Custody of equipment

Who has a piece of equipment, which day it is due back, and what custody does not tell you

What custody means

Custody says who is holding a piece of equipment, from which day, and which day it is due back.

One contact has it, or nobody has it.

A custody entry is a record of what somebody said on a day. It is not proof of where the equipment is now.

The day it is due back

When you give custody to somebody, you choose one of two answers.

On this day. Give the day you expect it back.
No day. The equipment stays out until it comes back.

You must choose one. KitNDocs does not record the entry until you answer.

Choose No day when you do not know. A rig at a rigger for a reserve repack comes back when the work is done, and a made-up day would be a false record.

Late

A piece of equipment is late when the day it was due back has passed and nobody has recorded it coming back.

The top of the record shows a red line. It says which day the equipment was due back and how many days ago that was.

The Service status tab of the record says the same, under a heading of its own: Not back. The heading sits below the airworthiness work, and the row opens the Custody tab. The dashboard gives the same heading for the whole fleet.

A late return is not a service state. Equipment that is late back can still be in service and in date. KitNDocs never puts a late return under Out of service or Overdue, because neither is true of it.

The equipment list says the same. Under the name of the contact who has it, the list gives the day it is due back. When it is late, the list gives the number of days late instead.

Above the list, one sentence says how many pieces are out and how many have not come back.

A piece of equipment with No day is never late. Nothing can tell you it is overdue, because nothing knows when it was due.

The note

Each entry can have a note.

Use it to say what this entry is about. KitNDocs gives no list of reasons.

The next entry gets its own note. The old note stays with the old entry.

Nobody

Nobody holds it is a real answer. It is what Take back custody records.

This is different from No custody recorded.

No custody recorded means nobody has recorded custody yet.
Nobody holds it means somebody recorded that the equipment came back.

The Custody tab

The equipment record has a Custody tab. It sits between Details and Installations.

The tab has two parts.

The panel at the top says who has the equipment now, since which day, which day it is due back, the note, and who recorded it.
The history beneath shows every entry, newest first.

Before the first entry, the tab shows one card instead. The card says No custody recorded, and it offers Give custody.

The tab offers the acts that are true now. While somebody has the equipment, it offers Take back custody and Pass custody. While nobody has it, it offers Give custody.

The acts menu at the top of the record offers the same acts, under Custody.

Give custody

Open the equipment record.
Open the Custody tab.
Select Give custody.
Choose the contact in the Holder field.
Choose On this day and give the day, or choose No day.
Add a note if it helps.
Select Give custody again to record it.

Take custody back

Open the Custody tab.
Select Take back custody.
Add a note if it helps.
Select Take back custody again to record it.

Pass custody straight to somebody else

Open the Custody tab.
Select Pass custody.
Choose the new contact in the Holder field.
Choose On this day and give the day, or choose No day.
Add a note if it helps.
Select Pass custody again to record it.

The history

The history reads each entry against the one before it.

Given to somebody, when nobody had it before.
Passed to somebody, when a different contact had it before.
Taken back, when the entry says nobody holds it.

KitNDocs does not overwrite the earlier entry. Each entry stays on the record with who recorded it and when.

You cannot change an entry and you cannot remove one. To correct a mistake, record what is true now and write a note.

Contacts

A contact is a named party you can record equipment against. It does not have to be a person.

The shop and Club stock can be contacts. A contact needs no login and no email address.

Add contacts on the Contacts page. Select a name there to open the page for that contact.

A contact named by a custody entry stays on the record. KitNDocs cannot delete it without making the history read as a blank.

Contacts are not the same as staff. Staff are contacts who work for you now. See Your staff.

What one contact holds

Each contact has a page. Select the name of a contact on the Contacts page to open it.

The page has two tabs.

Details gives the name and says whether the contact is on the roster. You change the roster on the Staff page, not here.
Custody gives what the contact holds now, and every custody entry that named them.

Holding now lists each piece of equipment the contact still has. Each one says the day it went out, the day it is due back, and the note. A piece that is late reads in red, the same as it does on the equipment list.

Custody history lists every entry that named this contact, newest first. Each line says which piece of equipment, which day, whether the contact still holds it, and who recorded it.

You cannot give or take back custody from a contact page. You do that on the equipment record, where you can see the piece in front of you.

Put a contact on the roster

The Contacts page has a Roster column.

For a contact who does not work for you, select Put on the roster. Give the start day and save.

This does not add or remove a contact. It starts a staff engagement for the contact that already exists.

What custody does not do

Custody does not tell you where a piece of equipment is. It tells you who took it.

KitNDocs does not chase anybody. It does not send email about a late return and it does not change briefing recipients.

Custody says nothing about airworthiness. Equipment that is out can still be overdue or out of service.

A piece of equipment has one custody entry at a time: one contact, or nobody.

You cannot record custody while you add equipment. Add the equipment first.

You cannot create a contact from the picker. Add the contact on the Contacts page first.

You cannot filter the equipment list by contact yet.

Taking equipment out of service explains service state.
Your staff explains roster records.

Updated 30 Aug 2026.