Recommendations in Inspections

Recommendations are suggested fixes or actions that appear in water test inspection reports. They’re separate from observations (what you found) and from action items (what someone needs to do) — recommendations are the inspector’s professional advice on how to address the findings. This article explains what recommendations are, how to add them, and how they appear in the report.

Recommendations are specific to water test reports

The Recommendations tab only appears on inspections with a water test report type. Other report types use action items instead.

Recommendations vs Observations vs Action Items

	What it is	Where it appears in the report
Observation	What you found at the site	Findings section
Recommendation	What you suggest doing about it (water test only)	Recommendations section
Action Item	A specific task assigned to someone with a due date	Action Items section / synced to Procore

Accessing the Recommendations Tab

1. Open a water test inspection
2. Click the Recommendations tab

If you don’t see a Recommendations tab, the inspection isn’t a water test report. The tab is hidden for other report types.

Adding a Recommendation

1. On the Recommendations tab, click the + Add Recommendation floating action button
2. The Add Recommendation modal opens
3. Type your recommendation text — this is the only required field
4. Optionally add up to 4 photos with captions, building/floor metadata, and tags
5. Click Save

Recommendations use the same modal as Observations

The modal title says “Add Recommendation” instead of “Add Observation”, but the fields are the same. Anything you can attach to an observation (photos, captions, metadata, related parent recommendation) you can also attach to a recommendation.

Reordering Recommendations

Recommendations appear in the published report in the order they’re listed on the Recommendations tab. To change the order:

1. Find the recommendation in the list
2. Click the action menu (three dots)
3. Click Move Up or Move Down

Repeat as needed to put recommendations in the right order before generating the report.

Editing a Recommendation

1. Find the recommendation in the list
2. Click the action menu (three dots) → Edit
3. Update text, captions, or photos
4. Click Save

Deleting a Recommendation

1. Find the recommendation in the list
2. Click the action menu (three dots) → Delete
3. Confirm in the dialog

Deletion is permanent. If the recommendation has photos you want to keep, save them somewhere else first.

Sub-Recommendations

Like observations, recommendations can have sub-recommendations — child items linked to a parent. Sub-recommendations appear indented under their parent. To create one:

1. Open Add Recommendation
2. Check the Related checkbox
3. Pick the parent recommendation from the dropdown
4. Save

Collaboration Messages on Recommendations

Each recommendation has a Collaboration Message option in its action menu. Use it to send a quick message to your collaborators or team about a specific recommendation. The recipient sees the message via the Unread Collaboration Messages card on the dashboard.

Best Practices

• Write recommendations as advice, not commands. “We recommend replacing the gasket within 30 days” reads better than “Replace gasket”.
• Tie recommendations to specific observations when possible — readers should be able to follow the chain from finding to recommendation
• Use sub-recommendations when one major recommendation has several sub-steps
• Reorder before generating the report — recommendations should flow logically from most to least important
• Photos help clients understand — a recommendation with a photo of the issue is much more persuasive than text alone

Troubleshooting

I don’t see a Recommendations tab

Solutions:

• Recommendations are water test only. If the inspection isn’t a water test report, the tab won’t be visible.
• If you need a different report structure, the inspection’s report type may need to be changed

Move Up / Move Down isn’t working

Solutions:

• The first recommendation can’t move up; the last can’t move down
• Refresh the page if the order doesn’t update

Related Articles

• Working with Inspections in nSpec
• Specimens and Figures
• Instructions and Dynamic Report Content
• Understanding nSpec Report Types