Field service platform rebuild for a US electrical contractor — residential + commercial
Custom FSM platform replacing legacy software for a US electrical contractor running residential service + commercial project work. Permit + inspection workflow, code-compliance reporting, multi-phase commercial project billing.
The client
A US electrical contractor running both residential service work (panel upgrades, EV chargers, generator installs, troubleshooting calls) and commercial project work (new construction, retrofits, lighting projects, multi-phase commercial fit-outs). The operation runs 11 technicians across the two work types — some residential-only, some commercial-only, some who flex across both depending on the week.
The operator had been on a legacy FSM platform for six years. The platform handled residential service well but couldn't model commercial project work (multi-phase, multi-month, T&M-billed jobs with permit and inspection dependencies). Permit tracking lived in a separate spreadsheet. Reporting required pulling data from three systems and stitching it together manually. Customer history was split between the FSM, the spreadsheet, and the office manager's memory.
What the contractor needed
- One platform for both work types — residential emergency / service calls AND commercial projects, with the right workflow for each but the same customer database and dispatch board.
- Permit + inspection workflow integrated with dispatch — for every commercial project, track AHJ permit application, electrical permit issue, rough-in inspection, final inspection, certificate of occupancy. For residential, panel upgrade permits + ESA inspections (where applicable).
- Code-compliance reporting — exportable reports for jurisdictional inspections, project closeouts, and customer documentation packages.
- Multi-phase commercial project billing — progress billing per project phase, change-order tracking, retainage handling, AIA-format invoicing for GCs.
- Residential service workflow — service calls, troubleshooting, on-site quoting (panel upgrades, EV chargers, generators), on-site invoicing, payment.
- Technician mobile app — both work modes (service vs project), offline-first sync for basement and commercial mechanical-room work, code-compliance checklists, permit signoff capture, before/after photos, signatures, time tracking.
- Clean data migration — six years of customer history, project history, invoicing data, permit records all migrated cleanly, with parallel-run before cutover.
What Xenara built
A custom FSM platform replacing the legacy software entirely. Built in 16 weeks with a 3-week migration + 2-week parallel run + clean cutover. Both work modes (residential service + commercial project) live on day one — not phased, because the operator's flex-technician model required unified scheduling from cutover.
- Unified CRM — every customer (residential and commercial), every property (residential panel history matters; commercial project history matters more), every job, every permit, every inspection — one searchable record.
- Dual-mode dispatch board — residential service jobs and commercial project tasks both appear on the same dispatch board. Filters and views let dispatchers focus on one or both. Technician skill matrix routes the right person to the right job (residential service tech vs commercial project tech vs flex).
- Permit + inspection workflow — every commercial project has a permit timeline (application, issuance, rough-in, final, certificate of occupancy). Every residential panel upgrade has its permit + inspection track. Dispatch board surfaces permit status — no scheduling a final inspection before rough-in approval, no closing out a job with permit gaps.
- Code-compliance reporting — every jurisdictional inspection logs the inspector, the findings, the resolution, the resign-off. Exportable per project for customer documentation packages and general-contractor handoffs.
- Multi-phase commercial billing — progress billing by project phase, change-order tracking with separate approval workflow, retainage calculations, AIA-format invoice generation, lien waiver tracking.
- Residential workflow — service-call intake, on-site troubleshooting + quoting (panel upgrades, EV chargers, generators), on-site invoicing, multi-tier billing (residential service vs maintenance plan vs financed install).
- Technician mobile app— dual-mode UI (residential service screen vs project task screen), offline-first sync, code-compliance checklists, permit signoff capture, before/after photos, signature, on-site invoice generation, time tracking with T&M categorization (productive vs travel vs material handling).
- Quote + estimate automation— residential: panel upgrades, EV chargers, generators quoted in 5 minutes from a calculator + financing math + e-signature. Commercial: bid generation from T&M templates + material takeoffs.
- Reporting + analytics — gross margin per residential job vs commercial project, revenue per technician, utilization, permit pipeline (how many permits in application, in issuance, awaiting inspection), commercial AR aging.
Migrated six years of customer history, project records, invoicing, and permit data in 3 weeks. Parallel-ran the new platform alongside the legacy for 2 weeks. Cutover happened on a Sunday with zero jobs lost.
Results
- Legacy FSM replaced with custom platform. 11 technicians, both residential service and commercial project work, on one system.
- Permit + inspection workflow integrated with dispatch — no more scheduling final inspections before rough-in approval, no more closing out jobs with permit gaps.
- Multi-phase commercial project billing — progress invoicing, change orders, retainage, AIA-format outputs all running through one system. Office manager reclaimed an estimated 6–8 hours per week previously spent stitching data across the legacy FSM + spreadsheet + Excel-based AIA templates.
- 3-week data migration with zero job loss during the 2-week parallel run.
- Code-compliance reporting — customer documentation packages for commercial closeouts now generated in under 10 minutes instead of the previous half-day per project.
- Technician mobile app live across the full crew — offline-first sync, code-compliance checklists, permit signoff capture working in basements and commercial mechanical rooms with poor cell coverage.
Stack + delivery model
Built on TypeScript + Next.js + Postgres + React Native (mobile). Hosted on Vercel + AWS with offline-first sync. Permit + inspection workflow modeled as a state machine with explicit gates (no skipping rough-in to final). 16-week build from kick-off to full cutover. 3-week migration window with cleaning + validation passes. Ongoing platform retainer covers infrastructure, feature additions, and jurisdictional rule changes (permit workflow rules vary by city / county / state).
Related
“Our previous platform forced us to run residential service in one tool and commercial projects in another. Permit tracking lived in a spreadsheet. Xenara put all three in one system. The migration was clean — we ran parallel for two weeks and didn't miss a job.”