The Create Defect screen offering nearby assets to attach to, or a Create general issue option at the bottom
Pick the affected asset — or log it as a general issue when there isn't one

Short answer

You don't have to attach every job to an asset. In the mobile app you can create a job as a "general issue" — the operative just photographs what they found, logs that they've dealt with it, and saves, with no asset link required. That's ideal for high-volume reactive work like ad-hoc litter-picking or fly-tipping. (The web app currently requires every task to be linked to an asset, so use the mobile app for unlinked jobs — though this is actively being built out, see Watch-outs.) Where the work matters for reporting, the alternative is to model the location as an asset or area and assign jobs to it — that builds a structured, reportable record.

Detail

There are two ways to handle work that doesn't have an obvious single asset, and the right one depends on whether you need a structured record.

1. Structured (use where the record matters). Model the place as an asset or area and assign jobs to it:

  • Draw the car park as an area (add it as an asset, then convert it to an area in the app — open the asset record and change it at the bottom), or draw a street as a line (see How do I represent a whole street (for litter-picking) without walking it end-to-end?).
  • Assign each piece of work as a job against that asset/area. The asset's Related Tasks then shows everything done there over time.
  • This is especially useful when the land isn't yours — e.g. car parks owned by the principal (county/unitary) authority that you maintain anyway. You build defensible evidence of the work you've done, which is exactly what you need when you report it back to them.

2. Quick / unlinked (use for high-volume reactive work). In the mobile app, when you create a job you can either select the asset it relates to or choose General issue:

  • For ad-hoc litter or rubbish, the operative selects General issue, takes a photo, and logs that it's done — no asset to pick.
  • Use the same wording every time (e.g. always "litter" or "rubbish"). That consistency is what lets you later download the jobs, filter them by that term, and total up everything done — handy data to feed back to a council, and it surfaces work you're doing that technically isn't your responsibility.

Defect vs job: only raise a defect if something is actually broken (a damaged bin, a pothole). Routine clearance work — litter, weeds, rubbish you simply deal with — is a job, not a defect.

Watch-outs

  • The web app requires an asset link; the mobile app does not. If you're at a desk and need to log unlinked work, you'll be forced to pick an asset — do unlinked "general issue" jobs from the mobile app for now. John confirmed on 3 Jul 2026 this is in active development — a web-app general issue, with manual point/line/polygon plotting on the map — so check for a shipped update before repeating this limitation as permanent.
  • Unlinked jobs won't appear under any asset's Related Tasks. That's the trade-off: General issue is faster, but you lose the per-asset history. If you want the work to show against a place, model the place (option 1).
  • Consistency is everything for reporting. Free-text descriptions only become useful data if the same term is used each time — agree the wording with the team up front.
  • A drawn line or area can still batch into a routine for the regular element (e.g. scheduled litter-picking rounds), with General-issue jobs covering the genuinely ad-hoc bits on top.