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Types of Questions for Checklists and Compliance Questionnaires

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Archibus SaaS / Maintenance / Workflow / Define Maintenance Checklist
Maintenance / Corrective Maintenance / Business Manager / Define Maintenance Checklist
Maintenance / Preventive Maintenance / Maintenance Manager / Define Maintenance Checklist
Sustainability & Risk / Compliance / Contract Manager / Define Compliance Questionnaire
Sustainability & Risk / Compliance / Compliance Program Manager / Define Compliance Questionnaire

The extended questionnaire system supports the following types of questions. The Question Type field of the Questions table determines the question and its behavior. For the general procedure on entering questions, see  Define Questions for a Questionnaire, which also covers the basic information you must specify for each question.

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Contents

Yes/No

The Console adds the text Yes, No, N/A. If you add the question to a Yes/No section, the question displays as follows and the section displays the Yes/No options.

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If you add the question to a section other than a Yes/No section, the question lists the Yes/No options in the same row as the question, such as this:

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Define a 'Yes/No Single Choice' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question, Answer Options, and Follow-up Options.

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Pass/Fail

The Console adds the text Pass, Fail, N/A. If you add the question to a Pass/Fail section, the question displays as follows and the section displays the Pass/Fail options.

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If you add the question to a section other than a Pass/Fail section, the question displays the Pass/Fail options in the same row as the question, such as this:

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Define a 'Pass/Fail Single Choice' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question, Answer Options, and Follow-up Options.

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Single Choice

With this question, the user can choose only one response and you can define the answer options.

If you add the question to a Single Choice section, the question displays as follows and the section displays the answer options that you specify as part of the section

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If you add the question to a section other than a Single Choice section, you specify the answer options as part of defining the question. The question displays the answer options in the same row as the question, such as this:

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Define 'Single Choice' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question, Answer Options, and Follow-up Options.

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Multiple Choice

With this multiple choice questions let the user to select one or more responses and they display with a square check box. You define the answer options.

If you add the question to a Multiple Choice section, the question displays as follows. You specify the answer options as part of defining the section. .

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If you add the question to a section other than a Multiple Choice section, the question displays the answer options in the same row as the question. You specify the answer options as part of defining the question.

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For multiple choice questions, you can also decide between short format ("Operates all day" example above) and Long Format as shown in the "Operates all day" questions, below. Set the format using the Display Format option when defining the question.

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Define 'Multiple Choice' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question, Answer Options, and Follow-up Options. 

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Text

A text field presents a field in which the user may enter text to describe a situation or further elaborate on a previous question or clarify other responses.

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Define 'Text' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question.

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When defining a text field, you must specify the maximum size of the allowed entry:

Option Description

Free-form Width

Enter the maximum number of characters that the user can enter in the field. You cannot specify a number larger than 1000.

Date

Surveyors may need to inquire as to a date value from the field, such as the date of last inspected from a tag on an equipment asset, or the last recorded cleaning service in a kitchen or washroom. As a questionnaire designer, you do not specify any additional properties for date fields. Add a Date question to a section specified as "Other question type."

Questionnaire users can specify the date by selecting it from the pop-up calendar or typing it in the date field. If they do not enter the date in the appropriate format, the survey prompts them to correct their entry.

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Define 'Date' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question.

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Lookup

The Lookup question can be added and used within Maintenance Checklists and Compliance Surveys.

Using Lookup Questions in Maintenance Checklists

V2026.01 Release - This can be used with Archibus Web Central and OnSite Mobile. 

A Lookup question in a Maintenance checklist retrieves all assets of a specified type at a given location (e.g., all printer equipment codes in a building) and presents them as individual items within the checklist. This allows a technician to inspect multiple assets within a single work request instead of creating a separate request per asset.

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Maintenance Checklist

When a work request checklist containing a Lookup question is opened, the question automatically retrieves the relevant asset records based on the configured lookup criteria, e.g., equipment type and location. Each retrieved asset is displayed as a separate checklist row that the technician evaluates individually. Then for each asset, the technician records a Pass or Fail outcome.

Follow-Up Work Requests

If an asset is marked as Fail, the technician can immediately generate a follow-up work request directly from the checklist row, with the failing asset's context (such as  equipment code or location) automatically pre-populated. This eliminates the need to create individual work requests upfront for every asset and ensures that only confirmed failures generate downstream work.

Define the Maintenance Checklists Lookup Question

An example of this is where a college campus needs all printers in each building to be inspected weekly. A single work request is created per building with a Maintenance checklist that uses a Lookup question to list all printer equipment codes at that location. The technician marks each printer as Pass or Fail. Any printer that fails triggers a follow-up work request from within the checklist.

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When defining a lookup, you must complete the following:

Field Description
Prefix (optional) Text that you may want to display to the left of the question. For example, if you are numbering the questions, you can enter the number of each question in this option.
Question Text

Enter the question.
Lookup Table Choose a table from a list of tables in the schema. For example, select the table name eq for Equipment.
Lookup Field Choose the field from the above table that you want the user to complete. For example, select field name eq_id for Equipment Code.
Filters (optional)

Use the filters to refine the lookup. For example:

  • Site Filter - Where field name is site_id and the operator Does Not Equal the field value Center
  • Building Name Filter - Where field name is bl_id and the operator Is Not Blank
Max # Responses Allows the user to enter more than one response.
Required Change the drop-down to Yes to mark that the 'Max # Responses' is required.
Question Tag A short identifier for grouping related questions. It is useful to enter a tag for a related group of items so that you can easily search for them in the Search Existing Questions dialog.
Answer Options By default this has Pass, Fail, and N/A. Additionally, you can add a Answer Option to the list.
Follow-up Options

You can set which follow-up options are needed for the Answer Options.

  • Prompt for comments if answer is {Answer Options} 
  • Prompt for photo if answer is {Answer Options} 
  • Present 'Create Request' button {Answer Options} 

Complete the following:

  1. Check the follow-up option check box.
  2. Click the Select button and the Select Value dialog displays.
  3. Check the Answer Option Text check box.
  4. Click the Save Selected button.

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Using Lookup Questions in Compliance Surveys

A surveyor might need to answer a question by choosing values from an Archibus table. In the below example, the surveyor can choose from existing employees in the Employees table. When the surveyor clicks on the triangle button, the questionnaire presents a popup searchable list of all records in the Employees table. The surveyor can search and scroll through the list to choose a record; the questionnaire then displays the selection in the box.

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If you define the question to accept multiple entries (set the Max # of Responses to a value other than one), the survey includes the text "Add another response" so that the user can continue to add values from the lookup table. For example, if you specify a Max # of Responses as 3, the field appears as follows after the user selects the first employee:

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Define the Compliance Surveys Lookup Question

When defining a lookup, you must complete the following:

Field Description
Lookup Table

Choose a table from a list of tables in the schema.
Lookup Field Choose the field from the above table that you want the user to complete.
Max # of Responses Enter the number of responses the surveyor can enter. When the surveyor reaches this number, the form displays a message stating that the surveyor cannot enter any further responses.
Required Change the drop-down to Yes to mark that the 'Max # Responses' is required.

Note: If a respondent were to click the "Add another response" button more times than needed and leaves some of these fields blank, they can still submit the questionnaire with the extra response fields blank. The application will ignore those blank fields and, upon refreshing the form, the extra blanks will disappear from view.

Count

The surveyor can enter a whole number in the field, either by typing it or clicking the triangle-shaped buttons on the right. As a questionnaire designer, you do not specify any properties for count fields. Add a Count question to an "Other Question Types" section.

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Define 'Count' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question.

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Measurement

Measurement fields have two components: the value that was measured, and the default unit, which the surveyor can change.

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Define 'Measurement' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question.

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When defining a measurement question, you must complete the following options.

Option Description

Measurement Type

Configuration Note: The values that you can choose for Measurement Type are entered as part of the  Define Measurement Units task.

Choose the type of measurement, such as Area, Length, Mass, Pressure.

Default Units

Configuration Note: The values that you can choose for Default Units are entered as part of the  Define Measurement Units task.

Choose the default units for this type of measurement. For example, if the measurement type is Length, you can set the default unit to Feet, and this will appear to the surveyor as per the above image. The surveyor can then change the unit of measure if needed.

Questionnaire designers should choose a default unit of measure that corresponds with a) the anticipated scale of most inputs and b) with the anticipated scale of measurement needed for summary reporting.

Show previous 5 values?

To display the last 5 recent meter data readings in the OnSite app, change this setting to Yes.

Document/Photo

The surveyor may want to upload a photo documenting a condition or attach another type of document to the questionnaire.

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Define 'Document/Photo' Question

Below is an example of the screen, where you can define the Question.

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When defining a document/photo question, you must complete the following.

Option Description
Max # of Responses Enter the number of documents the surveyor can upload. When the surveyor reaches this number, the form displays a message stating that the surveyor cannot enter any further responses.
Required Change the drop-down to Yes to mark that the 'Max # Responses' is required.

Time (Compliance Surveys only)

The questionnaire can include a time field, as below. As a questionnaire designer, you do not specify any additional properties for time fields. Add a Time question to a section specified as "Other question type."

Questionnaire users can type the value, or click the clock icon to access a list of times to choose from. If they do not enter the time in the appropriate format, the survey prompts them to correct their entry.

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Modeling Percent Questions

There is no question type for percentages, for example, a question requests numeric responses between 0 and 100 and the questionnaire forms enforce consistent data entry.

Instead, you can do the following:

  • Define a Count question to record integers, and instruct respondents to provide values between 0-100. Then review responses in summary reports or ad hoc reports on answer records to find any that fall outside the bounds.
  • Define a Measurement question and define a unit type and unit of measurement for "percent" with a conversion factor of 1. This enables respondents to record precise decimal values, if needed.
  • Define a Multiple Choice question with answer options that provide selections among brackets of percent values, such as, 0-20%, 21-40%, 41-60%, and so on.