Taking equipment out of service
How KitNDocs decides that equipment must not be used, how to return it to service, and why there is no in-service tickbox
Out of service means do not use
A piece of equipment is out of service when KitNDocs holds a reason that says it must not be used.
New equipment starts out of service. It stays there until somebody certifies it as serviceable. This stops a new record from looking safe before anybody has checked it.
Out of service is not a free-text status. It always comes from a record that explains what happened. That record can be an issue, a defect, an overdue task, a completed task that waits for a certificate, an installed piece of equipment, or a missing first certificate.
There is no in-service tickbox
KitNDocs does not let you set equipment to In service.
In service means KitNDocs can find no reason for it to be out of service. When you clear the last reason, the equipment returns to service.
This is different from serviceable. Serviceable is what a person signs for on a certificate. In service is what KitNDocs works out from the records.
There is also no override that says an overdue task is safe to ignore. Do the work and sign for it, or change the rule.
The reasons equipment can be out of service
| Reason | What clears it |
|---|---|
| Nobody has certified this as serviceable | Sign a certificate that covers the equipment. |
| A task that takes equipment out of service is overdue | Do the work and record it. |
| Work is recorded on that kind of task and nobody has signed | Sign for the completion. |
| An issue takes the equipment out of service | Close the issue, then sign the certificate that names it. |
| A defect takes the equipment out of service | Resolve the defect, then sign for it. |
| Installed equipment is out of service | Clear that equipment, or record its removal. |
| The installed equipment changed since the last certificate | Certify this equipment again. |
New equipment carries a task called Check & confirm record correctness. The Service status tab shows this task like any other task. Open the task, do the work, and record it before you certify the equipment.
Clearing one reason returns the equipment to service only when no other reason remains.
A certificate covers the equipment it names and the equipment installed in it on the day of signing. What a certificate covers explains that rule.
Issues
Raise an issue when somebody saw something that needs attention.
When you raise it, choose whether it takes the equipment out of service. Use this for a concern that makes the equipment unsafe until somebody checks it. Leave the equipment in service when the issue is only a note for later.
An issue can have no work under it. That can be honest. It says somebody saw something and the next step is not known yet.
When an issue takes the equipment out of service, KitNDocs adds a task named Inspect and repair under it. The task says somebody must look at the equipment. To give the work a better name, edit the task on the Tasks tab.
If the issue needs more work, add a task under it. The task also appears on the Tasks tab. It is recorded done like any other task.
A task under an issue does not automatically hold the equipment out of service. The issue can hold it, or the task can hold it when overdue. Usually only one should do that.
Tasks
Some tasks take equipment out of service when they become overdue. You choose this on the task.
Use it when the missed deadline is itself a reason not to use the equipment. A reserve repack usually is. A non-critical check might not be.
A task that is due soon does not take equipment out of service. Only a missed date or missed usage limit can do that.
Recording the work does not release the equipment. The reason changes from overdue to waiting for a certificate. The equipment returns to service when somebody signs for that completion.
If a task should not have taken equipment out of service, change the task rule. The record still shows what the rule said before.
Defects
A defect is what somebody found after looking. It can take equipment out of service in the same way as an issue.
Resolving a defect does not release the equipment by itself. It says the condition is over. A certificate says the equipment is serviceable.
Recording a defect explains defects, deferrals and retractions.
Installed equipment
Installed equipment can hold the parent equipment out of service.
If a reserve is installed in a rig and the reserve is out of service, the rig is out of service too. Clear the reserve, or record that it was removed.
This travels up only. A rig that is out of service does not make the reserve inside it out of service.
Changing what is installed also makes the parent equipment wait for a new certificate. Installing equipment into equipment explains how to record an installation or removal.
Raise an issue
- Open the equipment record.
- Press Raise an issue.
- Check the date.
- Write what you found.
- Add photographs if they help.
- Choose whether the equipment is out of service.
- Read the review screen.
- Press Record what you found.
The date is the day you found the issue, not necessarily the day you type it.
The review screen shows your name and photograph. The issue goes on the record as raised by you.
Nothing is saved until the last press.
The recorded issue gets a reference such as ISS-27. Its page uses this reference as the title. On the Issues tab and Service status, what you wrote stays first and the reference appears below it. Quote the reference when another person must open the same issue.
The screen does not ask what work the issue needs. If you took the equipment out of service, KitNDocs adds a task named Inspect and repair under the issue. To add work yourself, press Add a task on the equipment's Tasks tab or on the issue's Tasks tab.
Close an issue
An issue stays open until somebody closes it or retracts it.
- Close issue. Press it on the issue page. The dialog states what the record will say. If defects were recorded from the issue, the record says the issue became those defects. If none were, the record says nothing notable was found. You never pick the ending. If defects or tasks from the issue are still open, the dialog names them. An open defect or task never blocks the close. You can add a note in your own words.
- Retract. Use this when the issue was raised in error. The same dialog offers it, and it needs your reason.
The closure records who closed the issue and the day. The issue page shows that closure permanently.
Nothing else closes an issue.
- Recording a defect does not close the issue by itself. One issue can be the source of several defects. Tick Close the original issue on the defect form to close it in the same act.
- Completing a task under the issue does not close it.
- A certificate cannot close an open issue.
Closing an issue does not return equipment to service. If the issue took equipment out of service, it holds the equipment until a certificate names it. That is true even when the issue became a defect that also takes the equipment out of service. Both hold the equipment, and each needs its own answer.
If the issue took nothing out of service, it leaves the live list when you close it. No certificate is needed.
Nothing is deleted. The issue stays on the Issues tab with its closure.
Certify as serviceable
- Open the equipment record.
- Press Certify as serviceable.
- Tick the issues, completed tasks and resolved defects you are certifying. Only closed or retracted issues appear on the list.
- Check the date.
- Press Continue.
- Read the certificate.
- Press Continue.
- Sign in the box.
- Press Sign and certify.
Your certificate releases the things you tick. Anything you leave unticked stays on the equipment.
The certificate always names one piece of equipment. It also covers the equipment installed in it on that day.
A new record with nothing wrong is certified the same way. The certificate says somebody checked the equipment and found it serviceable.
KitNDocs refuses to certify while an open issue or an unresolved defect takes equipment out of service. Close the issue or resolve the defect first, then come back and sign.
The first certificate needs a serial number. Add it on the Details tab before you certify. Equipment that has already been certified is not refused for a missing serial number.
What a certificate says
A certificate can hold three lists.
- Released. The issues, completions and resolved defects your certificate clears.
- Deferred defects. Defects that let the equipment stay in service until a date or reading.
- Open defects. Defects that have no effect on service.
A list with nothing in it does not appear. A certificate with no lists says that you checked the equipment itself.
A certificate does not correct mistakes. If an issue was raised against the wrong equipment, retract it. Do not certify it as if somebody checked that equipment.
Signatures
You draw your signature each time you certify equipment. KitNDocs does not keep it for later use.
The drawn mark is part of the proof. The record also holds who signed in, when they signed, and what the signature changed.
Protect your login. If another person uses your account, the certificate carries your name.
Past certificates
The History tab shows past certificates. Select View certificate to read one.
A certificate keeps the name the person had when they signed. That name does not change if the person later leaves your organisation or changes their name.
Print the certificate for an auditor, or send its link to somebody who can open the record.
What this does not do
Taking equipment out of service says the equipment must not be used. It does not say the record is correct.
Out of service is not the same as overdue. A task can be overdue without taking equipment out of service.
Retracting an issue does not itself return equipment to service.
KitNDocs does not decide who may sign. It records who did sign.
KitNDocs does not send an instant message when service state changes. The screen changes straight away, and the morning briefing carries the change next morning.
You cannot certify a whole group of equipment in one press. Each certificate names one piece of equipment.
The Maintenance tab shows the schedules this equipment follows. Taking equipment off a schedule is a separate act.
Updated 30 Aug 2026.