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In the dashboard: Business Tools → Recommendation Services

Every defect comment in Hive can name the kind of professional who should look at it, for example Plumbing Contractor, Electrical Contractor or Roofing Professional. That’s the comment’s recommendation service. Your client sees it on the defect in the digital report and the PDF, and it’s how Hive matches defects to your recommended contractors. Recommendation Services is your company’s list of those services. It’s the list you pick from in the template editor, the web report editor and the mobile app. Change it here, and every one of those dropdowns changes with it. The Recommendation Services page, Services offered in defect/deficiency recommendations, with an Add Service button and a list of services, each with a drag handle, a description and edit and delete buttons: No Recommendation (marked Default, with no delete button), Plumbing Contractor, Electrical Contractor, Roofing Professional, HVAC Professional, General Contractor, Structural Engineer, Handyman, Pest Control Pro, Qualified Professional, Air Duct Cleaning and Appliance Repair

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Your starting list

Every company starts with 67 common services, from Air Duct Cleaning to Window Repair and Installation Contractor, plus No Recommendation. They’re in alphabetical order to begin with. Make the list yours:
  • Add the trades you recommend that aren’t there, such as Sewer Scope Specialist.
  • Move the ones you use most to the top.
  • Rename any that don’t match the words you use, for example Licensed Electrician instead of Electrical Contractor.
  • Delete the ones you never use, so the dropdowns are shorter.
No Recommendation is marked Default and can’t be deleted. Pick it on a defect when no professional is needed. Your client sees nothing for it.

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Add a service

  1. Click Add Service at the top right.
  2. Type the Service Name, for example Sewer Scope Specialist.
  3. Add a Description (optional). Only you see it, on this page.
  4. Click Add Service.
The Add Service window: Add a new service to offer in defect/deficiency recommendations. Service Name Sewer Scope Specialist, Description (optional) Camera inspection and repair of the main sewer line, and Cancel and Add Service buttons The new service goes to the bottom of the list. Drag it up if you want it higher in the dropdowns.

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Put them in order

Drag a service by the handle on its left. The order saves by itself. The dropdowns in the template editor, the web report editor and the mobile app list services in this order. Put the trades you pick most often, such as Plumbing Contractor, Electrical Contractor and Roofing Professional, at the top so you don’t scroll through the whole list on every defect.

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Rename a service

Click the pencil on the service, change the Service Name or the description, and click Save Changes. The Edit Service window: Rename the service or update its description. The new name shows everywhere this service is used, including existing templates, reports and recommended contractors. PDFs already created keep the old name until they are regenerated. Service Name Electrical Contractor, Description (optional) Professional electrical services and repairs, and Cancel and Save Changes buttons A rename changes the name everywhere the service is used, because Hive saves the service on each comment, not its name. Comments that already use it stay linked to it, and they show the new name:
  • in your templates and in the web and mobile report editors
  • in your clients’ digital reports, including reports you’ve already published
  • in new PDFs. A PDF that was already made keeps the old name until it’s made again, for example when you publish the report again.
  • on your recommended contractors, who stay matched to the service
Use rename to change wording. To start recommending a different trade, add a new service instead.

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Delete a service

Click the red trash button on the service and confirm Delete. The Delete Service window: Are you sure you want to delete Pest Control Pro? Note: Existing report fields and recommended contractors that reference this service keep their value and will still display it, the service just stops being offered for new selections. Cancel and Delete buttons Deleting a service takes it out of the dropdowns. It doesn’t change anything that already uses it:
  • Template comments and report comments that already have the service keep it, and your client still sees it.
  • Recommended contractors tagged with it keep it, and clients can still find them from those defects.
  • You just can’t pick it for new comments any more.
If you rename a service and later delete it, comments that used it go back to a name based on the service’s original name, the one it had when it was added. To stop using a service everywhere, change it on your template comments first (see Set one service for every defect comment), then delete it.
You can’t undo a delete. To bring a service back, add it again.

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Where the list shows up while you write

Changes on this page reach every place you pick a service. You don’t have to edit your templates or reports one by one.
Open a template, then open a defect comment with the pencil, or click New Comment in the Defects/ Deficiencies group. Pick the service under Defect/ Deficiency Service, below the category.The defect comment window in the template editor: Defect/ Deficiency Category with Maintenance Item, Recommendations (selected) and Safety Concern, and Defect/ Deficiency Service set to Plumbing Contractor with the list open: No Recommendation, Plumbing Contractor (ticked), Electrical Contractor, Roofing Professional, HVAC Professional, General Contractor, Structural Engineer and HandymanThe service you pick on a template comment is copied into every new report made from the template. The window loads your latest list each time you open it.

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Change the service on a defect comment

  • One comment: open it and pick a different service, as shown above.
  • Every defect comment in a template at once: open the template’s Template Tools and use Set one service for all defect comments. See Template Tools.
Changing a template comment changes new reports only. Reports you’ve already started keep the service they had. Change those in the report editor.
Comments written with Comment Assist, including the ones Smart Add writes, start with No Recommendation. Pick the service before you publish, so your client sees who to call and the right contractors show up.

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What your client sees

The service shows on each defect in the reports your client gets. No Recommendation never shows.
The service is the green label under the defect’s description, for example Handyman.A defect in the digital report, 2.38 Hose Bib - Exterior, Hose Bib Not Properly Secured, with an orange header, the Recommendations description, a Hive Context panel, a green Handyman label on the right, and Estimated Cost 600 to 1,000 dollars and Estimated Timeline Within 6 months below itIf you’ve added a recommended contractor for that service, the label becomes a button that reads Find a pro, for example Electrical Contractor · Find a pro. Your client clicks it to see your contractor’s phone number, email and website.The service also shows in the View Summary view, and in the defect’s Read more window.
In the defects summary. The summary at the top of the report lists each defect on one line, without the service. If you turn on Detailed Summary Items in Report Customization, each item also shows Recommended: and the service, in the digital report and the PDF. The service also shows in re-inspection reports, in the repair addendum (Service Required:), and in TREC reports (Recommended Service:). The Repair Estimator uses it to decide which trade’s prices to use.

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Hide the service from your client

If you don’t want clients to see a service on defects, turn it off with Remove Recommendation Service:
  • For a template: open the template’s Template Tools. Every new report from that template starts with it off.
  • For one report: open Report Tools (the ⋮ button in the web report editor). Only that report changes.
Turn on Hide recommendation service in customer view and click Save. See Template Tools and Report Tools.
A defect in the digital report, Receptacle - Reverse Polarity, with a green Electrical Contractor, Find a pro button under the Hive Context panel
With it on, your client sees no service anywhere:
  • The green label and the Find a pro button disappear from every defect, so clients can’t open your contractors from the report.
  • The Get repair quotes section at the end of the digital report disappears.
  • The Service: line disappears from the PDF, and Recommended: disappears from the detailed summary.
  • The repair addendum your client or their agent builds doesn’t show the service, on screen or in its PDF (Service Required:). An addendum PDF made before you turned the setting on keeps the service until it’s generated again.
You still pick services while you write, in the template editor, the web report editor and the mobile app. Turning it off later shows the services again. Nothing is lost. You can also just leave defects on No Recommendation. Your client then sees nothing for those defects, but you lose the contractor matching.

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Who can change the list

Team members who can open Business Tools can add, rename, reorder and delete services. Everyone who writes reports picks from the list. See Team permissions. The list belongs to your company. Every inspector on your team sees the same services in the same order.

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Common questions

The app gets your list when it starts. Close the app completely (swipe it away), make sure you have internet, and open it again. Signing out and back in also works.
Refresh the report editor page. It loads the list when it opens. The template editor’s comment window loads the newest list every time you open it.
Yes, the digital report shows the new name the next time it’s opened. A PDF that was already made keeps the old name until it’s made again.
Nothing changes. They keep the service and your client still sees it. You just can’t pick it for new comments.In the template editor and the web report editor, the deleted service still shows on those comments, at the top of the dropdown, so you can see what they use. The mobile app shows it in a code-like format (for example pest_control_pro). The comment keeps the service until you pick another one.
No. It’s needed for defects that don’t need a professional, and it’s the starting value in the mobile app. You can rename it or drag it to another spot in the list.
No. Each defect comment has one service. Mention a second trade in the comment text.
Yes, but avoid it. They’re two separate services, so you and your contractors could pick different ones by mistake.
No. Comments written with Comment Assist, including Smart Add’s, start with No Recommendation. When you merge comments with Comment Merge, the merged comment takes the service of one of the comments you merged. Check it before you publish.
It’s the list you tag contractors with. Renaming a service renames it on your contractors too, and they stay matched. Deleting a service doesn’t remove it from contractors already tagged with it. See Recommended Contractors.

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Where to go next

Last modified on October 20, 2026