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Submit a Work Order for Approval

When the technician finishes the job on site, they submit the work order for the office to review. The button is labeled Complete Work Order because that's what the technician just did — finished the work — but the resulting status is waiting_approval. The office then reviews and either approves it (status completed) or sends it back to ongoing for fixes.

This guide describes the web-app experience. The TuffOps Driver mobile app uses the same status transition under the hood, but its on-screen flow is documented separately.

Before you start​

  • The work order is in ongoing status. From pending you can't submit — start the work order first. From paused you can't submit either; resume it back to ongoing first.
  • You're the technician on the work order, or you have the work_orders.supervise permission.
  • You've finished the work and updated the Items card with what was actually used. The items card drives the customer's invoice and any compliance reporting.
  • You've completed every required checklist item. Optional items can be skipped with a confirmation.
  • For units with refrigerant work, the EPA charge log is filled in for every regulated item. The compliance guard blocks submission otherwise.
  • The customer is on site and able to sign — or you'll mark Customer is not present.

Steps​

  1. Open the work order

    Select Work Orders in the top navigation bar, then select the Edit action for the work order you just finished. The Status card shows the Ongoing badge.

  2. Submit your work

    Select the yellow Complete Work Order button in the Status card.

  3. Clear any blocking checks

    Before the signature pad opens, TuffOps verifies a few things. If anything fails, you'll see a popup. Fix it, then select Complete Work Order again.

    • Model Identification Required — the unit's model is unknown. Use the Identify Unit Model action on the unit card.
    • QR Code Required — the unit doesn't have a QR code. Scan one in the unit card.
    • Serial Number Required — the unit's serial number is missing. Use the serial extraction action on the unit card.
    • Required Checklist Items — one or more required checklist items aren't done. The popup lists how many. Open the Checklists section and tick each one.
    • Optional checklist items not completed — soft warning shown as a banner on the Status card. Tick the I understand, proceed anyway checkbox in the banner, then select Complete Work Order again.

  4. (Optional) Link related units

    If TuffOps detects other units at the same site that look like they connect (e.g. an outdoor condenser and an indoor air handler), a popup asks Does this unit connect to another unit at this location? Tick the connections that apply, select Link & Continue, or Skip.

  5. (Optional) Decide on bulk signature

    If the customer has more than one work order from you today, the signature modal shows two options. Bulk sign later (default) skips the signature here — once every other work order for this customer is also at Waiting Approval, the last one's signature applies to all of them. Sign this one captures a signature now for this work order only.

  6. Capture the customer signature

    The Customer Signature modal opens with a signing canvas.

    • Hand the device to the customer to sign with finger or stylus. The pad supports both touch and mouse.
    • To redo, select Clear.
    • If the customer isn't there, tick Customer is not present. The signature pad disappears and the work order completes without a signature.

  7. (Installation only) Confirm service acceptance

    For installation work orders on a unit that hasn't yet been accepted, the modal asks Does the customer agree to servicing?. Select Yes or No. The answer is saved to the unit and decides whether TuffOps treats the unit as covered by future service agreements.

  8. (If missing) Add the customer's contact info

    If the customer has no email or phone on file, a red banner asks for one. The customer types in their email or phone — at least one is required. The information is saved to the customer record so you don't have to ask again.

  9. Submit

    Select the green Submit button.

  10. Allow location access

    The button text changes to Getting location... with a spinner. Your browser prompts for location permission if it hasn't already. Select Allow. GPS lookup times out after 10 seconds. If it fails or you decline, the work order still submits but no completion coordinates are saved.

  11. Wait for confirmation

    The modal closes and the page reloads. The Status card now shows the yellow Waiting Approval badge with a Job Done: <timestamp> line beneath it.

What happens next​

  • Status is waiting_approval. job_completed_at is filled with the current server time.
  • The customer signature image is saved to the work order. If you opted to Sign this one, only this work order has the signature. If you used Bulk sign later and this is the last sibling at Waiting Approval, the signature is propagated to every sibling work order without one.
  • For installation work orders, the unit's is_service_accepted flag is updated based on the customer's answer.
  • If you supplied a missing email or phone, the customer record is updated.
  • A new status history entry is created with your name, timestamp, and GPS coordinates if captured. Office users can review it from the History link on the Status card.
  • A Work order is now waiting approval alert fires for users watching the alert feed (typically supervisors).
  • The Items card and most editable fields are now read-only for technicians. To make further changes you'll need a supervisor to send the work order back to ongoing.
  • The Status card now shows the next-step buttons available to supervisors:
    • Approve & Complete — final approval, status moves to completed. customer_signed_off_at is filled. Unit timestamps update based on work order type (installation, service, maintenance).
    • Cancel — supervisor cancellation.
  • Once completed, supervisors can later mark the work order as Mark as Billed when the invoice has been issued.

Common situations​

SituationWhat to do
Customer wants to sign but the screen is too smallThe pad fills the modal width. Rotate the device to landscape for more room. Stylus works better than finger on small canvases.
Customer disputes one of the itemsDon't submit. Open the Items card, fix the quantities or remove the line, save, then Complete Work Order.
Job is done but you're missing a partDon't submit — pause instead. Use Pause Work Order in the Status card so the office knows you're waiting on parts. Resume and complete when the part arrives.
Multiple work orders at one customer, one for each unitUse the Bulk sign later option for every work order until the last one. On the last work order, the signature you collect is automatically saved to every sibling.
Customer prefers email/photo proof of completion instead of signingTick Customer is not present to skip the signature, then send the PDF report from the supervisor view.
Refrigerant work order won't submitThe compliance guard is blocking. Open the Items card, find the regulated refrigerant lines, and complete every required charge field (event type, designation, technician certification, destination). Re-submit.

Troubleshooting​

You don't see the Complete Work Order button.

The work order isn't in ongoing status. Check the Status card. If it's pending, start the work order first. If it's paused, resume it. If it's already waiting_approval or later, you're done — no action needed.

You get Cannot complete work order: N required checklist items must be completed first.

Open the Checklists section on the work order. Required items have a red marker. Tick each one off, then try again. If you have the checklists.bypass_required_items permission, the block is lifted automatically.

The signature modal opens but the canvas is blank and tapping does nothing.

The canvas didn't initialize. Close the modal and re-open it by selecting Complete Work Order again. If your device has stylus mode enabled, palm rejection may be ignoring touch input — try with a finger or disable palm rejection.

You get This status transition is not allowed.

Two people opened the work order and another user changed the status. Reload the page to see the current state.

You get Please select whether the customer agrees to servicing.

The work order is an installation and the unit hasn't been accepted before. Pick Yes or No in the Does the customer agree to servicing? group, then submit again.

Status changed to Waiting Approval but no signature is on file.

You ticked Customer is not present or chose Bulk sign later. The Status card on a supervisor's view shows the No signature collected (customer not present) note in that case. Office can collect a signature later if needed.

You get an EPA compliance error you don't understand.

The work order has a regulated refrigerant line missing required fields. Open the Items card, expand the regulated line, and fill every required compliance field. If you genuinely can't supply something (rare), a supervisor with the override permission can submit on your behalf.