Tracking Engineer GPS Location

Go to Settings → Team → GPS and toggle GPS tracking on for your account. Set the working hours window (e.g. 07:00–18:00) — the app will only record location within this window. Outside these hours, tracking stops automatically.

• GPS is off by default — you must actively enable it
• Working hours apply to all engineers; you can override per engineer if needed
• Admins only — only account owners and admins can change GPS settings

When an engineer next opens the Trade2Base mobile app after GPS is enabled for your account, they are shown a consent prompt explaining what is tracked and when. They must tap Allow before any location data is collected.

On iOS: the app requests “Allow While Using App” — engineers should select this so the app can track in the background while they're driving between jobs. On Android: grant “Allow all the time” for background tracking.

If an engineer declines the permission prompt, no location data is recorded for them. You can see consent status per engineer in Settings → Team → GPS.

In the Trade2Base web app, go to Schedule → Map to see a live map with each engineer's current position. Click an engineer pin to see their name, last update time, and their next scheduled job.

• Last known location is shown if the engineer's app is backgrounded
• Pins update every 60 seconds while engineers are in the working hours window
• Job site addresses are shown as destination markers alongside engineer pins

Enable ETA alerts in Settings → Team → GPS → ETA messages. Set the trigger distance (e.g. 5 km from the job site). When an engineer comes within that radius on the way to a job, Trade2Base automatically sends your customer an SMS or WhatsApp message — for example: “Your engineer is approximately 15 minutes away.”

You can customise the message template in Settings → Message Templates → Engineer ETA. The estimated travel time is calculated using live traffic data.

Go to Reports → GPS Routes, select an engineer and a date, and see the full route they drove that day plotted on a map. The total distance is shown at the top — useful for validating mileage claims before reimbursement.

Route history is retained for 30 days. After that, it is automatically deleted in line with Trade2Base's GPS data retention policy. Export a route as PDF before the 30-day window if you need it for a longer period.

In Settings → Team → GPS, click the toggle next to any engineer's name to disable tracking for them individually. This is useful for office-based staff or subcontractors who should not be tracked.

Engineers can also revoke the location permission from their phone's app settings at any time. If they do, tracking stops immediately and their status shows as “Location unavailable.”