Check-Off Templates: Daily Apparatus Checks, SCBA Inspections & Equipment Inventories

A check-off template is a reusable checklist your members complete on a set cadence — daily apparatus checks, weekly SCBA inspections, monthly pump tests, quarterly equipment inventories. Build the template once, and your crews run through it every time with a consistent format, clear pass/fail results, and a permanent record of what was checked and by whom.

This article covers creating and managing templates, completing check-offs, and reviewing results. If you're looking specifically for how to pair QR codes with check-offs for on-site scanning, see QR Codes + Check-Offs.

Creating a Template

1. Go to Check-Offs in the sidebar
2. Click Templates, then New template
3. Give it a clear, specific name — "Engine 1 Daily Check" is better than "Daily Check" because members should immediately know what they're completing
4. Choose a scope (see below)
5. Set an optional frequency
6. For an apparatus template, decide whether to record meter readings
7. Build your sections and items
8. Save

Choosing a Scope

Every template is tied to a scope that determines where it appears:

• Apparatus — tied to a specific rig. Best for daily apparatus checks, pump tests, and equipment inventories specific to one unit. Appears on that apparatus's card in the Station Hub.
• Station — tied to a specific station. Best for station facility checks, bay inspections, and equipment that lives at the station (generators, defibrillators, etc.). Appears under the station heading in the Station Hub.
• Department — visible everywhere. Best for checklists that aren't tied to a specific rig or station — department-wide PPE inspections, general safety audits, etc. Appears at the top of the Station Hub.

Setting a Frequency

Optionally set how often the check should be completed: daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, annual, or a custom interval (1 to 730 days). The frequency is displayed on the template as a reference for your members so they know the expected cadence.

The frequency is a label, not a schedule — on its own, nothing reminds anyone or tracks whether the check happened on time. To make the cadence actually ask someone to run the check, give the template a schedule.

Recording Meter Readings

An apparatus-scoped template can ask the crew for the rig's odometer and engine hours each time the check-off is run, and pump hours on a rig with a rated pump. Turn on Record meter readings in the template editor — the switch appears once the scope is set to an apparatus, and it's off until you turn it on, so templates that don't need it stay as short as they are today.

With it on, the check-off form gets a Meter Readings card after the sections. The fields are optional on every check-off: a crew that doesn't have the numbers handy can still submit. The odometer field shows the rig's last recorded reading and warns if the new one is lower, which catches a transposed digit before it's saved.

Readings entered on a check-off do two things:

• They're kept on the completed check-off, so the record shows what the meters read when the rig was checked.
• They're written to the rig's fuel & mileage log as a mileage-only entry, and the apparatus's current odometer and hours update from it — the same way they do from a fuel fill-up. Maintenance schedules keyed to mileage or hours see the new reading immediately.

This replaces the older workaround of a notes required item labeled "odometer": a typed number the system can trend, rather than a note it can only display. If you have templates set up that way, turn on meter readings and delete the note item.

Scheduling a Check-Off

A schedule is a recurring work order pointed at the template. It comes due on the cadence you set, lands in someone's queue, and closes itself when the check-off is done.

Setting one up

1. Open the template from Check-Offs → Templates
2. Find the Schedule card and click Schedule recurring work order
3. Set the cadence, the first due date, and the lead time — how many days ahead of the due date the work order should appear
4. Optionally assign it to the crew or the member who runs the check
5. Save

Assigning is worth doing when a specific crew owns the check, because that's what sends a notification. It isn't required: an unassigned schedule shows the check as due on the Station Hub, and whoever runs it closes it. For a daily rig check that whoever-is-on-duty picks up, that's often the better fit than naming one member who may be off shift.

Most of the form is prefilled from the template: the template name becomes the work order title, the category is set to inspection, and an apparatus- or station-scoped template links the work order to that rig or station so the job also shows on its card.

Once a schedule exists, the Schedule card shows the cadence and the next due date instead of the create button, with a Paused badge if the schedule has been deactivated. Manage → opens it in Work Orders → Recurring, where you can change the cadence, reassign it, pause it, or delete it. A template can have one schedule at a time.

Running a scheduled check

When a scheduled work order comes due, it behaves like any other work order — it's on the board, and if the schedule is assigned, it appears in the assignee's queue and sends them a notification. The difference is a Start check-off button at the top of the work order, which opens the template's check-off form directly.

The check also shows as due on the Station Hub, on the template's button for that rig or station: Due today when it comes due, Overdue if it's still outstanding after that, and the date when lead time has put it on the board early. This is what makes an unassigned schedule useful — the crew sees the rig is due where they already look, without anyone being paged.

The badge appears for the people who can actually clear it: anyone, when the schedule is unassigned; the assignee and their crew when it isn't; and officers with permission to update work orders either way. A member outside an assigned crew doesn't see a badge, because running the check wouldn't close that crew's order and the badge would never go away.

Submitting the check-off completes the work order and records a Completed via Check-off card on it, showing the template, who ran it, when, and a link to the check-off itself. You don't have to use the button for this to happen — starting the same check-off from the Station Hub, the templates list, or a QR code on the rig closes the work order just the same.

What to know before you rely on it

• An assigned order closes for the people it belongs to. The work order completes automatically for the member it's assigned to, for anyone in the assigned crew, and for members with permission to update work orders. If someone outside that group runs the check-off, the check-off is recorded normally but the work order stays open — closing it would take the job out of the assigned crew's queue on the word of someone with no claim to it. An unassigned order has no such owner, so whoever runs the check-off closes it.
• One open order at a time. If the last work order from a schedule is still open, the next cycle doesn't create a second one — a daily check left undone on Monday won't have a duplicate waiting on Tuesday. The schedule keeps its calendar and picks back up once the outstanding one is closed, so the board reflects work that's genuinely outstanding rather than one row per missed day.
• The template is fixed at creation. A schedule can't be repointed at a different template later. To schedule a different check, delete the schedule and create one from the other template.

Building Sections and Items

Templates are organized into sections, each containing individual items. For example, an engine daily check might have:

• Cab — fuel level, warning lights, mirrors, seat belts
• Engine compartment — oil level, coolant, belts, leaks
• Pump — primer, intake valves, discharge valves, pressure gauge
• Equipment — irons, pike poles, cribbing, hand lights
• SCBA — bottle pressure, mask seal, regulator function

Sections keep the checklist organized so members work through it logically — compartment by compartment, system by system.

Reordering sections and items

Every section and every item in the template editor has a grab handle on its left edge. Drag a section handle to move the whole section (and everything in it) up or down the sheet. Drag an item handle to move it within its section, or drop it into a different section — items are not locked to the section they were created in.

This is what makes a wholesale reorganization a drag rather than a retype. Say your sheets were built as "Driver side" and "Passenger side" and you want one section per compartment instead: add the new compartment sections, then drag each item out of the old sections into the compartment it actually lives in. When the destination section already has items, drop onto the item you want to land next to — the dragged item slides in above or below it. A section with no items is still a valid drop target: drop anywhere on the empty section and the item becomes its first entry. Delete the old sections once they're empty.

The handles work without a mouse too: tab to a handle, press Space to pick it up, use the arrow keys to move it, and press Space again to drop it.

Marking Items as Critical

Toggle the critical flag on items that represent safety-critical functions — brake operation, SCBA bottle pressure, low-fuel warnings, structural damage. When a critical item fails, it's prominently highlighted in the results so officers can act immediately. A failed critical item signals the rig or equipment may need to be taken out of service until the issue is resolved.

Requiring Notes

Toggle notes required on items where you want an actual reading or value recorded — not just a pass/fail. Oil level, pump pressure, battery voltage, fuel percentage. This forces members to record real data rather than just checking a box. (For the odometer and hour meters, use meter readings instead — those go to the rig's mileage history as numbers, not notes.)

Items with notes required work in both directions:

• On pass — the member must record the reading (e.g., "2200 PSI")
• On fail — the member must describe the deficiency (e.g., "Bottle below 1800 PSI, requires fill")

Completing a Check-Off

Open a template and click Start check-off, or scan the template's QR code if one is posted.

Each item uses a three-way control:

• Swipe right (or tap right) — mark as pass (green check)
• Swipe left (or tap left) — mark as fail (red flag)
• Center — pending (not yet checked)

When you mark an item as failed, a deficiency panel appears where you can describe what's wrong. If the item is marked critical, a warning reminds you that the equipment may be out of service until resolved.

If the template records meter readings, a Meter Readings card follows the sections. Enter the odometer and hours off the dash; leave any you don't have blank.

Attaching Photos

You can attach up to 50 photos to a completed check-off. Snap a photo when you find a problem — a fraying belt, a leaking fitting, a cracked lens. The photo lives on the check-off record permanently, and it's worth more than any written description when you're creating a maintenance request.

Creating Work Orders From Failures

When a check-off item fails and your department has inventory enabled, you can create a work order directly from the deficiency panel. The work order is linked back to the check-off, so the maintenance chain is traceable from discovery to resolution.

Reviewing Results

Station Hub

The default view when you open Check-Offs is the Station Hub — a dashboard organized by station and apparatus. At a glance, you can see:

• Which rigs have been checked and which haven't
• The most recent check-offs for each apparatus
• Department-wide and station-scoped checklists with quick-start buttons

Use the station picker dropdown to switch between stations if your department has more than one.

Check-Off History

Click History for a full table of all completed check-offs across the department. Filter by:

• Template name — narrow to a specific checklist
• Completed by — see a specific member's work
• Date range — look at a specific time period

Click any entry to see the full results — which items passed, which failed, notes recorded, meter readings, photos attached, and related work orders.

What to Look For

• Recurring failures on the same item — a pump valve that fails every other week needs maintenance, not another check-off
• Missing checks — if Engine 1's daily check hasn't been completed in three days, something's falling through the cracks
• Sparse notes on required items — if oil level items just say "ok" instead of an actual reading, have a conversation about what the template is asking for

Copying Templates

If you need a similar template for a different apparatus or station — Engine 2's daily check is almost identical to Engine 1's — use the Copy action on an existing template. This duplicates the sections and items, and lets you change the name and scope on the copy. Edit from there rather than rebuilding from scratch.

Best Practices

Organize sections by physical location

Structure your sections the way a member would physically walk through the check. For an apparatus: start at the cab, move to the engine compartment, then each compartment in order, then the pump panel. For a station: start at the front, work through each bay, then the living quarters. Members who can work through the checklist in a natural flow will complete it faster and more thoroughly.

Keep templates focused

A 100-item checklist that takes 45 minutes discourages compliance. Better to have a focused daily check (15-20 items, 5 minutes) and a separate monthly deep inspection (50+ items, thorough). Different frequencies for different depths.

Use critical flags sparingly

If everything is critical, nothing is. Reserve the critical flag for items where a failure genuinely means the equipment shouldn't be used until the issue is resolved — brake function, structural integrity, SCBA air supply. Routine items (cleanliness, minor cosmetic issues) don't need the flag.

Post QR codes where the work happens

Print the template's QR code, laminate it, and mount it where the check happens — on the dashboard, on the pump panel, next to the SCBA rack. See QR Codes + Check-Offs for detailed guidance on placement and best practices.

Frequently Asked Questions