Solar site assessment and shading survey Workflow

Why should we automate our solar site assessment process instead of managing it manually?

Manually tracking site assessments across inspectors, designers and estimators through email or spreadsheets makes it easy to lose track of revisions or delay customer reports. This workflow keeps each assessment as a single record with a status and timeline, so anyone in the workspace can see where a site sits in the process without chasing colleagues. It also standardises what data is captured at each step, reducing the chance of incomplete reports reaching customers.

What is the ROI of using this workflow compared to handling reviews and revisions by email?

The designer review and revision loop is built into the workflow, so requests for changes automatically return to the inspector with the designer's comments attached, rather than relying on someone to notice and forward an email. This can reduce the time reports spend stalled awaiting action and cuts down on administrative effort spent tracking versions. Because the record keeps a full timeline, teams also spend less time reconstructing what happened on a given site assessment.

Who is involved in reviewing and approving a site assessment report?

The solar designer is assigned a task to review the report and record a Designer Review Decision along with comments, and the workflow waits for this decision before proceeding. If changes are needed, the inspector is assigned a task to update the defects found and recommended work based on the designer's comments, and the report loops back to the designer for another review. This continues until the designer approves the report, at which point the record status moves to Report Sent.

What happens at the point where the designer decides on the report?

Once the designer completes their review task, the decision and comments are saved to the record, and the workflow routes based on the Designer Review Decision. An approval sets the status to Report Sent and moves the process toward emailing the customer, while a request for changes sets the status to Revising and sends the report back to the inspector with the designer's comments for another pass.

What does the customer receive once a report is approved?

Once the designer approves the report, the workflow emails the customer directly using the email address captured on the request form, so no account is needed on their end. The email includes the site suitability outcome, usable roof areas, shading findings and the recommended system size, giving the customer a clear summary of the assessment.

What happens after the customer report is sent, depending on whether a solar system is recommended?

The workflow routes based on the Is a Solar System Recommended? field captured on the original request form. If a system is recommended, the status is set to Quote to Follow and the estimator is assigned a task to prepare a quote, which the workflow does not wait on. If no system is recommended, the record status is simply set to Closed.

Can this workflow be customised for our own inspection checklist or approval steps?

Yes, a workspace can change the workflow by describing the desired change in plain English or by editing the steps directly in the workflow editor, and earlier versions are kept so changes can be reviewed. This makes it straightforward to adjust the fields captured on the request form, add extra tasks, or change how routing decisions are made as the business's process evolves.

How is the record's history tracked as it moves through review and revision?

Each site assessment is created as a record with a reference number, a status and a timeline showing what happened at every step, including the designer's review decisions and comments and the inspector's revisions. Table views and dashboards display records by status, such as Report Review, Revising, Report Sent, Quote to Follow or Closed, making it easy to see where each assessment stands. Businesses should confirm this level of record-keeping meets their own compliance obligations.

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

No, the Estimator: Prepare Quote task is assigned with a 3-day due date but the workflow does not wait for it to be completed before the record reaches its Quote to Follow status. The estimator's Quote Preparation Notes are recorded on that task and shown in the record's task list rather than being saved directly to the record.