Update · Field operations
What belongs in a field note
"Replaced part, tested, ok" is where invoicing disputes begin. Seven fields turn a fragment into a record that survives a callback.
In short
A field note needs seven things: the presenting complaint, equipment identification, findings with measurements, work performed in order, parts used, the system state on departure, and any recommended follow-up. A note missing the last two is the one that costs you at invoicing or on a callback six months later.
A technician writing on a phone in a crawlspace produces fragments. The office needs a record that supports an invoice and still makes sense when the customer calls back in March.
The seven fields
- Presenting complaint — what the customer actually reported, in their words.
- Equipment — make, model, serial, approximate age, location on site.
- Findings — what was observed or measured. Numbers where numbers exist.
- Work performed — actions taken, in order.
- Parts used — description and quantity.
- System state on departure — operational, partially operational, shut down, or isolated.
- Recommended follow-up — deferred or declined work, and that the customer was told.
The two that get skipped
Six and seven. They are also the two that matter most later.
System state on departure is what the next person needs before they arrive. If a service was left isolated and nobody wrote it down, the next visit starts blind.
Recommended follow-up is your record that the customer was informed. Without it, a deferred recommendation becomes a dispute about whether you mentioned it.
On “tested ok”
It is not a finding. It is a phrase that means the technician was finished. If a measurement was taken, record the measurement. If one was not, “no measurement taken” is more honest and more useful than an implied all-clear.
Why measurements matter more than adjectives
“Low on refrigerant” is an opinion. “Measured 42 uF on a 45 uF rated capacitor” is a fact that still means something in six months, to a different technician, in front of a customer who is questioning the invoice.
The difference costs nothing at the time and decides whether the record is usable later. Where a measurement was taken, record the number and the unit. Where a specification exists, record it as written on the plate rather than from memory.
The isolation record
For any job touching gas, water, refrigerant or electrical work, one more thing belongs in the note: what was isolated, at which point, by what method, and whether it was restored before departure.
If a service was left isolated, the note must say so and say who was told. This is the single piece of information whose absence creates real risk rather than merely administrative friction — and it is routinely omitted because the technician knows, and assumes the record is for billing.
It is not. It is for the next person.
Making it stick
Do not solve this by asking for longer notes. Solve it by making the form ask for the seven fields directly, then auditing weekly to find which field goes missing most often.
If the same field is missing across most notes, that is a template problem rather than a person problem, and changing the form fixes the week. Treat the audit as a coaching input, never as a performance rating — note quality reflects where the note gets written, not how much anyone cares.