---
slug: reading-a-service-record
title: "How to Read a Blue Collar Parts Service Record: What the Colors and Marks Mean"
description: "What the green, red, amber and gray marks on a Blue Collar Parts service record mean, for an annual inspection and for a PM: the result at the top, the mark beside each point, and why every mark also has a shape and words."
track: product
kind: article
status: available
isRegulatoryAdjacent: false
publishedAt: 2026-10-21
source: https://shopbluecollarparts.com/kb/reading-a-service-record
license: CC BY 4.0
---

# How to Read a Blue Collar Parts Service Record: What the Colors and Marks Mean

**A Blue Collar Parts service record says every result in words, and marks it with a color and a shape.** Green with a solid disc is work that passed. Red with a tilted square is a failure the technician recorded. Amber with a triangle is a caution. Gray with an open square is a fact with no pass or fail. The words carry the meaning, so the record reads the same printed in black and white.

The marks below are the ones the record uses.

## What does each color mean on the record?

| Mark | Color and shape | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Passed | Green, solid disc | The work passed: an inspection point passed, or a PM item was serviced. Green is earned. It never marks anything that was not checked. |
| Defect recorded | Red, square turned on its corner, like a tag hung on failed equipment | The technician recorded a failure. |
| Near limit, BCP's read | Amber, triangle | A caution. On an annual inspection, a measurement close to its limit. It is Blue Collar Parts' read of the measurement, not the inspector's determination, and it never changes the result. |
| Measured | Gray, open square | A fact with no pass or fail, such as a PM reading or a result that was not recorded. |

The green is named for the inspection decal on a door jamb, and the red for the out-of-service tag. Both come from the shop, not from a software color chart.

## Why does every mark have a shape and words?

Color alone fails in direct sun on a tablet, on a black-and-white printout, and for the roughly one man in twelve who has a color vision deficiency. So every mark carries three things: a color, a shape, and words. If you can read only one of them, read the words.

## The result at the top of the record

The record opens with one result for the whole job, in large type, beside a large mark in the same color: a green disc with a check, a red tag with a cross, or a gray square. The badges below show its words and color at the size used beside each point.

**Annual inspection:**

- Inspection passed
- Inspection failed
- Inspection result not recorded

**Preventive maintenance (PM):**

- Serviced
- Needs attention
- Service result not recorded

A PM record never borrows an inspection's words. A PM item that needs work reads **Needs attention**, not "failed": a PM is maintenance, not an inspection.

If an annual inspection has measurements near their limits, an amber note under the result counts them, for example "2 Near limit, BCP's read". It sits beside the result and never repaints it: an inspection that passed still reads **Inspection passed**.

Under the result, the record gives a suggested next step and, when the service provider is named, who to contact.

## The mark beside each point

Below the result, the record lists what was checked or serviced, grouped by system (brakes, lighting, tires and so on). Each point carries its own mark:

| On an annual inspection | On a PM | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Passed | Serviced | Checked or serviced, with nothing wrong found. |
| Defect recorded | Needs attention | The technician recorded a problem. |
| Near limit, BCP's read | — | A measurement close to its limit. Annual inspections only. |
| — | Measured | A reading was taken. A PM reading has no limit, so it is gray, not green. |

Systems with a finding (a defect recorded, a point near its limit, or an item that needs attention) are listed first and open. Systems where everything passed or was serviced are listed after them, closed, so the record leads with what needs a decision. Points marked not applicable are counted in the record's summary of systems, not listed one by one.

## Where orange comes in

Hi-Vis Orange is the Blue Collar Parts color, and in the app it means one thing: making the record visible. In each flow, the one orange button is the step that moves the record toward your customer, such as **Send record**. Orange never marks a result, so it never appears on the record's marks.

## What the marks do not mean

A mark records what the technician entered. Blue Collar Parts does not verify the work, and a green mark is not a certificate or a statement that a vehicle or an operation complies with a regulation. See [where Blue Collar Parts fits against 49 CFR Part 396](/kb/bcp-and-part-396-recordkeeping).

## Sources

Reviewed 2026-10-21