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Creating New Sites in Bulk

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for bulk importing and exporting sites, assessment locations, COPCs, receptors, figures, and historical data

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Written by Trin Murphy

Objective

This SOP outlines how to use the bulk import and export features on the Sites page in EnviroAutomate. The Actions menu provides tools to export existing data, prepare bulk updates in Excel, and import them back into the system.

Demonstration Video

Prerequisites

  • For site imports, you need a correctly formatted Excel file (export first to get the template)

Accessing the Actions Menu

  • Click Sites in the left sidebar under the TASKS section

  • Click the Actions button at the top right of the Sites page

  • The dropdown menu shows all available import and export options

Available Actions

The Actions menu provides the following bulk operations:

Sites

  • Export Sites - Downloads an Excel file containing all your existing site data. Sheet 1 and Sheet 2 provide instructions and reference data. Sheet 3 (Data) contains the actual site records.

  • Import Sites - Upload a prepared Excel file to create new sites or update existing ones in bulk.

COPCs (Contaminants of Potential Concern)

  • Export COPCs - Downloads the current COPC selections for all sites

  • Import COPCs - Upload a file to bulk-assign COPCs to sites

Site Receptors

  • Export Site Receptors - Downloads the current receptor assignments for all sites

  • Import Site Receptors - Upload a file to bulk-assign receptors to sites

Site Figures

  • Bulk Upload Site Figures - Opens a modal that accepts a single ZIP file containing PDFs. Each PDF must be named using the pattern {SiteCode}_location_plan.pdf or {SiteCode}_features.pdf (e.g., PFA-AU-S001_location_plan.pdf). Maximum ZIP size is 100MB.

Assessment Locations

  • Export Assessment Locations - Downloads all assessment locations across all sites

  • Import Assessment Locations - Upload a file to bulk-create or update assessment locations

Historical Data (administrators only)

  • Bulk Historical Data Import - Opens a modal that accepts a ZIP of historical data files. This option is only visible to tenant administrators.

Creating New Sites in Bulk

1. Export the Template

  • Click Actions > Export Sites

  • Open the downloaded Excel file

  • Sheet 1 and Sheet 2 contain instructions and reference data for valid field values

  • Sheet 3 (Data) shows your existing sites and is where you add new rows

2. Prepare New Site Data

Add new rows to Sheet 3 with the following required fields:

  • Name - The site name (used together with Site Code to identify the row on import)

  • Site Code - A code for the site. Must be unique within your tenant.

  • Client Name - Must match an existing client in the system

  • Tenant Office - Must match one of your organisation's offices

  • Site Type - Must match a valid site type from the reference data

  • Address fields - Address Line 1, City, State/Province, Postal Code, Country

Recommended optional fields:

  • Description - A description of the site (e.g., "Casula Service Station")

  • Surrounding Land Use - Useful for bulk setup

Additional site attributes can be left blank and filled in later on each site's Edit page.

3. Import the File

  • Return to the Sites page

  • Click Actions > Import Sites

  • Select your prepared Excel file

  • The system will process the file and create the new sites

  • If a site already exists with a matching Name AND Site Code, it is updated in place rather than duplicated

4. Verify the Import

  • Check the Sites list to confirm the new sites were created

  • If there are errors, a message will appear indicating what went wrong (e.g., duplicate site codes, invalid client names, missing required fields)

Bulk Setup Workflow

For a complete bulk site setup, follow this recommended order:

  1. Import Sites - Create the sites first

  2. Import Assessment Locations - Add monitoring wells, bores, etc. to each site

  3. Import Site Receptors - Assign receptors to each site

  4. Import COPCs - Assign contaminants of potential concern to each site

  5. Fetch Reference Data - On each site's Edit page, click Fetch Reference Data to auto-populate geology, acid sulfate soils, and planning information (only needed if the lat/lng auto-fetch on save did not run)

Cautionary Notes

  • Always export first to get the correct template format - do not create spreadsheets from scratch

  • Client names, tenant office names, and site types must exactly match existing values in the system

  • Site codes must be unique within your tenant - duplicate codes will cause import errors

  • A red error message will appear if the file contains formatting errors or invalid data

  • Review the instructions on Sheets 1 and 2 of the exported file carefully before adding data

  • The Bulk Upload Site Figures and Bulk Historical Data Import modals only accept ZIP files

Tips for Efficiency

  • Export existing data first to use as a template and see the expected format

  • Use the reference data on Sheet 2 to ensure field values match exactly

  • After bulk importing sites, use Fetch Reference Data on each site to auto-populate geology and planning data if needed

  • Follow the bulk setup workflow order (Sites > Assessment Locations > Receptors > COPCs) for the most efficient setup

  • For figure documents, name your PDFs {SiteCode}_location_plan.pdf and {SiteCode}_features.pdf before zipping so Bulk Upload Site Figures can route them correctly

Related Articles
Creating a Site
Sites: Historical Data Tab
Creating an Investigation Level
Creating a Receptor
Editing a Receptor
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