A maintenance and inspection log that stays with the equipment
An inspection log QR code puts the record on the equipment itself. Today that record is usually somewhere else. It is in a binder in an office two floors away, or in a service company's system that you cannot open. It may be on a tag that is full, faded or missing. The person standing in front of the pump has no idea who looked at it last or what they found.
The gap matters when things change. A contract moves to a new service company and the history goes with the old one. An insurer or auditor asks for three years of records and someone spends a week hunting through email. A unit fails, and nobody can say whether the last visit found a problem or whether a part was ever ordered. A log that lives with the asset, and stays with you when the contractor changes, closes that gap.
Equipment inspection record, step by step
Start with one critical asset, then add the rest once the routine works.
- List what you inspect and decide what counts as one point. A generator is one. A row of identical pumps can be one code each or one for the room, depending on whether you need each unit's own history.
- Put a weatherproof code on each one: a generator, a pump, a rooftop unit, an elevator machine room, a fire extinguisher cabinet.
- Set the reasons to Inspection, Maintenance and Repair, so that the record shows what kind of visit it was.
- Set how often a visit is expected, in days. A point with no completed visit one day past that shows in the daily summary.
- At each visit, the technician scans, picks the reason, taps Completed or Not completed, adds a note and takes a photo.
- Not completed asks why and opens a follow-up, so a failed check stays visible until the next completed visit or until you close it.
- Make a PDF report for one asset or many, over any period, whenever an auditor or owner asks.
For a walk through many assets in order, group the points into a round. The inspection preset fills in a start code, the order of the stops, and 60 minutes expected.
Name each point the way your technicians and your auditor name the asset, such as Generator 2 or Pump 4, Station 1, and keep that name on the code label. A report is only as useful as its names. When a unit is replaced, keep the point if the job it does stays the same, and say so in a note on the next visit.
Worked example: Quillan Pump Services
Quillan Pump Services maintains 22 pumps at 6 lift stations for a town's public works department. The contract calls for a check every 30 days and a full service every 180. The department also has 64 fire extinguishers across its yards and offices, inspected in-house every month.
The department holds the account, so the history stays with it. It places one code on each pump and approves Quillan by its email domain. The extinguishers get one code per cabinet, which is 64 more points, because a report has to show each unit. A yard supervisor walks them on the first Monday of the month.
In June, a technician at Station 4 records Pump 2 as Not completed at 10:48: the seal is weeping and a part is on order. A photo shows the housing. The follow-up stays open. On 2 July the part is fitted, a visit marked Repair is Completed at 14:05, and the follow-up closes.
In September the department changes service companies. It approves the new company's domain and removes Quillan's. The new crew scans the same codes and the 22 histories carry on. At year-end, the auditor gets one PDF for the 86 points.
Names and numbers are examples.
Recommended settings for a fire extinguisher inspection log
| Setting | Recommended, and why |
|---|---|
| Photo | Required. For a pump, photograph the control panel or gauge. For an extinguisher, photograph the pressure gauge and the tag, so the note can stay short. |
| Location check | On for outdoor assets spread across a site, at 150 metres. Off for units inside one building, where the code on the unit already fixes the place. |
| Scan in and out | Off for a monthly look at an extinguisher. On for a full service, with the expected length, so a two-hour job closed in ten minutes is reported. |
| Approvals | Approved people only: the service company by domain and your own staff by email. An inspection by an unknown person should not count, so turn them away. |
| Alerts | Not completed each time, because a failed check may need action today. This is set for the whole account and not per asset. The daily summary lists overdue points. |
| Expected visit | Every 30 days for a monthly check, or the interval your contract or authority sets. |
| Record retention | Set for the account, from 6 months to 7 years. Choose the longest period any asset needs. |
What it does not do
It does not replace a regulator's inspection form, and it does not certify compliance. A fire extinguisher inspection log kept this way is a record of the check, not proof of compliance. Keep the tags and forms your authority asks for.
It has no fields for meter readings or checklists. The note is free text, so a pressure or a run-hours figure goes there, or into the photo.
It does not order parts or book visits. A follow-up tells you something is open. Someone still has to act on it.
It does not judge the work. If a technician marks a check Completed, the record shows what they reported, under their verified email.
Questions
Does the history survive a change of contractor?
Yes, if the points are in your account. The history belongs to the point and not to the contractor. Approve the new company and the next visit lands on the same record.
Can an auditor get a report?
Yes. Make a PDF for any period and any points, with the photos, on Letter or A4 paper. It shows what was recorded. It is for your auditor to decide whether that meets their standard.
Does this replace the tag on a fire extinguisher?
No. Keep the tag and any form your authority requires. The scan gives you a record of who checked the unit and when. It is not proof of compliance.
How long are records kept?
You choose, for the whole account, from 6 months to 7 years. Records older than that are deleted every night, so set it to the longest period any of your assets needs.
Can a technician log a reading, such as a pressure?
There is no field for readings. Write the figure in the note, or photograph the gauge. The note is free text, so you can search it but you cannot chart it.
Does the service technician need an app?
No. They scan with the phone's camera and a web page opens. After the first sign-in code the phone is remembered. Technicians never pay and never install anything.
Start with one free code
No credit card. Workers never pay and never install an app. Pricing is per code, in US dollars, with unlimited workers.