Deleted Observations
Overview — Deletion Is Recoverable, Recovery Is Not Universal
When someone deletes an observation it is not removed from the database. It is flagged as deleted, stamped with who deleted it, when, and why, and taken out of every active list, report, and export. A Utility Admin can see that list and restore any entry on it.
Two facts about this feature cause almost all the confusion around it, so state them plainly to your assessment teams:
1. Anyone with Observations write access can delete an observation. Team Members and Team Leads included.
2. Only a Utility Admin can see the deleted list or restore from it. Team Leads cannot. COG Admins cannot.
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HEADS UP This asymmetry is the single most important thing to communicate. A Team Lead who deletes an observation believing they can undo it has to come to you. Brief your Team Leads before an assessment starts, not after. |
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HEADS UP The Show Deleted Observations button is rendered for COG Admins as well as Utility Admins, but the server grants the deleted list and the restore action to Utility Admins only. A COG Admin who clicks the button gets an access error, not a list. The button's visibility is broader than the permission behind it — treat the Utility Admin role as the real requirement. |
Where It Lives
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GOOD TO KNOW The Observations page itself disappears from an activity's menu when the activity is locked, and with it the deleted list. To review or restore a deleted observation on a locked activity, a COG Admin must unlock it first — see Manage Activities. |
Deleting an Observation
Deletion happens on the Observations page, from Delete current Observation. NSCAT asks for confirmation and captures a deletion reason before it proceeds.
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PRO TIP Insist on a meaningful deletion reason as a matter of team discipline. "Duplicate of #418" tells you in six weeks whether the deletion was right; "not needed" tells you nothing, and you will end up restoring it to find out. |
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GOOD TO KNOW Deleting an observation removes it from the Observations list, from every report, and from the Observation Data Export — immediately. Nothing on those pages indicates that a deleted item is being excluded. |
The Deleted Observations List
The list is a table, one row per deleted observation:
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Column |
What it holds |
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Observation Id |
The observation's id — the same id it will have again if restored. |
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Deleted Date |
When it was deleted, as a real date and time. |
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Deleted By |
The name of the person who deleted it. |
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Deletion Reason |
The reason captured at deletion. |
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Actions |
View and Restore. |
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GOOD TO KNOW Unlike the Activity Feed, this table carries an actual date and time rather than a relative one. Where you need a precise record of when a finding was removed, this is the page that has it. |
View
View opens the observation's full detail read-only — its summary, detail, ISF classification, rating, and themes — so you can judge whether it should come back without restoring it first.
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PRO TIP Always View before you Restore. Restoring puts the observation straight back into the active list and into every report; if it was genuinely a duplicate, you have just recreated the problem someone deleted it to solve. |
Restore
Restore returns the observation to the active list. On success:
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Observation Restored — "The observation has been successfully restored." |
If it fails:
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"Failed to restore observation. Please try again." |
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GOOD TO KNOW A failed restore leaves the observation deleted. Nothing is lost — try again, and if it keeps failing, check the activity is not locked and that you hold the Utility Admin role for that activity's utility. |
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HEADS UP Restoring changes report output. The observation reappears in the Observations list, in the activity's reports, and in the Observation Data Export. A report circulated before the restore will not reconcile with the same report run after it — the same caution that applies to consolidating themes. |
Handling Requests to Restore
A Team Lead asking you to restore something is a routine request. A short procedure keeps it honest:
1. Open the activity's Observations page and click Show Deleted Observations.
2. Find the row — search on the id if they gave you one, otherwise sort by Deleted Date.
3. Read the Deletion Reason and the Deleted By name.
4. View the observation and confirm it is the one they mean.
5. Restore it, and tell the requester it is back so they can check it in the report.
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PRO TIP If the deletion reason says "duplicate", find the observation it was a duplicate of before restoring. Half of these requests are someone who forgot they had already recorded the finding under a different summary. |
When an Observation Cannot Be Restored
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Situation |
Why |
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The activity is locked |
Everything in a locked activity is read-only. A COG Admin must unlock it first. |
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You are a COG Admin without Utility Admin |
Restore is Utility Admin only. |
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You are a Utility Admin from a different utility |
Your utility must match the activity's. |
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You are a Team Lead |
Team Lead grants write access, not the deleted list. |
What This Feature Does Not Cover
Soft delete and restore apply to observations only. These are permanent:
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Deleted item |
Recoverable? |
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Observation |
Yes — Utility Admin, via Show Deleted Observations |
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Theme |
No — see Theme Management |
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Training record |
No — see Training Management |
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Team member assignment |
No, but their work is retained |
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Question in a survey or interview |
Removed from that survey only; the pool copy is untouched |
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ISF Trait or Attribute (saved) |
Cannot be deleted at all — see The ISF |
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Recommendation, lesson learned, interview, focus group |
No |
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HEADS UP Do not let "deletion is recoverable in NSCAT" become a general belief in your teams. It is true of observations and nothing else. |
Common Problems
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What you see |
What it means |
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No Show Deleted Observations button |
You are neither a Utility Admin nor a COG Admin, or the activity is locked. |
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Clicked the button and got an access error |
You are a COG Admin without the Utility Admin role. The button shows more widely than the permission. |
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The list is empty |
Nothing has been deleted in this activity. |
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Failed to restore observation |
The restore did not complete. Retry; check the activity is unlocked and the utility matches. |
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An observation is missing from a report or export |
It may be deleted. Check here before anyone rewrites it. |
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A Team Lead says they cannot find the deleted list |
Expected. Team Lead does not include it. |
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Deletion Reason column is blank |
The deletion predates the reason being captured, or it was left empty. |
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Restored an observation and the report changed |
Expected. Restoring returns it to reports and exports. |
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Observations page missing entirely |
The activity is locked, or you have no Observations read access. |
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