diff --git a/server/AyaNova/biz/CustomFieldsValidator.cs b/server/AyaNova/biz/CustomFieldsValidator.cs
index 7ec4f378..a114c907 100644
--- a/server/AyaNova/biz/CustomFieldsValidator.cs
+++ b/server/AyaNova/biz/CustomFieldsValidator.cs
@@ -9,12 +9,18 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
     {
         internal static void Validate(BizObject biz, FormCustom formCustom, string customFields, string onlyIfStartsWith = null)
         {
-            bool hasCustomData = !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(customFields);
-
+           
             //No form custom = no template to check against so nothing to do
             if (formCustom == null)
                 return;
 
+            //case 4615
+            //this is to eliminate the old block optimization to short circuit checking if there is no custom data present
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(customFields))
+            {
+                customFields = "{}";
+            }
+
 
             //case 4615
             bool checkPrefix = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(onlyIfStartsWith);
@@ -23,29 +29,31 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
             var ThisFormCustomFieldsList = FormFieldOptionalCustomizableReference.FormFieldReferenceList(formCustom.FormKey).Where(z => z.IsCustomField == true).Select(z => z.TKey).ToList();
 
 
-            //If the customFields string is empty then only validation is if any of the fields are required to be filled in
-            if (!hasCustomData)
-            {
-                //iterate the template
-                for (int i = 0; i < FormTemplate.Count; i++)
-                {
-                    //get the field customization
-                    var fldKey = FormTemplate[i]["fld"].Value<string>();
-                    var fldRequired = FormTemplate[i]["required"].Value<bool>();
-                    //Check if this is an expected custom field and that it was set to required
 
-                    //case 4615
-                    if (checkPrefix)
-                        continue;
-                    if (ThisFormCustomFieldsList.Contains(fldKey) && fldRequired == true)
-                    {
-                        //Ok, this field is required but custom fields are all empty so add this error
-                        biz.AddError(ApiErrorCode.VALIDATION_CUSTOM_REQUIRED_EMPTY, fldKey);
-                    }
-                }
+            //case 4615 moved this logic into main check below as it would not support startsWith and isn't much of an optimization anyway; less code is best code.
+            // //If the customFields string is empty then only validation is if any of the fields are required to be filled in
+            // if (!hasCustomData)
+            // {
+            //     //iterate the template
+            //     for (int i = 0; i < FormTemplate.Count; i++)
+            //     {
+            //         //get the field customization
+            //         var fldKey = FormTemplate[i]["fld"].Value<string>();
+            //         var fldRequired = FormTemplate[i]["required"].Value<bool>();
+            //         //Check if this is an expected custom field and that it was set to required
 
-                return;
-            }
+            //         //case 4615
+            //         if (checkPrefix)
+            //             continue;
+            //         if (ThisFormCustomFieldsList.Contains(fldKey) && fldRequired == true)
+            //         {
+            //             //Ok, this field is required but custom fields are all empty so add this error
+            //             biz.AddError(ApiErrorCode.VALIDATION_CUSTOM_REQUIRED_EMPTY, fldKey);
+            //         }
+            //     }
+
+            //     return;
+            // }
 
             //here we have both a bunch of custom fields presumeably and a form customization so let's get cracking...
             //parse the custom fields, it should contain an object with 16 keys
@@ -62,8 +70,8 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
                 //case 4615
                 //ensure descendant custom fields are only checked against matching descendant objects
                 if (checkPrefix && !iFldKey.StartsWith(onlyIfStartsWith))
-                    continue;                
-                //ensure when validating work order header don't check workorder item custom fields as both could be present here
+                    continue;
+                //ensure when validating work order header don't check workorder item (or workorderitemunit, both work here) custom fields as both could be present here
                 if (!checkPrefix && iFldKey.StartsWith("WorkOrderItem"))
                     continue;
 
@@ -92,20 +100,6 @@ namespace AyaNova.Biz
                     {
                         biz.AddError(ApiErrorCode.VALIDATION_CUSTOM_REQUIRED_EMPTY, iFldKey);
                     }
-
-                    // foreach (JObject jo in FormTemplate)
-                    // {
-                    //     if (jo["fld"].Value<string>() == iFldKey)
-                    //     {
-                    //         var fldRequired = jo["required"].Value<bool>();
-                    //         if (fldRequired && string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(CurrentValue))
-                    //         {
-                    //             biz.AddError(ApiErrorCode.VALIDATION_CUSTOM_REQUIRED_EMPTY, iFldKey);
-                    //         }
-                    //         break;
-                    //     }
-                    // }
-
                 }
                 else
                 {