Recording a defect

What a defect is

A defect is a known condition on a piece of equipment. It says what is wrong and what effect it has on service.

A defect does not always take equipment out of service. A scuff on a container is a defect if you want it on the record. It can have no effect on service.

Each defect has a reference such as DEF-4. The defect page uses this reference as its title. On the Defects tab and Service status, the description stays first and the reference appears below it. Quote the reference when you need another person to open the same condition.

Revision history

The defect page shows the revision that applies today. Select History to read every assessment, resolution, retraction and correction in recorded order.

Each history entry keeps its day, author, status, assessment and notes. A new revision does not change an earlier entry.

A certificate keeps the exact revision that it signed. A later correction can change the current defect, but it does not change that certificate.

Defects and issues

Raise an issue when somebody saw something but does not yet know what is wrong.

Record a defect when somebody can name the condition. A defect must have words. If you do not yet know what to write, raise an issue instead.

A defect does not need an issue behind it. You can record one during inspection. You can also open an issue and press Add a defect there. KitNDocs then writes the defect and records it under the issue.

That form asks whether to close the issue. Tick Close the original issue when the defect records everything the issue raised. Leave it unticked and the issue stays open, so you can record more defects from the same issue. Closing the issue does not resolve the defect, and it does not return equipment to service.

Add a defect

1. Open the equipment record.
2. Select the Defects tab.
3. Press Add a defect.
4. Check the date.
5. Write what you found.
6. Choose the effect on service.
7. Read what the record will say, then press Add this defect. The button also states the effect that you chose.

The form states what the record will say before you press the button. When you record a defect from an issue, that statement also says whether the issue closes or stays open, and so does the button.

The date is the day you looked. You cannot use a future date.

The recorded defect shows who signed it and on what day, with the effect on service and your note. That record does not change. You reassess it, resolve it, or retract it.

There is no separate place field or parts list. Your words carry that detail.

What you write stays on the record. You do not edit a defect later. You reassess it.

Choose the effect on service

A defect can have one of three effects.

• Take out of service. The equipment stays out of service until the defect is resolved and certified.
• Defer. The equipment stays in service until a date or reading you set.
• No effect on service. The defect stays on the record, and the equipment stays in service.

KitNDocs does not read your words and choose for you. A person makes that judgement.

A defect with no effect on service still appears on the next certificate as an open defect.

Defer a defect

Use a deferral when the equipment can stay in service for now, but only to a limit.

A limit can be a date, a reading, or both. If you give both, the first one reached takes the equipment out of service.

• A date limit uses the side that you choose. On this date takes the equipment out of service when that date starts. The day after this date keeps it in service for the full date.
• A reading limit takes the equipment out of service when a recorded reading reaches the number.
• Warn me gives early warning before a reading limit. It does not stop the reading being saved.

The limit belongs to the defect, not to a task. A condition can need a limit even when no work is planned yet.

KitNDocs does not count usage by itself. It reads the latest recorded reading. If nobody records that counter, the reading limit cannot pass.

If a reading crosses the limit, the whole recorded day counts as out of service. KitNDocs does not know which flight crossed the limit.

A deferral is not an approval or a rating check. It records your judgement. KitNDocs holds no rule for how long a condition may be carried.

Resolve a defect

Resolve a defect when the condition no longer holds.

1. Open the defect.
2. Press Mark this defect resolved.
3. Check the date.
4. Add a note if it helps.
5. Press Mark this defect resolved.

Resolving a defect does not return equipment to service. It says the condition is over. A certificate says the equipment is serviceable.

After you resolve a defect, it waits on the certifying screen. Tick it when you certify the equipment.

You can resolve a defect while work under it is still open. KitNDocs asks what to do with each open task. It does not cancel work for you.

Reassess or correct a defect

Press Reassess when you learn more about an open defect or need to move its limit.

If a resolution or retraction is wrong, press Correct this record. The correction adds the next open revision to the same defect.

The previous revision stays in History with its date and author. A correction does not change a certificate that signed that revision.

If the condition ended and later returned, record a new defect. Do not correct the old defect, because the two occurrences are different conditions.

A reassessment or correction does not put equipment back into service. If the defect took equipment out of service, only a certificate can return it.

Retract a defect

Retract a defect when it was never true. Use this for the wrong equipment or a duplicate entry.

You must write why you are retracting it. There is no list of reasons.

Nothing is deleted. The defect stays on the record as retracted, with your reason and name.

A retraction releases nothing by itself. If the defect took equipment out of service, the certificate still has to release it. The certificate shows that the defect was added by mistake.

Work under a defect

Press Add work for this to raise a task against the defect.

The task appears on the Tasks tab and under the defect. It does not ask whether it takes equipment out of service, because the defect already answers that.

Recording work does not resolve the defect. A task says what work happened. The defect says whether the condition still exists.

Attach photos and files

1. Open the defect.
2. Select Photos & files.
3. Press Attach photos or files.
4. Choose up to 10 photos or PDFs.
5. Add a label to any file if it helps.
6. Press Attach.

The files start sending when you choose them. If you press Attach before they finish, KitNDocs waits.

A file does not change the defect or its effect on service. Void a file if you attached it in error. Your organisation can restore it for 28 days.

What this does not do

KitNDocs does not decide who may record a defect. Anybody in your organisation can do it.

KitNDocs holds no rigger rating and checks none.

A defect does not replace the legal record of maintenance work. Attach the paper record to the completed task where you need it.

Updated 30 Aug 2026.

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