Checklists are the lists of tasks a technician works through on each body of water during a service visit: brush the walls, empty the skimmer baskets, test and balance the water. Chisel Tide keeps one checklist per type of body of water (in-ground pool, above-ground pool, spa, fountain or other), with one default list for each type, so a property with a pool and a spa can show the technician a different list for each.
Checklists are managed from Service Plans → Checklists in the admin app. Anyone with office access can create and edit them.
Service visits now use the checklist for each body of water. A visit takes the pool's assigned checklist, or the default checklist for its type. An organization that has not created any checklists yet keeps using the service plan template's checklist until checklists exist.
Why checklists moved off service plans
A service plan describes what a customer pays for and how often a technician visits. The tasks the technician performs depend more on what they are servicing than on which plan the customer is on: a spa needs its cover wiped and its water retested, a fountain needs debris cleared, and neither needs the pool sweep bag emptied.
Keeping the task list on the plan template meant one list for the whole property, and a near-copy of that list on every template. Keeping it on the type of body of water means:
One list to maintain per type, instead of one per plan template.
A property with several bodies of water gets one checklist for each, all on the same service plan.
Adding a spa to a property is enough to give it the spa checklist.
Types of bodies of water and defaults
Every body of water on a property has a type, set on the property in the admin app or from the route screen in the mobile app. Each type has one default checklist, which every body of water of that type gets unless it is later given a different one.
Type
Typical default
In-ground pool
Your standard weekly pool service list
Above-ground pool
Usually a copy of the pool list, trimmed
Spa
A shorter list: wipe the water line and cover, test, balance, retest
Fountain
Clear debris, check the pump, test and balance
Other
Whatever fits the odd cases, such as hot tubs recorded as "Other" or splash pads
You can define as many checklists as you like for a type (for example a Chem Only or Mini Service list alongside the full-service default), and you can assign a specific checklist to an individual pool when editing the pool, for a property that needs an exception. Pools without an explicit choice use the default for their type.
Because checklists are chosen by type, a spa recorded as an in-ground pool will get the pool checklist. Check that each body of water on your properties is named and typed correctly. The Checklists page shows a warning under any type that has no default.
Creating a checklist
Open Service Plans and click Checklists, to the left of Create template.
Click New checklist.
Enter a Name. Names must be unique within your company; capitalization does not make two names different.
Choose the Body of water the list is written for.
Tick Default for … if this should be the list every body of water of that type gets. If the type already has a default, this one replaces it.
Click Create checklist. You land on the checklist's task editor with an empty list.
Editing tasks
Click a checklist's name, or choose Edit tasks from its menu, to open the Checklist Editor. It is the same three-column editor used for plan-template checklists:
Items: the list of tasks in the order the technician sees them. Click Add for a new task; the trash icon on a selected task removes it.
Edit Item: the selected task's details:
Task name: what the technician reads, for example "Empty skimmer baskets".
Category: Chemistry, Cleaning, Equipment or Other. Sets the icon the technician sees.
Est. minutes: expected time. The list page adds these up to show a checklist's total.
Required: required tasks must be checked off before the technician can complete the stop. Optional tasks never block completion.
Instructions for tech: shown when the technician expands the task. Keep it to a short paragraph.
Tech's view: a live preview of the list as the mobile app renders it.
Click Save Changes to save. The menu at the top right offers Export CSV and Import CSV, so a list can be copied to another checklist or edited in a spreadsheet. The CSV columns are Name, Category, Estimated Minutes, Required and Instructions.
Mark a task Required only when the visit is genuinely incomplete without it. Every required task is a gate on completing the stop, and technicians can bypass a gate only by recording that they could not complete the checklist and saying why.
Managing a checklist
Each row on the Checklists page shows the checklist's name, a Default badge where it applies, and a summary: the number of tasks, how many are required, and the total estimated time. The menu on the right offers:
Edit tasks: opens the Checklist Editor.
Edit details: rename the checklist or change the type of body of water it is for. Changing the type of the current default demotes it, so pick the defaults again afterwards.
Make default: makes this list the default for its type and demotes the current one. You are asked to confirm, and the confirmation names the list being replaced.
Archive: retires a list you no longer want offered. Archived lists are hidden unless you tick Show archived checklists, and can be restored from their menu at any time. A type's current default cannot be archived; make another list the default first.
A type gives up its default only when another list takes it. There is no way to leave a type with no default by accident, and the page warns you if a type has none.
What technicians see in the mobile app
On a service visit, the Checklist card on the stop lists the tasks with a progress bar. The card is locked until the technician has taken a before photo. Tapping a task checks it off, and tapping a task with instructions expands them. The completion summary counts required tasks; the technician can complete the stop once every required task is checked, or by choosing Could not complete checklist and writing a note for the office.
The card shows one run of tasks per body of water, each under its own heading such as Main Pool or Spa, and the workflow stepper at the top of the stop gains one checklist step per body of water. Voice control follows the same shape: "brush walls is done" ticks the current body of water's task, "the spa's first item is done" names one, and "everything is done" ticks what is left on the body of water the technician is working on.
Technicians can add a body of water from the route screen (Bodies of water → Add Pool), and a new one gets the default checklist for its type.
Checklists and service plan templates
Both exist side by side:
Plan template checklist
Checklists page
Where
Service Plans → template → Edit Checklist
Service Plans → Checklists
Scope
One list for every property on the plan
One list per type of body of water
Seen by technicians
Only when your organization has no checklists yet
Yes
Seasonal variants
Yes
No: seasons keep price and cadence only
Template checklists only matter until you have set up the per-type checklists: once your organization has checklists, visits take their lists from the Checklists page and the template's list is no longer used.
Troubleshooting
A type shows "No default — pools of this type get no checklist". Create a checklist for that type, or open an existing one's menu and choose Make default.
Archive is not offered for a checklist. It is the default for its type. Make another list the default first.
"A checklist with this name already exists." Names are unique per company, ignoring capitalization. Rename the new list, or edit the existing one.
A technician sees the old list. This happens when the organization has no checklists yet, so visits fall back to the plan template's checklist. Create the per-type checklists and set each type's default.
Someone else changed the default at the same time. The page tells you which list was just made the default. Refresh and choose again.
