Recording chemical applications

Premium feature

Chemical tracking is part of the Premium plan. An admin needs to set up presets and sprayers before the crew can record applications.

Your crew records each spray or spread on the visit, before they start. SortScape works out how much product goes in each tank, fills in the weather where it can, and keeps the record for your spray diary.

Record an application

1. Open the visit. Scroll to Chemical applications.
2. Click Record application.
3. Fill in the form (each section is described below).
4. Click Save.

The Chemical applications section shows on any visit that has a property. Below it, Previously applied at this property (last 12 months) lists what has gone out at that property before, so the crew can check before they spray.

Fill the form in before you start spraying. That’s when the mix amounts help, and it’s when the weather conditions should be recorded.

If you close the form after entering anything, SortScape asks Discard this record? first, so a half-filled form isn’t lost by accident.

What you applied

Pick the Application preset. Then check the Target pest or weed (for granular presets this is Target or purpose, such as “lawn feed”). It’s filled in from the preset’s default target if there is one.

If there are no presets yet, admins can click Create application preset from the list. Everyone else sees a message asking them to get an admin to add presets.

Where and how much

Choose the Application type:

• Whole area: you’re treating a measured area, such as a whole lawn or garden bed.
• Spot spray (or Spot treatment for granular): you’re treating patches, such as weeds along a fence line.

Every preset starts on Whole area. Switch to spot yourself when that’s what you’re doing.

Then fill in:

• Where: a short description of the place, such as “all rock beds, mulch and kerb cracks” or “along the back fence”.
• Area treated: the size of the area. You need this for a whole-area spray when the rate is per area (such as L per ha). It’s optional for spot treatments.
• Sprayer: the sprayer you’re using (spray presets only). The tank size comes from the sprayer. If yours isn’t in the list, choose Sprayer not listed and enter its tank size and how much area a full tank covers. Admins can save it as a new sprayer from there.
• Mix volume: how much mix you’re making up. SortScape suggests one from the area and the sprayer’s calibration, or one full tank. Change it to what you’re actually putting in the tank.

What to mix

SortScape shows the amounts by tank load, so you know what to add at the tap. For example, Full tank with the water and the amount of each product, and a Part tank card for whatever is left over. Spot sprays show one Mix card. Granular presets show an Apply card with the total for the area.

Under the cards, Totals for the record lists the total amount of each product. That’s what gets saved.

Always check the amounts against the product label before you apply. They’re calculated from your presets, sprayers and rates, so a typo in any of those can give you the wrong mix.

Record details

• Applied by: who is applying it. It defaults to you. Each person shows with their licence number, or “No licence number”. If the preset requires a licence and the applicator doesn’t have one on file, you’ll be asked for it (see licence numbers).
• Conditions: temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and weather notes at the start of the application.
• Start time: the date and time you start applying.
• Notes: anything else you want on the record.

Weather conditions

In Australia, SortScape fills in the conditions from the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station. BOM only gives the latest reading, so this only works when you record the application at the time you start. If you change the start time to earlier, SortScape clears the weather it filled in and asks you to enter the conditions yourself.

In the United States, SortScape uses the nearest National Weather Service station. It can look up readings from the past week, so it fills in the reading closest to your start time.

The form shows which station the reading came from and how far away it is. If the station is a long way off, check the conditions on site. You can always change any value it fills in.

In the UK, New Zealand and other countries, enter the conditions yourself.

Delta T

SortScape works out Delta T from the temperature and humidity. You don’t need to enter it. It warns you when conditions are getting dry (8 to 10), very dry (above 10) or very humid (below 2). These warnings never stop you saving. Follow the product label.

When SortScape won’t save

A few checks stop a record being saved:

• No preset picked: choose an application preset.
• No area for a per-area rate: a whole-area spray with a rate per area needs the Area treated.
• Sprayer not calibrated: a whole-area spray with a rate per area needs a calibrated sprayer, so SortScape can work out the mix. Choose another sprayer, switch to spot spray if that’s what you’re doing, or ask an admin to record a calibration.
• No licence number: the preset requires a licence and the applicator doesn’t have one on file. Enter the licence number, choose a licensed applicator, or ask an admin to add it.

Editing and voiding records

Click a product on the visit, or the pencil, to open Edit chemical application. If the preset had several products, you edit the whole mix at once. Changes to the shared details (target, area, sprayer, conditions, start time and so on) apply to every product in the mix.

To remove a record, click the bin and choose Void. Voided records stay in SortScape with who voided them and when, but they no longer show on the visit, the property, reports or service reports. Records are never deleted, because you may need to keep spray records for years.

Who can do what:

	Record	Edit their own	Edit anyone’s	Void
Admins	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Employees and contractors	Yes	Yes	No	No

“Their own” means records where they’re the applicator or the person who entered it. Anyone else’s record opens read-only and shows who applied it.

Viewing records

On the property

Open the property and click the Chemicals tab. It lists every application at that property, with the preset, product, rate, quantity, target, where, area, equipment and applicator. Admins can click View report to open the report filtered to that property.

The spray diary report

The Detail of chemical applications report lists every chemical application you’ve recorded, ready for spray diaries and compliance audits. Find it in Reports on the Materials tab (some accounts call this tab Items), or click View chemical applications report on Settings → Time & materials → Chemicals.

Filter by date range, chemical or property. Click export to csv to download it for a spreadsheet or to send to an auditor. The CSV includes everything on the record: products, registration numbers, active ingredients, rates, amounts, area, where, sprayer, tank and mix, weather, humidity and Delta T, applicator and licence number, property address, and notes.

Each record is saved exactly as it was on the day. Renaming a preset, retiring a sprayer, renewing a licence or changing a property later doesn’t change past records.

On the service report

To include the applications in the PDF service report you send the customer, tick Chemical applications when you generate the report. To include them every time, turn on Include chemical applications by default in Settings → Visits → Service reports.

If you leave Premium

If you move off Premium, you keep access to everything you’ve already recorded. You can still view records on visits and properties, and run and export the Detail of chemical applications report. You can’t record new applications or edit existing ones, and chemical applications no longer appear on service reports.

Is this a complete compliance record?

SortScape records the details most spray diaries ask for. Requirements differ between states and countries, though, and some ask for things the form doesn’t have a dedicated field for, such as a finish time. Check what your regulator requires, and use Notes for anything extra. SortScape doesn’t check that a record meets your local rules.