Acceptance criteria for field work: agreeing what 'done' means before the job starts
Why they matter
Without agreed acceptance criteria, “done” means different things to the engineer, the reviewer and the customer. The engineer finishes the work; the reviewer asks for a photo nobody took; the customer queries the invoice. Clear criteria, shared before the job starts, turn acceptance from an argument into a check and shorten the done-to-paid gap.
What good criteria look like
- Specific: for example, “optical power at the ONT within the range set in the customer’s specification” rather than “service working”.
- Testable: each criterion can be checked by a test, measurement or inspection.
- Evidenced: each criterion names the evidence that shows it was met.
- Proportionate: only what the customer genuinely needs to accept the work.
- Agreed in advance: visible to the delivery team before they accept the job.
From criteria to evidence to payment
- Criteria are set per job type, usually from the customer’s contract.
- A runbook turns each criterion into steps and checks on site.
- The digital site report captures the evidence against each check.
- The reviewer accepts against the criteria, or raises a specific exception.
- The invoice is drawn from the accepted work and agreed rates.
Together these form the proof of delivery for the job.
Common mistakes
- Criteria that live only in the customer’s contract, not in the job.
- Vague criteria that cannot be checked from the evidence.
- Asking for evidence nobody reviews.
- Rejecting a whole job for one missing item instead of raising a specific exception.
How FortyFive does it
FortyFive attaches acceptance criteria to each job type, shows them to the delivery team before they accept the work and lays the evidence out against each criterion for the reviewer. Acceptance then flows into the invoice. See how a job moves through FortyFive.
Last updated · FortyFive
Frequently asked questions
Who sets the acceptance criteria?
Usually the end customer, through the business accountable to them. That business should translate them into checks and evidence for each job type and share them with the delivery team before work is accepted.
What makes a good acceptance criterion?
It is specific, testable and tied to evidence: for example, a test result within a stated range, a labelled photo of the installed equipment or a signed handover by the site contact.
What happens if a criterion is not met?
The reviewer raises a specific exception rather than rejecting the whole job, so the delivery team knows exactly what to fix and the rest of the work can move forward.
Do acceptance criteria affect payment?
They should. Connecting acceptance to the invoice means the work is paid on the same basis it was accepted, and invoices are not queried for evidence the reviewer has already seen.
Related terms
Proof of delivery in field services
Proof of delivery in field services is the record that shows a job was completed to the agreed requirement: what was done, where, when and by whom, measured against which acceptance criteria, and who accepted it.
Field service runbook
A field service runbook is the set of steps, checks and required evidence for a type of field job, given to the engineer before and during the work so that every visit meets the same standard and can be accepted against it.
The done-to-paid gap
The done-to-paid gap is the elapsed time between field work being completed and payment for it being received. It runs from completion through evidence, acceptance and invoicing to settlement.
See how FortyFive proves the work.
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