Understanding NSPEC Report Types

Every inspection in nSpec has a report type. The report type determines which tabs you see, which fields are required, and what the published PDF looks like. Picking the right report type at the start of an inspection saves a lot of rework later. This article explains every report type nSpec supports, what each one is for, and how to choose between them.

How Report Types Work

When you create an inspection, the Create Inspection modal asks for a Report Type. Each report type:

• Determines which tabs appear on the inspection screen
• Decides which fields are required
• Defines what the PDF report looks like
• Controls which features are available (offline support, AI generation, etc.)

You cannot change a report type after creation — if you picked the wrong one, you’ll need to delete the inspection and create a new one with the correct type.

The Report Types

QA Reports (types 27 and 28)

Standard quality assurance inspections. The most common report type for ongoing project inspections.

• Type 27 — QA Report — General-purpose QA inspection
• Type 28 — QA Existing — QA on existing structures
• Tabs: General, Observations, Photos, Action Items
• Offline support: Yes — both types can be cached for offline work via the Offline Hub
• Use when: Most day-to-day inspection work

Water Test Reports (types 32 and 33)

ASTM water penetration testing reports. These have additional tabs for recording test specimens, recommendations, and report content.

• Type 32 — Water Test Report
• Type 33 — Water Test Report (variant)
• Tabs: General, Test Day, Tests, Observations, Photos, Action Items, Recommendations, Report Content
• Use when: Performing water penetration tests on building envelopes

See Specimens and Figures and Recommendations in Inspections for the workflow specific to water test reports.

Building Inspection (type 36)

• Type 36 — Structure Survey
• Tabs: General, Observations, Photos, Action Items
• Use when: General building condition surveys

Detailed Assessment (type 37)

• Type 37 — Detailed Assessment
• Tabs: General, Observations, Photos, Action Items, Checklists
• Unique feature: Includes checklists for systematic verification of specific items
• Use when: In-depth assessments where you need a checklist-driven workflow

QA Worksheet Reports (types 38 and 39)

• Type 38 — QA Worksheet Stage 1
• Type 39 — QA Worksheet Stage 2
• Tabs: Instructions, General, Observations, Photos, Action Items
• Unique feature: An Instructions tab with the BECI training roadmap (read-only)
• Use when: Following the QA Worksheet training program

See Instructions and Dynamic Report Content for what’s on the Instructions tab.

Dynamic Report (type 4)

• Type 4 — Dynamic Report
• Tabs: General, Observations, Photos, Report Content
• Unique feature: The Report Content tab lets you build entirely custom narrative content with paragraphs, sub-paragraphs, and figures. You can also create your own content type names.
• Use when: You need a report that doesn’t fit the standard templates and want to write the narrative yourself

Condition Survey

• Tabs: General, Observations, Photos, Report Content
• Use when: Performing a condition survey of an existing structure where the report needs custom narrative sections in addition to standard observations

Procore Compliance (type 42)

• Type 42 — Procore Compliance Report
• Tabs: Action Items only — no General tab, no Observations tab
• Unique feature: No PDF generation in nSpec — the report lives in Procore
• Use when: The inspection is purely about syncing action items to Procore observations and you don’t need a separate nSpec report

Mock-Up Inspections

Any report type can be marked as a Mock-Up. Mock-up inspections are identical in functionality to regular inspections but are clearly labeled in the UI with “ (Mock-Up)” appended to the inspection name. Use Mock-Up for training, demonstrations, or test inspections that shouldn’t be confused with real work.

The Mock-Up flag is set when you create the inspection. It cannot be toggled later — if you accidentally created a real inspection as a mock-up, you’ll need to recreate it.

Quick Reference Table

Type	Name	Key tabs	Best for
27	QA Report	General, Obs, Photos, Action Items	Standard QA inspections
28	QA Existing	Same as 27	QA on existing structures
32	Water Test	+ Test Day, Tests, Recommendations, Report Content	Water penetration testing
33	Water Test (variant)	Same as 32	Water test variant
36	Structure Survey	Like 27	Building condition surveys
37	Detailed Assessment	+ Checklists	Checklist-driven inspections
38	QA Worksheet Stage 1	+ Instructions	QA training Stage 1
39	QA Worksheet Stage 2	+ Instructions	QA training Stage 2
4	Dynamic Report	+ Report Content	Custom narrative reports
—	Condition Survey	+ Report Content	Condition surveys with custom content
42	Procore Compliance	Action Items only	Pure Procore sync, no nSpec PDF

Generating a Report

Reports are generated server-side and downloaded as PDFs. To generate:

1. Open the inspection
2. Click the Report button in the screen header
3. Wait for the server to render the PDF
4. The file downloads to your browser’s downloads folder (or, on Safari/iPad, opens a share sheet for AirDrop, Save to Files, etc.)

Type 42 (Procore Compliance) reports cannot be generated in nSpec

The Report button is hidden for type 42 inspections — the data is consumed by Procore directly.

How to Choose the Right Report Type

• If you’re doing standard QA work, pick QA Report (27) or QA Existing (28)
• If you’re doing water penetration testing, pick Water Test (32 or 33)
• If your team uses the BECI QA Worksheet program, pick QA Worksheet Stage 1 (38) or Stage 2 (39)
• If you need a custom narrative report, pick Dynamic Report (4)
• If you’re doing a building condition survey, pick Structure Survey (36) or Condition Survey
• If you need checklists, pick Detailed Assessment (37)
• If you only need to sync to Procore, pick Procore Compliance (42)

When in doubt, ask your supervisor — they’ll know which report type your organization typically uses for the kind of work you’re doing.

Troubleshooting

I picked the wrong report type

Solutions:

• Report type can’t be changed after creation. Delete the inspection and create a new one with the correct type — but you’ll lose any observations or photos you’ve added.
• If you’ve already added work, contact support before deleting. They may be able to migrate the data server-side.

There’s no Report button

Solutions:

• Procore Compliance (type 42) inspections don’t have a Report button — the data lives in Procore
• For other types, refresh the page or check your role permissions

A tab I expected is missing

Solutions:

• Tabs depend on the report type. The quick reference table above shows which tabs each type includes.
• If you need a specific tab combination, you may need a different report type

Related Articles

• Working with Inspections in nSpec
• Specimens and Figures
• Recommendations in Inspections
• Instructions and Dynamic Report Content
• nSpec Workflow Customization
• Report Generation Issues