Switching from a PDF inspection form to a digital workflow is the easy part. Getting the field staff to use the digital workflow is the hard part. This post walks through what a digital stormwater inspection should actually capture in the field, in the order the inspector encounters it.
The audience is the inspector in the truck, the supervisor who reviews the records, and the program manager who has to assemble the year’s worth of inspections at the end.
Before opening the form: site context
The inspection should not be the first thing the inspector sees. Opening the site record should show what is already known: address, parcel, classification, last inspection finding, open tasks, prior photos.
If the site is new to the inspector, the prior visit’s notes are what tell them where to look. A vault that had a clogged inlet last quarter probably still does. A construction site that had a silt fence issue last week probably still does. The form is shaped by what is already on the record.
During the inspection: structured fields per kind
A construction site inspection cares about silt fence condition, concrete washout, stockpile cover, inlet protection, and the BMPs the SWPPP calls for. A source control inspection cares about outdoor storage, dumpster handling, vehicle wash and fueling areas, and the BMPs the business operates. An IDDE field visit cares about indicator panel results, dry-weather flow observations, and source-tracing notes.
The fields differ. The form should differ too. Digital inspection software that hands the inspector a generic “describe what you saw” text box is a glorified PDF.
Photos and GPS, captured the moment they happen
Photos belong on the inspection record at the moment of capture, with GPS coordinates pinned. A photo three days later is a photo with no provenance. A photo on the record carries the time, the location, and the inspection context.
Mobile web works today through any modern phone or tablet browser. The native iOS field app is planned for offline inspection workflows, not launched. Most inspectors today work directly in mobile web while signal allows and finalize the record when the device reconnects.
Findings that turn into tasks
A deficient finding without a follow-up task is a finding that gets forgotten. The digital inspection workflow should make follow-up the default, not an extra step.
When the inspector marks a finding as deficient, a follow-up task should open against the inspection. Due date, assignee, closure evidence. The next inspector who walks the site sees the open finding before they leave the office. The supervisor sees overdue tasks across the program on a single view.
Field markups for what the GIS does not know yet
Inspectors notice missing assets. A catch basin that was never digitized. A pipe alignment that no longer matches reality. A pond that was added during a recent development and has not been added to the inventory.
Writing into the authoritative GIS in the field is the wrong pattern: the city’s source of truth needs to stay under GIS staff control. Losing the observation is also wrong.
Digital inspection software should support field markups on a separate exportable layer. The inspector draws the catch basin or pipe of interest on their own layer. The layer exports as GeoJSON for the GIS team to review and merge on their own schedule.
Draft notices started from the inspection record
When the finding warrants a courtesy notice, a correction request, or an illicit discharge notice, the draft starts from the inspection record. Site context, photos, and the evidence behind the finding are already attached. The inspector or coordinator fills in the narrative and copies or downloads the email-ready text.
The product does not send the notice. It drafts. You send through your existing email or letter channel. There is no saved letter history yet.
After the visit: what the record carries forward
The digital inspection is the audit-defensible record. Photos and GPS on the inspection. Findings turned into tasks. Field markups exported separately. Draft notices in the record. Enforcement records, if any, linked back to the inspection that triggered them.
Six months later when the state-agency reviewer asks how the finding got resolved, the answer is on screen.
How NPDESTracker covers the digital inspection workflow
The full posture is on the digital stormwater inspections landing page. The broader inspection-cluster overview is on stormwater inspection software. Field-specific framing lives on field inspection software for MS4 teams.
To see how the inspection record carries photos, GPS, tasks, and field markups on sample data, try the demo. The 60-day Guided Pilot at $999 is the most common starting point for cities that want to test digital inspections on their own program.