Field work orders and offline field mode

A field work order is the sheet that records what was done on site, by whom and when, and that the client signs. With OKTO PSA for construction, the foreman fills it out on a tablet or phone, the client signs on site or later in their portal, and every work order ends up in a single list.

Work orders filled out and signed on site

Field work orders are an option of the Construction business type. The foreman fills one out during the day: work done, material, notes. The client signs on the screen, on site. If they’re not around, they sign later in their client portal. Back at the office, one list holds every work order, signed or not, across all projects.

The three-part carbon book that rides in the truck and reaches the office two weeks later covered in drywall dust has no reason to exist anymore.

A work order signed the same day is worth a lot more than someone’s memory three weeks later. When the price follows the value of the work, article 2108 of the Civil Code of Québec requires the contractor to account for progress and expenses if the client asks. On a price based on an estimate, the contractor has to justify any increase, and the client only pays for the part caused by work or expenses that couldn’t be foreseen (art. 2107). A dated, signed work order answers both questions.

If the work order describes an extra, you price it as a change order. Once approved, the extra goes on the next invoice. The change orders page shows how.

OKTO PSA documents carry your RBQ licence number and NEQ in the header. The work order your client signs goes out with the same details as your quotes and invoices.

Field mode, even without signal

OKTO PSA is a web interface built to fit phone and tablet screens. On site, the foreman opens “My day on site”: today’s project, the crew, the forms to fill out and the work orders waiting for a signature.

In a concrete basement or on a job far from town, the signal drops all the time. Offline field mode works on an Android tablet with no network: you fill out forms, take photos, and everything goes through once the tablet is back online.

The phone is best for quick things: a photo, a dictated note, a signature. The tablet, with its bigger screen, works better for long forms and the quality file.

Daily photos and the site log

Photos taken during the day are linked to the site log, with the author’s name and the GPS position of the photo. They can be taken without signal and sort themselves into the right project. Nobody has to go through 200 photos in a phone’s camera roll on a Friday night. If the client questions an extra later, you have the photo, the date, who took it and where.

The site log takes dictated notes. The foreman talks into the phone at the end of the day and the assistant summarizes the note. A made-up example: “Drywall delivery two hours late, moved taping ahead on the third floor, electrical inspection pushed to Thursday.” The summary lands in that day’s log, next to the photos.

The log is useful to everyone afterwards: the project manager who wants to know where the job stands, and you, if a dispute comes up six months later.

Site forms and safety

Site forms are filled out on the same tablet:

• the FLRA, the field level risk assessment done before starting a task;
• the start-of-shift meeting;
• equipment inspections.

Toolbox talks are signed by the workers who attended, so you have a record of who was there and when. Required cards are tracked, and the site orientation kit is ready for every new worker. When you schedule crews, OKTO PSA warns you if a worker is missing a required certification.

Daily hours go through the day’s crew sheet, which creates the timesheets. The construction timesheets page covers that part.

Paint quality control

For painting contractors, especially on industrial work, OKTO PSA includes surface preparation inspections and coating inspections. You import readings from your DeFelsko gauges instead of copying them by hand. At the end, the quality file comes out as a PDF, ready to hand to the client or the engineer.

A complete quality file heads off a lot of arguments about film thickness or surface prep, because the measurements are there, with dates. The readings stay attached to the inspection and the project, so you don’t need a separate binder for every coat.

Equipment and measuring instruments

Equipment is booked on a calendar, so you know which boom lift or compressor is on which job. Each piece of equipment has its photos, meter readings and breakdown history. A breakdown logged on site stays in that history, so the next person who books the machine knows it has failed before. Measuring instruments keep their calibration certificates.

To add equipment, a photo of the nameplate is enough: OKTO PSA reads the details from it. Equipment inspections are done in the site forms covered above.

OKTHAV, the built-in assistant, answers field questions with your data, from your phone: “which work orders are still unsigned this week?” To see field mode with a sample project, the interactive demo opens without a long sign-up.

Sources: Civil Code of Québec, LégisQuébec, Régie du bâtiment du Québec, displaying your licence, checked on October 27, 2026.