emails people. It sends the completed report to everyone on the site's Notification Recipients list who is subscribed to the inspection report notification. Once it's gone, it's gone.
Both options complete the inspection identically. The only difference is whether the report goes out.
📝 A report you didn't send can be sent later. In Inspection History, the arrow beside a report sends it to the site's notification recipients — useful if you chose Sign and Don't Send and then needed it to go out after all. This does not undo an email that has already been sent.
What Happens Next
You'll see an Inspection completed confirmation and return to the site.
The inspection leaves the Due group — the site's due count drops by one.
It appears in Inspection History, in date order. History is ordered by the inspection's own date rather than by when it was completed, so a backdated inspection lands in date order rather than at the top. The row shows its date, the inspector, its signature count and how many action items it opened.
Any action items you added become live and start their own due-date and reminder cycle.
If the form needs two signatures, Inspection History shows 1 / 2 and a Sign button on that row, so the second person can sign from there. A single-signature inspection shows 1 / 1 and a checkmark. The number of signatures available on an inspection is determined by the form.
To change something afterwards, click the inspection's title in Inspection History. That opens the inspection's options menu — Edit Inspection, View Inspection, View/Download Report and Delete Inspection. Click Edit Inspection. It moves to Under Revision and keeps its original form version.
📝 Edit Inspection only appears on an inspection you carried out. On someone else's, the menu opens without it and you get View Inspection instead — whoever performed an inspection owns it, and that doesn't change once it's signed. See Why Something Is Read-Only or Missing.
FAQ
Q: There's no Start Inspection link.
A: Either no inspection has been set up for this site yet, or your role on this site doesn't allow inspecting. Viewer is the only role that can't — ask an administrator for Inspector, Backup Inspector, or Editor.
Q: The Sign buttons are grayed out.
A: I confirm that I signed above is switched off. Turn it on and the completion buttons become active. Your name is already on the signature line — there's nothing to type there.
Q: I signed but left questions blank.
A: Only required questions are enforced, so an inspection completes with optional questions left blank. Reopen it from Inspection History — it moves to Under Revision — fill in what's missing, and sign again.
Q: I used Sign and Send by mistake.
A: The report has already gone to the site's subscribed notification recipients and can't be recalled. Sign and Don't Send completes an inspection without sending the report.
Q: Copy and Edit Last Inspection says there's nothing to copy.
A: There's no completed prior inspection on this site using this form. That's expected on a first inspection.
Q: I need to stop partway through.
A: Use Finish Later. It keeps your answers and leaves the inspection In-progress so you can pick it up again. You can also navigate away from the inspection at any time and ComplianceGo saves your progress automatically. If there is any trouble saving your work, it warns you.
Q: I can't sign a second or successive signature until action items are closed.
A: Two different things can disable the sign button. Most often an action item on this inspection has required fields that haven't been filled in — open that action item and complete it. Separately, a form can require its open action items to be complete before a second or later signature; where that applies, close or verify the outstanding ones.
Q: The form won't let me edit after signing.
A: Some forms lock edits on signature. The Edit Inspection route above only appears on an inspection you carried out.
Q: Where do I find the inspection after I've signed it?
A: In the site's Inspection History, in date order — with its date, inspector, signature count and action item count.
Related articles
Understanding Inspection Statuses
Scheduling a Recurring Inspection
Setting Up Notification Recipients for a Site