8Using Oracle Inspector

Oracle Inspector Overview for Permits

Use the Oracle Inspector mobile application to manage a variety of property inspections for permits on a daily basis.

Oracle Inspector provides government field staff the ability to enforce code compliance using productivity tools to perform and report on inspections from a mobile device. Before you begin, you must download the Oracle Inspector application for your mobile device from the iOS App Store for Apple iOS devices or Google Play for Android devices. For information about installing the application and configuring the agency’s host URL, see Installing and Configuring Oracle Inspector.

Note: Agency administrators must explicitly grant mobile application access to the necessary agency user roles before you can install and configure Oracle Inspector. For more agency setup information, see Setting Up Users for Oracle Mobile Applications.

Viewing My Inspection Tasks

You start on the My Inspection Tasks page when you log into Oracle Inspector. On the My Inspections Task page, you can:

• View the daily inspection job list on a calendar or map.

• View property address, inspection type, permit type, and permit ID for each inspection.

• View the inspection status and results for completed inspections.

• Identify inspections with conditions or restrictions.

This example illustrates the My Inspection Tasks page containing the field values described in the following table. There is no inspection result, rating, or score for the scheduled inspections, because the inspector has not entered results. The inspection isn’t complete until the inspector submits the inspection results with required signatures.

The My Inspections Tasks page provides a daily calendar view with inspections organized by scheduled time.

Left Column	Middle Column	Right Column
Time using 12-hour clock AM or PM	Summary of Assigned Inspection: Property Location Inspection Description Permit Type Permit Number Inspection Status – For example, Scheduled, Completed, or Canceled.	Results for Completed Inspection: Result - Did the inspection pass? For example, Pass. Rating - What is the inspection grade? For example, F. Score - What is the overall total score of the inspection? For example, 0. Condition - Is there any condition applied on the permit? The most severe condition is displayed. For example, if there are three conditions including Notice, Hold, and Lock, the Lock icon is displayed. Note: Values for Inspection results are configured by the agency.

To update your estimated time of arrival at the property, swipe an inspection from left to right. Click the Update ETA button. A notification with the updated time of arrival is sent to the contact for the inspection.

You can navigate to the previous and next day’s schedule using the buttons in the header, or click the calendar icon next to the date in the header to go to the schedule for a specific date.

Working with Inspection Details

You view inspection details, such as inspection number, location, and description, and initiate actions for performing inspections on the Inspection Detail page. You can:

• Access permit details associated with the inspection.

• Locate the inspection site on a map.

• Review inspection status, rating, score, and number of major violations of completed inspections.

• Identify the inspector and location contact.

• Read requester comments and special location instructions.

• Update your estimated time of arrival at the property.

• View the inspection summary report.

This example illustrates the Inspection Detail page containing the field values described in the following table. The inspection is scheduled and has one checklist.

In addition to the inspection ID and inspection type, you can view these inspection details:

• Location

• Status

• Scheduled date and time

• Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

• Inspector

• On-location contact person

• Comments added by the inspection requester

You can also perform these actions on the Inspection Detail page:

Page Element	Description
Permit number	Click the permit number link to access permit details.
	Click the map icon to view the location of the property on a map.
Checklists	View the number of checklists to complete for the inspection. Click to open the Inspection Checklist page.
Conditions	Click to open the Conditions page in the permit details. Review permit conditions that might affect the inspection status and apply conditions. An icon indicates the type of condition that was applied, such as a hold or lock. If there are multiple conditions applied to the permit, the most severe condition is displayed here. For more information about conditions, see Applying Conditions to Applications.
Attachments	View the number of documents attached to the inspection. Click to open the Attachments page, where you can review or upload attachments or documents related to the inspection, such as videos or annotated photos. On the Attachments page, you can also search for, filter, and sort attachments and select which inspection attachments you want to view. You can choose to view all documents, documents attached at the inspection level, or documents for checklists and checklist items.
Comments	Click to open the Comments page. Review or add comments related to the inspection. Inspector comments are visible to the public unless the agency selects an option to hide them. Go to the Inspection Checklist and Checklist Items pages to view the comments made for checklists and checklist items.
Actions	Click the Actions icon at the bottom of the page to do the following: Update ETA – Update your estimated time of arrival at the property. When an inspection is scheduled, the system automatically assigns an estimated time of arrival (ETA). On the Update ETA page, enter or scroll to a time in 5-minute intervals. You can only update the ETA before the inspection is complete. View Summary Report – View the inspection summary report.
Result	Click this button to calculate the inspection results, based on the evaluation rules set up by the agency. If an inspection is set up with checklists, you can select the result only after all checklists have results. If your inspection is set up by the agency to calculate scores automatically, the system totals the scores for checklists and checklist items. The higher the score, the better the inspection results.
Submit	Click this button to access the Inspection Result page, where you sign off on the inspection and submit signatures for the contractor and property owner, if required.

Viewing the Permit Summary in the Oracle Inspector Application

You view a permit summary on the Overview page, where you get a snapshot of information regarding a permit with links to more detail.

For more information about the Overview page and its functionality on a laptop or desktop computer, see Viewing the Permit Summary.

To open the Overview page, click the permit ID link under the inspection type on the Inspection Details page. When you access the Overview page, you can:

• Review a summary of property, applicant, workflow, and inspections information.

• Add or update an expiration date for the permit.

• Add or update a description of the permit.

• Print the building permit to a PDF file.

• Access project and fee details.

If the permit application is associated with a project or there are fees and payments, you can click the information that is displayed on the Overview page to access details. You can also access project and fee details by using the navigation menu located on the page title.

This example illustrates the Permit Overview page in the Oracle Inspector.

Working with Conditions

If conditions have been applied to a permit, an icon appears on various pages to indicate the type of condition, such as lock, hold, or notice. If there are multiple conditions applied to the permit, the most severe condition is displayed, that is, a lock. When you access the Conditions page by clicking the Conditions button on the Inspection Details page, you can:

• Review existing conditions applied to the permit.

• Review condition details.

• Resolve existing conditions.

• Apply new conditions.

A permit condition can prevent an inspector from submitting the inspection results. In that case, a message indicates details about the condition that was applied.

This example illustrates the Conditions page containing the field values described in the following table.

Page Element	Description
Apply Condition	Click this button to add a new restriction to the permit. See Applying Conditions to Applications.
Resolve	Click this button to resolve the restriction that was applied to the permit.
	Click the detail icon to access condition details. You can resolve the condition on the details page.

Opening the Map View

Use the map icon to open a map view on these pages:

• My Inspection Tasks

• Inspection Detail

The map icon looks like this:

Click the map icon on the My Inspection Tasks page to view the location of inspections scheduled for the day.

Click the map icon on the Inspection Detail page to view the property location of the selected inspection:

In addition to an interactive map, the map view includes the inspection name, inspection number, property address, and scheduled date and time of the inspection.

Using Inspection Checklists

An inspection can have one or more checklists that cover the scope of the codes and requirements. At the checklist level, you can:

• View results progress, if the inspection has checklist items.

• Access checklist items.

• Provide a result for the checklist.

• Review or add checklist attachments.

• Review or add checklist comments.

This example illustrates the Inspection Checklist page containing the field values described in the following table. The inspection is scheduled with no results provided yet.

Page Elements	Description
Checklist	Click the checklist row to open the Checklist Items page.
Result	Displays No Result, Pass, or Fail after calculating the entered checklist results, where No Result is the default value if the checklist results have not been added. Results are defined by the agency. Common results are Pass, Fail, Corrected on Site, Not Applicable, and Not Observed. If the inspection was set up by the agency to use scoring, the system automatically populates the result based on the scoring method. If scoring is not used, the inspector must manually add the result. Caution: You can’t update the inspection result on the checklist items, checklists, and inspection when a condition to prevent the inspection result has been applied. You must resolve the issue first and when necessary, reschedule the inspection.
Progress indicator	Displays percentage in a progress ring and count how many of the checklist items have been evaluated.
Comments	Click to open the Comments page for the checklist level. Review or add comments related to the checklist.
Attachments	View the number of documents attached to the inspection. Click to open the Attachments page, where you can review or upload attachments or documents related to the inspection, such as videos or annotated photos. On the Attachments page, you can also search for, filter, and sort attachments and select which inspection attachments you want to view. You can choose to view all documents, documents attached at the inspection level, or documents for checklists and checklist items.

Working with Checklist Items

Depending on the permit requirements, an inspection may have checklists with one or more checklist items, or none at all. On the Checklist Items page, you can:

• View a list of checklist items.

• Enter a result for each checklist item.

• Click a checklist item to access the Checklist Item Results page.

This example illustrates the Checklist Items page described in the surrounding text. There are no results entered for the checklist items.

Select a result for each checklist item. When you choose a failing result for a checklist item, the Inspection Result Items page opens so that you can add comments and attachments as support documents for the failing result. For information about comments and attachments, see the information about comments and attachments at the inspection and checklist levels.

You can also select a result for multiple checklist items by using the Edit button. In this case you must assign the same result to all of the selected items.

Click the checklist item row to open the Checklist Item Result page.

On the Checklist Item Result page, you can:

• Review or add checklist attachments.

• Review or add checklist comments.

• Scroll through the item results.

This example illustrates the Checklist Item Result page described in the surrounding text. No results have been entered for this checklist item.

Submitting Inspection Results

On the Inspection Result page, you can:

• Sign off on the inspection.

• Capture the contractor and property owner signatures.

• Add inspection comments and attachments as support documents.

Note: Inspectors can’t submit a completed inspection if required signatures are missing. The agency determines which signatures are required during the implementation of Oracle Public Sector Permits.

This example illustrates the Inspection Result page, which is described in the surrounding text. The inspection results are complete with required signatures.

Click the row for Inspector, Contractor, or Property Owner to access the field for adding a signature. Click Save.

When you complete an assigned inspection and submit inspection results, the applicant or agency staff receive a notification that the inspection is complete, regardless of the inspection results. The communication includes an overview of the inspection status change and the result of the inspection. Your agency determines whether the notification is sent by email or online notification when the user logs into the permits service.

When you submit the final inspection for a permit with a passing result, the permit technician or applicant receives a notification or email, depending on the communication template setup.

Installing and Configuring Oracle Inspector

You must install and configure the Oracle Inspector to use the mobile inspections application in the field.

Oracle Public Sector Compliance and Regulation provides a mobile inspections application for agency staff to download and install on their mobile devices. The Oracle Inspector mobile application is not intended for use by the public. Although the Oracle Inspector mobile application is intended mainly for phones, you can download the application to other mobile devices, such as tablets.

Before You Begin

Before you begin installing and configuring the Oracle Inspector mobile application, you must have:

• An agency staff profile

  Make sure that you have an agency staff profile to log into the mobile application. Because the application package configuration is secure, you must enter your login credentials before the environment begins to download. Agency administrators set up the agency staff profiles.

• Appropriate security

  Agency administrators must explicitly grant mobile application access to you. You can open the application but need the proper credentials. The only roles that have access to the mobile application are building inspector and inspector supervisor.

For more information for agency system administrators setting up profiles and security, see Setting Up Users for Oracle Mobile Applications.

Installing Oracle Inspector

You must install the Oracle Inspector mobile application on your mobile device from the iOS App Store for Apple iOS devices or Google Play for Android devices. Follow the instructions for installing Oracle Inspector provided by the application store.

Configuring the Oracle Inspector Environment

1. On your mobile device, access the email that you have received from your administrator and click the Mobile Application Activation link.

2. Click the Agree button on the End User License Agreement page the first time you open Oracle Inspector or when you reinstall the mobile application.

   You must agree to proceed to the next step.

3. The confirmation page appears with the Application Host URL automatically populated. Click the Get Started button.

4. Because the application package configuration is secure, you must enter your login credentials before the environment begins to download. Enter your user ID and password.

5. Select the Save user ID check box, if desired. The next time you return after logging out, you don’t have to reenter your user ID.

6. After your login credentials are successfully authenticated, the setup page appears with a progress bar displaying the progress of the package download.

   Note: While the mobile application is downloading, don’t minimize the configuration page or open another application.

7. After installation completes, the application home page – My Inspection Tasks – appears for the current day.

For more information about inspection tasks in Oracle Inspector, see Oracle Inspector Overview.

Resetting the Application Host URL

If the agency administrators want you to use a new URL, you can reset the URL through the application.

To change the host URL:

1. Log in to Oracle Inspector.

2. Click the global navigation button in the upper left corner of the application.

   When you click the button, you’ll see a list of menu items.

3. Click the Reset Application URL link in the menu to open the Reset Application URL page.

4. Enter the desired application host URL in the field.

5. Click the Update button.

6. Log back into Oracle Inspector using your login credentials.

Performing Offline Mobile Inspections

You can perform mobile inspections using offline functionality in locations where you don’t have access to the agency's servers.

When you don't have Internet access while using Oracle Inspector, you still can perform many of your inspection-related tasks. When the Internet connection is restored, your data is synchronized with permits in your agency’s system.

The mobile service for Oracle Inspector downloads data to your mobile device for use offline. When your Internet connection is restored, the mobile service sends data about all the performed actions to your agency’s Permits Cloud and updates the data in the server. The actions performed offline are transferred, and the changes you made in the offline mode are updated with the changes in the permit application. This way, data in your mobile device browser is synchronized with the permits data.

Notifications on the My Inspection Tasks page let you know the offline status of Oracle Inspector. These are the icons displayed when the offline mode is enabled.

Icon	Description
	Download in Progress
	Download Error
	Synchronization in Progress
	Synchronization Error

Before You Begin

Your agency determines whether you can work offline. You can also enable or disable the offline mode on your mobile device in Offline Settings found in the application menu.

Data Is Downloaded to Your Device

While you’re working online, your inspections for the day are downloaded to your device. The Download in Progress icon notifies you when the mobile service is downloading the data from the agency’s server to your mobile device. You must wait for the icon to disappear, indicating the download is complete, before performing actions. Keep the application in the foreground while downloading data to ensure all of the data is downloaded. Don’t minimize the application or open another application while data is downloading.

If there’s an interruption in network connectivity, the mobile service automatically restarts downloading the data when the network is available again until the download is complete.

Downloaded data is stored for an amount of time determined by your agency. After this time the data will be refreshed, which means more recent data is downloaded the next time you use the application online. Use the Refresh Data button to refresh your data if the data has changed since it was last downloaded.

Perform Inspections While You’re Offline

You can view, create, and edit inspection records in the offline mode, and then the mobile service will sync them once the network connection is restored. This includes comments, supporting documents, and required signatures.

If you can’t add results, check with your administrator to see if your agency is using a different scoring method. You can also view the permit record and details when you’re online to see if a condition has been placed on the permit. Once any issues are resolved and all of the required results and signatures are complete, you can submit the inspection. All of the actions you perform are sent to the agency’s server when you’re back online.

Note: Any features that need to interact with online data, or interact with other applications, are not available offline. These include maps and reports.

Offline Updates Are Saved

When you are working offline, you can see all of the data that was saved onto the device while you were online. The changes you make will be synchronized to the server when you’re back online.

When the application is in offline mode, you can’t view any updates that were made by other inspectors or the agency to the inspection data since the application changed to offline mode, because of the absence of a network connection. You can view those data updates only after refreshing the data that is cached.

Offline Data Is Synchronized

Your data synchronizes automatically every 5 minutes when the device detects a network connection and goes online. You’ll see the Synchronization in Progress icon during the synch process.

Caution: If you disable the offline mode after performing actions and before synchronizing with the agency’s servers, you’ll lose the work you did offline. Wait until synchronization is complete before disabling the offline mode. Check with your system administrator if you receive persistent errors.

Resolve Synchronization Errors

If there are problems synchronizing the data, the Synchronization Errors icon appears. Tap the icon to view the Sync Errors page. You can also find a list of inspections that have synchronization issues by accessing the mobile menu item Offline Sync Status.

Either you or the inspections supervisor can then go to the Offline Synch Management navigation menu accessed through a desktop or laptop to troubleshoot errors for a particular inspection. The error description indicates the problem, which you can fix while online on your desktop or laptop.

For example, you may need to resolve a condition placed on a permit while you were offline, causing a synchronization error. After you’ve fixed the problem, you can manually synchronize with your mobile device and refresh the data from the error management page.

If you are online and the synchronization is causing errors, you can disable the offline mode on your mobile device in Offline Settings found in the mobile application menu, and continue to work online. You’ll lose any new work you performed if you disable the offline mode while offline. Check with your system administrator if you receive persistent errors.