Room inspections and incidents
Wardens inspect rooms from a checklist, record what they find with a photo and charge damage to the resident responsible. Incidents are logged with the residents involved, and closed with the action taken, a written warning or a fine.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- Room checks happen on paper, and the broken cupboard found in March is a quarrel at check-out in June.
- Damage is found but never charged, because nobody knows which resident was responsible.
- A fight or a health scare is told by word of mouth, and parents hear a different story.
- Warnings are given verbally and forgotten, so the third offence looks like the first.
How it works
- Open Hostel > Daily Life > Room Inspections, press New, choose the Room and the Kind: Scheduled or Surprise. The checklist fills in from your inspection items.
- Go through the Checklist and untick OK where something is wrong, with a note. Add Findings: the kind, what it is, the Resident Responsible, a Charge and a Photo.
- Press Done. Each charge goes on the responsible resident's dues and is noted on their stay. With SmartMy Desk, damage and maintenance findings open a repair ticket.
- For an incident, open Hostel > Daily Life > Incidents and press New. Write the Summary, choose the hostel, the Residents Involved, the Kind and the Severity, and describe it.
- With Inform Guardians ticked, the guardians of each resident involved are told when you save.
- To close it, write the Action Taken, tick Written Warning or fill in Fine (each resident), and press Close. Reopen opens it again.
Everything it does
Room inspections
- Kind: Scheduled or Surprise; the inspector is the user who opens it
- Checklist items from Hostel > Configuration > Rooms and Residents > Checklists, stage Room inspection. Four come ready: room clean and tidy, furniture and fittings in good condition, fans, lights and sockets working with no unauthorised appliances, no prohibited items
- An item can be limited to some hostels
- Findings: Damage, Cleanliness, Prohibited item, Needs maintenance or Other; the Resident Responsible must be in house in that room
- Photos are reduced to 1,280 pixels at most
- Done charges each finding once and lists the items that were not OK
- The staff app gives back the room's open inspection instead of starting a second one
Incidents
- Kind: Health, Conduct / discipline (the default), Security, Property or Other
- Severity: Low (the default), Medium or High
- Inform Guardians: ticked to start with
- Each incident is noted on the stay of every resident involved
- Written Warning notes a warning on each stay when the incident is closed
- Fine (each resident) is charged to each resident involved on closing
- Open and Closed; the dashboard counts open incidents
- Emergencies from the residents' emergency button and the staff's SOS arrive as high-severity incidents marked Emergency
Reports
- Hostel > Reporting > Daily Life > Incidents: by hostel and kind
- Every incident and inspection keeps its history of changes
Who uses it
Warden / CaretakerInspects rooms, records findings and incidents, closes them with warnings or fines.
Front deskReads inspections and incidents.
Hostel managerEverything a warden does, sets the checklist items and reads the reports.
GuardianIs told of an incident involving the resident, unless the warden unticks it.
ResidentPays damage and fines with their dues.
Where you use it
- Web: Hostel > Daily Life > Room Inspections and Incidents; Hostel > Configuration > Rooms and Residents > Checklists; Hostel > Reporting > Daily Life > Incidents
- The SmartMy Hostel Staff app: Inspections (checklist, findings with a photo from the camera, Done) and Incidents (new, close, reopen). Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet
- Not on the resident portal: residents do not see inspections or incidents; complaints from residents go through SmartMy Desk or SmartMy Grievance
What you control
Settings
- Inspection checklist: four items to start with, per hostel if you like
- Inform Guardians on a new incident: ticked
- Incident kind and severity to start with: Conduct / discipline, Low
Notifications
- Hostel Incident: to the guardians of each resident involved when the incident is saved with Inform Guardians; in the app and by email. WhatsApp and SMS come from your message credits, and app push once the apps are in the stores. Transactional, so it goes at once and only a channel can be switched off
- No message is sent for a room inspection; the finding is noted on the resident's stay
Works with
SmartMy DeskDamage and Needs maintenance findings open a repair ticket with the room, the resident and the photo. Closing the ticket notes the fix on the inspection.
SmartMy GrievanceA warning or a notice to vacate decided in a grievance case reaches the hostel managers as a to-do on the stay.
Questions
Can a warden inspect rooms from the phone?
Yes. The staff app has the checklist, findings with a photo from the camera, and Done. It is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet.How is damage charged?
Put a Charge on the finding and choose the Resident Responsible. When the inspection is Done, the amount goes on that resident's dues once, when the hostel bills.Are parents told about every incident?
Inform Guardians is ticked on every new incident, so the guardians of each resident involved are told when it is saved. Untick it before saving for a matter they should not hear about.Is this the same as the check at check-out?
No. The condition of the room's furniture at check-in and check-out is a separate report under room assets. Room inspections are the warden's checks during the stay.Can a fine be split between residents?
The incident fine is per resident: each resident involved is charged the same amount on closing. For different amounts, record separate incidents or findings.Related features
CHECK-OUT AND SETTLEMENTRoom kits and their condition at check-in and check-outEach room type has a kit (cot, mattress, cupboard, fan), and each room holds its kit in stock. The room's condition is recorded when a resident checks in and when they leave. Damaged and missing items become charges on the stay.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSResident complaints with SmartMy DeskResidents and guardians raise complaints and repair requests as SmartMy Desk tickets. The ticket gets the stay, the room and the hostel by itself, and the bed in the location note. Room inspection findings open repair tickets, and a team lead can charge damage to the resident's stay.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSResident grievances with SmartMy GrievanceResidents file confidential grievances, such as ragging or harassment, from Report confidentially in the hostel app or the grievance portal. The case stays with the committee. A room change, warning or notice to vacate reaches the hostel only as a request or a to-do with the case number.DAILY LIFEEmergency button for residentsA resident in house presses Emergency on the portal or in the app. The wardens are told at once, at any hour, with the name, the room and the phone number. Each gets a to-do, and a high-severity incident is opened. Wardens, the desk and managers have an SOS of their own in the staff app.PORTAL AND APPSThe staff app for wardens and the deskSmartMy Hostel Staff puts the warden's and the front desk's day on a phone. Wardens approve leave, mark residents out and back, and take the night roll call, even without signal. The desk searches residents, checks them in and out, takes payments and records inspections, incidents, late entries, visitors and meter readings. Any of them can press SOS to call the other staff for help.BILLINGResident statement and yearly rent receiptPrint a resident's statement of every charge, invoice and payment, with what is due and the deposit held, in one click. Residents who claim rent in their tax return get a yearly rent receipt as a PDF. Both download from the portal and the app.
See it with your own blocks and classes.
Tell us how many hostels and students you have. We will show you an allotment, a leave request approved by a parent and a night roll call, set up the way your hostel works.