Defects

Defects document equipment issues and non-conformances — typically findings from inspections. The DEFECTS tab on the Project Dashboard displays a paginated grid of all defects in the project, with toolbar controls for editing, filtering, and exporting.

(Defects tab — Project Dashboard)

How Defects Are Created

Auto-generated from inspections: When inspection results are uploaded, any non-conformance (N) or Not Checked (NC) findings automatically create defects linked to the equipment item and inspection.

Inspection Settings

NC inspection results can optionally be ignored during upload to prevent automatic defect creation. This option is available in the Upload dialog and in Project Settings.

Manual entry: The Add Defect button in the Equipment Window’s Defects tab or the Edit menu on the DEFECTS tab creates a new defect manually.

Defects Toolbar

The toolbar includes filter and sorting controls for narrowing the grid — see Filtering and Sorting for details. The remaining buttons are listed left to right below.

Button	Description
Edit	Access edit options — see Edit menu options below.
Clear selection	Clear all selected defects.
Show Selection	Display only selected defects. Other filters remain active — results are the logical AND of all active filters.
Export visible items to Excel	Export visible defects to a spreadsheet. Respects current filter and sort settings.
Inspection	Access inspection-related options.

Edit menu options

Option	Description
Open	Reopen previously closed defects
Close	Close selected defects with an optional comment
Change Priority	Set priority to High, Medium, Low, or Unassigned
Add Comment	Append a comment to selected defects
Update Rectification	Update rectification notes for selected defects
Update Other	Set values for User Defect 1/2 custom fields
Move / Copy	Transfer data between fields — Copy keeps the source value, Move clears it

All Edit menu operations support bulk selection — select multiple items to apply changes in one step.

Defects Grid Columns

Column header controls provide sorting, filtering, and show/hide options. The Edit Column Settings icon next to any column header opens a menu for filtering, sorting, and showing or hiding columns.

Column	Description
Expand icon	Green circle icon — opens the Defect Window for that defect.
Checkbox	Select or deselect individual rows for bulk operations.
Status	Open or Closed indicator
Tag No.	Equipment tag number
Site / Area / Location	Equipment location fields
Description	Equipment description
Certificate	Equipment certificate number
Simple Device / Zone / Protection / Group / T Class	Equipment classification and Ex rating fields
Item #	Sequential item number
Inspection	Inspection that generated the defect. Displays “User Item” for manually created defects.
Result	Inspection result code — N (Non-Conformity) or NC (Not Checked)
Defect Details	Detailed description of the defect (populated from ICS comments or manual entry; cannot be edited after creation)
Priority	High / Medium / Low / Unassigned
Rectification	Notes on how to rectify the defect
Comment	Latest comment (not printed to generated IWPs)
User Defect 1 / 2	User-defined custom fields (commonly used to link to SAP, Maximo, etc.)
Entry Date	Date/time the defect was created (UTC)
Latest Change / Last Action By / Last Action Date	Audit trail — most recent change timestamp, who made it, and when

Expand Icons

The green circle icons (three dots) on the left edge of each row open the Defect Window for that defect — status, comments, custom fields, and change history. The icon turns gray while its window is open. Only one Defect Window can be open at a time.

Related Topics

• Defect Window — Status, comments, custom fields, and change history
• Actions — ACTIONS tab on the Project Dashboard
• Managing Defects — Creating, closing, and managing defects
• Filtering and Sorting — Filter types, Filter Bar, column filters, and sorting