How Pin311 works, from the first report to the event packet.

1. 1Sign up at /start and enter your organization. The first account becomes the owner with full access.
2. 2Open Settings → set your population (this makes the FEMA per-capita math accurate) and your report categories.
3. 3Settings → Coverage Map: draw your city limits (and wards/zones if you want). Reports auto-tag to the right zone — no GIS staff needed.
4. 4Grab your public report link (pin311.com/your-city/report) and the Promote kit (website button + QR posters).
5. 5Share the link where residents already look for updates: your website, social pages, printed notices, or utility bill.

💡 The Community plan includes public intake and the live map. Pin311 Pro adds the full work-order, routing, contractor, procurement, and FEMA documentation workflow.

A resident taps your link, drops a pin on the map, snaps a photo, and picks a category (pothole to downed tree). They get a timestamped receipt with a tracking link.

1. 1They can reopen the receipt to check whether the report is new, in progress, or resolved.
2. 2Residents who opt in can receive email updates when the status changes. An administrator can turn these messages off in Settings.

Note: Hazards like live wires or flooding always show a 'Do not approach — call 911' message. Pin311 is for non-emergencies.

1. 1Open the Call Intake tab. Type the address or intersection and hit Find — it drops the pin for you.
2. 2If there are already reports near that spot in the last 72h, you'll see a duplicate warning so you don't double-log.
3. 3Pick the issue category, add what the caller said, and (optionally) the caller's name + number so they get status updates too.
4. 4Click Log report. It's on the live map instantly, tagged as a phone report.

Every report appears on the map and in a list that staff can filter by category, severity, and status.

When several reports cluster near one location in a short period, Pin311 suggests grouping them into an incident. Staff review the suggestion before creating the incident or work order.

1. 1Promote a report (or a cluster) into an Incident. Set a NIMS type and an estimated cost.
2. 2Compare the running documented total with the current county and state per-capita impact indicators. These indicators inform the declaration process; they do not determine eligibility by themselves.
3. 3Set the FEMA debris eligibility on each incident (see §6 below) before you claim debris costs.
4. 4Dispatch a crew right from the incident — that creates a work order.

Debris removal from public property or a public right-of-way may be eligible when the work meets FEMA requirements. Work on private property has additional public-interest, legal-authority, right-of-entry, and approval requirements and is not automatically eligible.

1. 1On each incident, set FEMA debris eligibility: Public right-of-way (eligible), Private (not eligible), or Private with Right-of-Entry + immediate threat (eligible).
2. 2Until you mark it, the incident warns you. Ineligible ones are flagged to exclude from the claim.
3. 3Your organization makes the eligibility decision. Pin311 records that decision and the supporting notes; it does not infer legal responsibility from a map.

FEMA ties money to a declared incident period, not 'last Tuesday's storm.' Storm Mode anchors your whole response to one event.

1. 1Open the Storm Mode tab → Declare storm event. Name it and set the incident period (start/end).
2. 2Click 'Find NWS alerts in window' — Pin311 pulls the National Weather Service warnings/watches for your area and that time range. Check the ones to anchor; they're stored permanently as evidence.
3. 3Once active, every new report and logged hour auto-tags to the event.
4. 4Click 'Attach existing records' to sweep in reports/incidents/hours that already happened during the incident period (storms usually start before you declare).
5. 5Add the FEMA declaration number (DR-xxxx) once it's issued.

💡 When a real NWS alert is active for your county, the Storm Mode tab suggests declaring an event and pre-fills it for you.

1. 1Create a work order from an incident (or standalone). Assign it to your own crew or an outside contractor.
2. 2Hand a one-off contractor a no-login clearance link — they mark the job done and upload an after-photo from their phone, no account needed.
3. 3Every work order can hold close-out photos and receipts (the 'digital shoebox').

1. 1On a work order, log labor hours and equipment hours as the work happens.
2. 2For equipment, pick the Asset (your registered truck) — it auto-fills the official FEMA equipment rate and values the hours. 'Truck 14' is far more audit-defensible than 'a dump truck.'
3. 3Split equipment into operating and standby hours. Pin311 values operating time with the selected rate and keeps standby at $0 by default. Review current FEMA policy for limited intermittent-use and other exceptions.
4. 4Attach the official payroll timesheet or voucher (PDF or photo) to the work order as a 'Timesheet' document — it binds your logged hours to the city's payroll proof, which FEMA's labor documentation requires.

Note: Labor is exported as HOURS, not dollars — the city applies its own payroll rates at closeout. That's correct FEMA practice and keeps us out of your payroll system. (Set a blended planning rate under Settings → FEMA & cost settings so the live cost forecast can estimate labor dollars before payroll runs.)

Debris claims need source records for the material moved, not only truck-hour totals. Create a ticket for each load.

1. 1On a debris work order, open Debris haul tickets and add one per load: date, truck, load call (full / ¾ / ½ / ¼), cubic yards, material type, and the disposal site.
2. 2Disposal sites you've used before auto-suggest, so it's two taps.
3. 3The event packet turns these entries into a haul manifest with total recorded cubic yards and the source tickets behind it.

💡 Manage your disposal & staging sites under Settings → Disposal sites (landfill, temporary debris-staging yard, tipping fees). They populate the haul-ticket picker and show on your maps.

Federally funded work must follow the procurement rules that apply to the purchase. The Procurement panel helps staff record the method, quotes, contractor checks, clauses, and emergency justification in one place.

1. 1Enter the contractor and dollar amount — Pin311 tells you the tier (micro-purchase under $15k, small purchase under $350k, or formal) and what each requires.
2. 2Click Check SAM.gov — it verifies the contractor isn't federally debarred/suspended, and stores the result as proof.
3. 3If emergency conditions required a noncompetitive purchase, record the justification and review it as conditions change. Pin311 tracks the duration so the decision is not forgotten.
4. 4Tick the required contract clauses (Section 889 telecom, Build America, Davis-Bacon, etc.) — Pin311 shows only the ones that apply.

Note: This is a documentation aid, not legal advice — confirm with your state Public Assistance officer.

1. 1Open the Assets tab → add a truck/loader/chainsaw (or bulk-import your whole fleet from a CSV). Link each to its FEMA equipment rate.
2. 2Run a daily pre-trip check — tap any item that fails; a defect automatically opens a work order and can take the asset out of service.
3. 3Set preventive-maintenance reminders (by date or engine hours). Overdue items show a badge.
4. 4Log service/repairs against each asset for its history.

💡 We deliberately don't try to out-build Fleetio — no fuel cards or telematics. Just the registry, checks, and FEMA link that matter for a small public-works shop.

Open the FEMA Recovery tab for a checklist that connects the major records: the event period, eligibility decisions, force-account time, purchases, haul tickets, procurement checks, and the Disaster Packet. Each step links to the screen where the work is recorded.

1. 1Impact indicator: compare your running documented estimate with the current county and state per-capita figures, then coordinate with your state or tribal Public Assistance contact.
2. 2Live cost forecast: blended-rate labor, equipment at the selected rates, materials, and recorded donated resources for the active event. Treat it as a planning estimate, not a final claim amount.
3. 3Short explanations at each step, including common documentation gaps and decisions that require outside guidance.

💡 Set your blended labor rate, volunteer rate, and any local procurement (P-card) limit under Settings → FEMA & cost settings — the forecast and the procurement tiers both use them.

Everything above feeds your federal claim:

1. 1PDA export: a Preliminary Damage Assessment compiled from your incident records.
2. 2Reimbursement export (CSV/JSON): every logged labor + equipment hour valued at FEMA rates, with standby shown at $0.
3. 3Emergency materials & purchases: on an incident, log sandbags, fuel, or a crane rental with vendor, amount, dollar-tier guidance, and a SAM.gov debarment check — the Materials / Rented-Equipment record FEMA wants.
4. 4Donated resources: volunteer hours and donated equipment organized for review as possible credit toward the local cost share.
5. 5Audit package (per incident): citizen before-photos, force-account log, equipment $, close-out proof, procurement files, ROW eligibility, haul manifest, and material purchases — printable / save-as-PDF.

1. 1Settings → Resource hubs (or the Storm Mode page). Add shelters, cooling/warming centers, water & supply points, donation drop-offs, debris/tree dumps, charging stations, and more — pick a preset or name your own custom type.
2. 2Drop each hub on the map, add hours/details, and it goes live. Close or reopen them as the situation changes.
3. 3Road closures: Storm Mode → Road closures. Trace the closed road on the map (click along it) and draw the detour route — residents see red = closed, blue dashed = take this, plus a closures list. Mark them reopened when cleared.
4. 4Your public map lives at pin311.com/<your-city>/map. It shows generalized report locations, resource hubs, and road closures, with a link to submit a report. Share it on your website or social pages.
5. 5Toggle the public map on/off under Settings → Organization.

During a storm, residents can claim and clear each other's damage on the public storm map — red 'needs help,' amber 'on the way,' green 'done' — no login.

Note: Live wires, flooding, structural damage, gas leaks, and rescue calls cannot become volunteer jobs. Contact details stay private, volunteers accept the safety terms, and users can report abuse. Completed volunteer time is recorded for officials to review; eligibility for donated-resource credit is determined through the applicable Public Assistance process.

1. 1Settings → Team: invite people by email. Pick a role — EMA Director, Dispatcher, PIO, Field Crew, or a scoped Contractor.
2. 2Each role carries granular permissions (view reports, log field time, manage procurement, export, etc.). Customize as needed.
3. 3Field crews are unlimited and never blocked — a responder logging from a truck mid-storm is always free.

1. 1Promote kit: a 'Report an issue' button for your website + printable QR posters. Every report tracks where it came from.
2. 2Community Alerts: residents opt in (you can auto-offer right after they file a report), then you broadcast closures/boil-orders by email in one send. Text is an add-on when you're ready.