Pre-purchase pest inspection Workflow

Why should we automate our pre-purchase pest inspection process instead of managing it manually?

Manual coordination between inspectors, senior technicians and estimators often relies on emails, spreadsheets or phone calls that are easy to lose track of, especially under settlement or cooling-off deadlines. This workflow captures every inspection as a record with a status and timeline, so staff can see at a glance whether a report is under review, being revised, sent, or awaiting a quote. It reduces the coordination overhead of manually chasing reviews and reduces the risk of a report going to a customer without senior sign-off recorded.

What is the return on investment of using this workflow compared to handling inspections manually?

The workflow removes repetitive administrative steps such as manually updating spreadsheets, sending status emails to customers, and tracking which reports need revision. Senior technicians and inspectors interact with clear, due-dated tasks rather than ad hoc requests, which helps reduce delays in the review and revision loop. Over time this can free up staff hours that would otherwise go into manual status tracking and follow-up, letting the team focus on inspections and quoting.

Who is involved in reviewing and approving an inspection report?

The senior technician is assigned a task, due in 2 days, to review the submitted inspection report and record a decision along with review comments. If the senior technician marks the report as needing changes, the inspector is assigned a follow-up task, due in 1 day, to update the defects found and recommended work. Once the inspector submits the revision, the workflow returns the report to the senior technician for another review, repeating until it is approved.

What happens at the senior technician review decision point?

When the senior technician records their decision, the workflow routes based on the outcome. If the decision is Approved, the record moves to Report Sent status and the customer email is triggered. If the decision is Changes needed, the record status is set to Revising and the inspector receives a task to update the report before it returns to the senior technician for re-review.

How does the workflow determine whether a follow-up quote is needed?

After the customer report is sent, the workflow checks the Treatment or Further Inspection Recommended field from the original submission. If the answer is Yes, the record status is set to Quote to Follow and the estimator is assigned a task, due in 3 days, to prepare a treatment quote. If the answer is No, the record status is set to Closed, with no further quoting task created.

Does the estimator's quote preparation task hold up the rest of the process?

No. The estimator's task to prepare a treatment quote is not one the workflow waits for, so the record can continue to reflect its Quote to Follow status while the estimator works on it independently. Notes the estimator enters, such as Quote Preparation Notes, are recorded against that task and shown in the record's task list rather than held on the main record fields.

What information does the customer receive, and how do they receive it?

Once the senior technician approves the report, the workflow emails the customer directly using the email address captured on the original request form. That email summarises the timber pest risk rating, findings, any areas that were not accessible, conditions attracting timber pests, and the recommended work. Customers do not need to log into any account to receive this information.

Can we customise the review or revision steps for our business?

Yes. Workflow steps can be adjusted by describing the change in plain English or by editing the steps directly in the workflow editor, and earlier versions are kept as changes are made. This means task due dates, routing conditions, or the wording of the customer email can be adapted to match a business's specific review standards without a development project.

How does the workflow handle multiple rounds of revision if the report is still not approved?

If the senior technician marks the report as needing changes more than once, the workflow repeats the same loop: the inspector updates the defects found and recommended work, and the report returns to the senior technician for review again. This continues until the senior technician records an Approved decision, at which point the record moves to Report Sent status.

What does the record show if we need to check the history of an inspection later?

Each inspection is tracked as a record with a reference number, current status, and a timeline of what happened, including review decisions, revisions and status changes such as Report Review, Revising, Report Sent, Quote to Follow or Closed. Table views and dashboards can show records grouped by status for oversight across active inspections. Businesses should confirm this record-keeping meets their own regulatory or industry obligations.