It is possible to create Inspections using a spreadsheet file that is compatible with the data format presented in this article.
Using that import file, you can create new inspections, or upload an already completed / legacy inspection with previously recorded results and findings.
And vice-versa: it is possible to export an existing inspection from Inspection Manager to Excel, then rework the Excel file (for example, check for spelling mistakes / add predefined comments to checklist items) and upload it back to Inspection Manager with a new title and inspection details.
Import File Template
To assist while reading this page, download a template file from:
Resources page → Demo.xlsx file and use it as a reference.
Azenzus Inspection Manager → Create Inspection → Fill in the name and other properties → Download import template.
Azenzus Inspection Manager → Create Inspection → Fill in the name and other properties → Create from existing section → Select some of existing inspections → Download to edit.
General Notes
All data of the same object should be defined in one spreadsheet.
The names of the sheets must be spelled precisely as described in the table below.
Header names should be defined in row 1 of each sheet.
Header names are case-sensitive.
The order of sheets does not matter.
The order of the columns in the sheets Location and Asset also defines order of the properties on screen in Azenzus Inspection Manager and Azenzus Inspection Apps
The system ignores additional sheets added by the user.
The spreadsheet must be saved in MS Excel file format (.xls).
Preparation of the Individual Spreadsheets
The syntax Sheet name>Column name is used here for the references between sheets and columns in order to provide guidance how the different sheets are connected.
Placeholders <…> are used as a substitution for user-defined values.
Sheet 1: LocationThis sheet specifies where the Asset is physically located. | ||||
Header | Data entry | Data type | Description | Data Example |
External Id | Mandatory | Unique whole number | A number that uniquely identifies each row. | 101 |
Name | Mandatory | Text | Name of the Location | Area 1 |
Tag | Optional | Text | Tag of the location | 332.BCSS1.150 |
GPS coordinates
| Optional | GPS point | GPS coordinates of the location | 51.5104742, -0.112643564 |
<Property name> | Optional | Text | Any number of user-defined properties can be added to the Location sheet. Avoid using special characters in the header, round or square brackets, etc. | |
Warning! Location properties groupingFor grouping of user-defined properties, the headers should have the following syntax: <<Property group.Property name>> Example Three properties Street, House number, and Postal code shall be added to the same property group called Address. Add the following header values to the spreadsheet:
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Sheet 2: LocationAttachmentThis sheet specifies the Attachments that shall be added to the Locations. This sheet could be left empty if none of the attachments has to be added to Location. It is possible to add documents and pictures as attachments to Location. For more details how attachments are used in Azenzus Inspection Manager see here. | ||||
Header | Data entry | Data type | Description | Data Example |
External Id | Mandatory | Whole number | Identifies the External Id of the Location where attachment has to be added (see above Sheet 1: Location>External Id). In case if several attachments has to be added to the same Location, this number has to repeat for every row | 1 2 |
Path to attachment | Mandatory | Formula | HYPERLINK formula that references path to teh file relative to the location of the spreadsheet | =HYPERLINK("attachment/819.photo.jpg";"819.photo.jpg") =HYPERLINK("attachment/safety_manual.pdf";"manual.pdf") |
Attachment type | Mandatory | Text | Defines the type of the attachment that has to be added. The allowed values are:
| PHOTO DOCUMENT |
Comment | Optional | Text | Comment that has to be shown next to attachment | Picture of the area Safety manual |
Attachment upload recommendationsIn order to upload attachments they has to be placed in the subfolder next to the original spreadsheet file and referenced by the relative path. Before upload, spreadsheet file and subfolder with attachments has to be zipped in one file and sent to upload as a ZIP file. Example ZIP folder structure Inspection_pumps.xls attachment/819.photo.jpg attachment/safety_manual.pdf Example of upload sheet for Location attachments  Note that lines 2 and 3 will make sure that Location with External Id 1 will have two attachments - Area overview photo and Safety manual document | ||||
Sheet 3: AssetThis sheet specifies the Asset data to be inspected and defines checklist items set that has ot be used for inspection. | ||||
Header | Data entry | Data type | Description | Data Example |
External Id | Mandatory | Unique whole number | A number that uniquely identifies each row. | 1 2 |
Location External Id | Mandatory | Whole number | Identifies the External Id of the Location where Asset is placed (see above Sheet 1: Location>External Id). Several pieces of an Asset can be referenced to the same Location. | 101 102 |
Types | Mandatory | Text | Defines the set of Checklist Items (see Sheet 5: Checklist). This can be used to build complex checksheets. Use semicolon (;) as separator to add more types to the same asset | Pump Pump:Centrifugal Pump:Centrifugal;System:WaterTreatment |
Inspection type | Mandatory | Text | A value that describes how the Asset shall be inspected (see Sheet 5: Checklist) Use comma (,) as separator to have several Inspection types. | Daily Daily,Monthly |
Name | Mandatory | Text | Name of the Asset. | Pump skid |
Tag | Optional | Text | Tag of asset | |
GPS coordinates
| Optional | GPS Coordinates | GPS coordinates of the Asset | 51.5104742, -0.112643564 |
<Property name> | Optional | Text | Any number of user-defined properties can be added to the Asset sheet. Avoid using special characters in the header, round or square brackets, etc Each property will require a new column in the check sheet. | C2351200 |
Asset properties groupingFor grouping of user-defined properties, the headers should have the following syntax: <<Property group.Property name>> Example Two properties Voltage and Power shall be added to the same property group called Electrical. Add the following header values to the spreadsheet:
Asset property valuesSince in the Asset sheet we can have asset of different types and with different set of properties, the special value <N/A> is used to signal that property shall not be added to given asset record line. Example Inspection import file has to contain assets of types Pump station cabinet and Controller. The Pump station cabinet assets has to have following properties:
The Controller assets has to have following properties:
The sheet assets will then have the following records to upload inspection with Pump station cabinet and Controller assets (corresponding Asset type is set in column C (Types) and default inspection type is set in column D. 
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Sheet 4: AssetAttachmentThis sheet specifies the Attachments that shall be added to the Assets. This sheet could be left empty if none of the attachments has to be added to Asset. It is possible to add documents and pictures as attachments to Asset. For more details how attachments are used in Azenzus Inspection Manager see here. | ||||
Header | Data entry | Data type | Description | Data Example |
External Id | Mandatory | Whole number | Identifies the External Id of the Asset to which attachment has to be added (see above Sheet 3: Asset>External Id). In case if several attachments has to be added to the same Asset, this number has to repeat for every row | 1 2 |
Path to attachment | Mandatory | Formula | HYPERLINK formula that references path to the file relative to the location of the spreadsheet | =HYPERLINK("attachment/819.photo.jpg";"819.photo.jpg") =HYPERLINK("attachment/safety_manual.pdf";"manual.pdf") |
Attachment type | Mandatory | Text | Defines the type of the attachment that has to be added. The allowed values are:
| PHOTO DOCUMENT |
Comment | Optional | Text | Comment that has to be shown next to attachment | Picture of the area Safety manual |
Attachment upload recommendationsIn order to upload attachments they has to be placed in the subfolder next to the original spreadsheet file and referenced by the relative path. Before upload, spreadsheet file and subfolder with attachments has to be zipped in one file and sent to upload as a ZIP file. Example ZIP folder structure Inspection_pumps.xls attachment/819.photo.jpg attachment/safety_manual.pdf Example of upload sheet for Asset attachments  Note that lines 2 to 4 will upload 3 photos to the same Asset with External Id = 1 | ||||
Sheet 5: ChecklistThis sheet defines list of Checklist Items that has to be answered for particular type of the Asset. As mentioned earlier, for the each Asset defined in the Sheet 3: Asset, when providing the Asset’s property Types it will link the Asset with the Checklist and Checklist Items defined in this sheet. For further flexibility of the Checklists, beside of Types it is also possible to specify the Inspection types for the Checklist in order to define what set of questions shall be asked during different types of inspection. See example below for the further explanation how does Types and Inspection types can be used define which Checklist Items shall be used during inspection. | ||||
Header | Data entry | Data type | Description | Data Example |
Group | Mandatory | Text | When there are numerous Checklist Items, grouping them provides a better overview. Thus, having a check sheet with similar Checklist Items grouped together is a huge advantage. | External inspection |
Checklist Item Id | Mandatory | Unique whole number | A number that uniquely identifies each row. | 1 |
Checklist Item | Mandatory | Text | Definition of the Checklist Item question or statement. | Electrical insulation is clean and dry. |
<Types> | Mandatory | Text | For each Type defined in the Sheet 3: Asset column, create a column with corresponding header. The Types are used to assign which exact Checklist Items should be performed on which Asset during inspection | Visual.Detailed |
TypesExample - Map a Checklist Item to an Asset. We need to inspect pump stations where we want to inspect condition of the Pump station cabinet and PLC Controller. For the list of assets that has to be inspected and listed in the Sheet 3: Asset we used two (2) asset types as defined in the column C ( Types ): Cabinet and Controller. We also plan to have two types of inspections that will be executed across the sites - Daily inspection and Monthly inspection. On the Daily inspection we plan to perform very few checks and on Monthly inspection perform full-blown visual inspection of the installation site. The default inspection type is defined in the Sheet 3: Asset column D ( Inspection type ) On the Checklist sheet we have to create the following headers: Group, Checklist Item Id, Checklist Item and two additional columns for each asset type in order to mark what Checklist Item questions has to be asked for each asset type, so we create columns Cabinet and Controller (the names shall be the same as defined in Sheet 3: Asset>Types ) For the each CheckList Item we can define if it is relevant for the particular asset Type by providing the value of the Inspection type where this Checklist Item has to be presented to inspector. If the Checklist Item is related to several types of inspection, we separate them by commas (Daily,Monthly). For instance on the screen below we define that:
 When actual inspection will be performed, the inspection checklist for Daily inspection of the assets of type Cabinet will have following Checklist Items:
The inspection checklist for Daily inspection of the assets of type Controller will have only one Checklist Item:
The inspection checklist for Monthly inspection of the assets of type Cabinet will have the following Checklist Items:
The inspection checklist for Monthly inspection of the assets of type Controller will have the following Checklist Items:
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Sheet 6: ChecklistDetailsIn this sheet we define additional (often optional) detailed information for each CheckList Items. This sheet has to have a line for each line in Sheet 5: Checklist | ||||
Header | Data entry | Data type | Description | Data Example |
Checklist Item Id | Mandatory | Unique whole number | A reference to the Sheet 5: Checklist>Checklist Item Id. | 1 |
Checklist Item | Mandatory | Text | Definition of the Checklist Item question or statement. This is the same as the Sheet 5: Checklist>Checklist Item and is used only to improve readability of the sheet for QA purposes | Electrical insulation is clean and dry. |
Comments | Optional | Text | A list of predefined comments that the inspector might use to record his observations. Different observations can be added here separated by semicolon. Use semicolon (;) as separator. | clean;dirty;wet;dry |
Severity | Optional | Text | A list of predefined severities separated by semicolon. Use semicolon (;) as separator. | low;medium;high |
Corrective Actions | Optional | Text | A list of predefined disciplines separated by semicolon. Use semicolon (;) as separator. | cleaned;replaced |
Documentation Caption | Optional | Object | HTML-formatted text can be inserted into the cell and used as provide additional documentation ot the inspector that might help him to properly judge the status or reminds him about important procedures, acceptable limits, etc. The text must not contain more than 5.000 characters. If the field is empty, the field will not appear in the Inspector App. | See DWG No.1234 |
This sheet has to have a line for each line in the Sheet 5: Checklist | ||||
Example of upload sheet for ChecklistDetails 
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Sheet 7: ChecklistStatusThis sheet defines possible statuses (answers) for the checklist item. It is possible to define additional actions and fields that has to be presented to user based on the status selected in the checklist. | ||||
Header | Data entry | Data type | Description | Data Example |
Checklist Item Id | Mandatory | Unique whole number | A reference to the Sheet 5: Checklist>Checklist Item Id. | 1 |
Checklist Item | Mandatory | Text | Definition of the Checklist Item question or statement. | Electrical insulation is clean and dry. |
Status | Mandatory | Text | One Checklist Item can have several user-defined statuses. This field provides status descriptions that will be present to user when filling the checklist. For each status, a new row with Checklist Item Id and Checklist Item fields shall be added. The list MUST contain at least one Status value. | Not inspected Passed Failed Not Applicable |
Status Type | Mandatory | Text | Specifies status type used by system in order to perform checklist progress calculation and to signal if the checklist item response is positive or negative. List of the allowed values is shown below. Possible types only:
Each Checklist Item MUST contain one DEFAULT status type. | DEFAULT PASSED FAILED |
Ask for Details | Optional | Boolean | If the value is true, then the Mobile App will load the Comments screen where the user can type comments or select predefined ones from the list Sheet 6: ChecklistDetails>Comments. The user can always manually open the Comments screen in the Mobile App even if the value is false. | true false |
Show Severity | Optional | Boolean | If the value is true then on the Comments screen in the Mobile App a field Severity will be shown. The inspector can enter the severity or select predefined ones from the list Sheet 6: Checklist Details>Severity | true false |
Show Correction Action | Optional | Boolean | If the value is true then on the Comments screen in the Mobile App a field Corrective action will be shown. The inspector can enter the suggested corrective actions (as defined in Sheet 6: Checklist Details>Corrective Action ) or select from recently provided corrective actions. | true false |
This sheet has to have a line for each status required for the checklist item from the Sheet 5: Checklist | ||||
Example of upload sheet for ChecklistStatus  Note:
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