# Playground inspection checklist: the points to walk with today

> **Short answer:** A useful checklist has points that apply to the whole site, plus a few points for each type of equipment. Every point should be answerable yes or no while standing in front of the equipment, without looking anything up. Keep the routine visual level short enough that it gets done, and put the measurements — surfacing depth, play in bearings — on the operational level.

Category: Inspection and routines · Published: 2026-08-09 · Updated: 2026-08-09 · Author: The Lekko editorial team (Lekko) · Canonical address: https://lekko.tech/eu/blog/playground-inspection-checklist

A checklist has one job: to make the round come out the same when two different people walk it. That creates two demands that pull against each other. It has to cover the risks, and it has to be short enough to actually be walked. The list below is a starting point that manages both.

> The English-language checklists that are easiest to find are built around American guidance. The points below follow EN 1176 instead, which is the standard your equipment was built to if you are in Europe.

## Common points: the routine visual level

These apply to the whole site rather than to one piece of equipment. This is the round that should take minutes.

- No glass, litter or sharp objects on the ground.
- The impact attenuating surfacing is in place — no hollow under the swing, no bare patch at the foot of the slide.
- No exposed foundations or hard edges inside the impact area.
- No missing or loose parts: bolts, nuts, caps, covers, fixings.
- No sharp edges, protruding screws or newly broken surfaces within reach.
- Ropes, chains and nets are intact and attached.
- Seats, platforms and steps are whole.
- Fences and gates are intact, and gates close and latch where that matters — towards traffic and towards water in particular.
- Signs and markings are legible, including the manufacturer's plate.
- No vegetation growing into the impact area or blocking the view across the site.
- No signs of vandalism, fire or graffiti.
- Water does not stand where children land, and there is no ice on the surfacing.

## Common points: the operational level

These need you to put a hand on the equipment rather than look at it, and they belong to the operational inspection.

- Posts and foundations are firm — no movement when you push.
- Fixings, bolts and nuts are tight and complete.
- Bearings and joints run smoothly, with no play.
- Chains and hooks show no wear close to the point of failure, and S-hooks are closed.
- The **depth** of loose-fill surfacing is measured at several points in the impact area, not judged by eye.
- Timber is free of rot where it meets the ground and at the fixings.
- Metal is free of corrosion right through, especially where the post enters the ground.
- Sliding surfaces are free of cracks, dents and steps at the joints.
- Openings that could trap a head, neck, finger or foot are checked, especially where something has been repaired or rebuilt.
- Signs and age markings are still attached and still readable.

## Points that belong to a type of equipment

On top of the common points, each type has a few of its own. These are the ones that catch the faults the general list walks past.

**Two or three points per type**

| Type | What to look at |
| --- | --- |
| Swing | Bearings in the support beam, chains or suspension, S-hooks, clearance to the ground and between seats, clear impact area in front and behind. |
| Nest swing | Ring and rope attachments, clearance to the ground measured to the ring, and clear ground all round — a nest rotates as well as swings. |
| Slide | Sliding surface, side edges along the whole length, the run-out and its transition to the surfacing, the guardrails at the entry. |
| Climbing frame | Grips, rungs and holds, welds and joints, crushing and entrapment points, free height of fall and the impact area. |
| Roundabout | Rotation and bearings, the centre fixing and the brake where one is fitted, clearance under and around the platform. |
| Seesaw | Pivot and bearings, crushing points at the pivot, the damper or tyre under each seat. |
| Spring rider | The spring and its fixing, the guard over the crushing point at the spring, anchoring in the ground. |
| Cableway | Wire rope, traveller and suspension, braking and end stop, and the clearance under a loaded seat along the whole run. |
| Sandpit | Condition of the sand, drainage, edge protection, and the cover where there is one. |

## What makes a point work

**Three tests for a checklist item**

- **It can be answered yes or no** standing in front of the equipment, without looking anything up.
- **It points at something observable**, not at a feeling. “Does the gate close by itself?” works; “is the gate in order?” does not.
- **It names the part of the standard it comes from** where it rests on one, so a report can be cross-checked instead of taken on trust.

## What to do with what you find

A round that stops at finding things is wasted time. Grade each finding by how urgently it has to be dealt with, give it an owner and a date, and close it with a description of what was done.

- **Critical.** The equipment is taken out of use immediately and is not used again until the fault is put right.
- **Moderate.** It has to be dealt with, but use can continue. Give it a person and a date.
- **Minor.** Keep an eye on it. Record it so that it is not forgotten and so the trend can be followed.

> Taking something out of use has to be real. A rope and a sign are not a closure if a child can still use the equipment. As long as it can be used, it is in use, and the finding is still a critical one.

## Photographs are worth more than they cost

One photograph at the finding and one after the repair do two things that text does not: they show how serious the fault was, and they show that the work was actually done. It takes ten seconds with the phone that is already in your hand.

In Lekko these points are already set up per type of equipment, each with the part of EN 1176 or EN 1177 it comes from, so the round is a matter of walking and tapping rather than remembering. See [what the record should contain](https://lekko.tech/eu/blog/playground-inspection-records-and-logbook).

## Questions and answers

### What should a playground inspection checklist include?

Points that apply to the whole site — surfacing, litter, fixings, sharp edges, fences, signs — plus a few points for each type of equipment, and a place to record what you found. Keep the routine visual level short. Put the things you have to measure or take hold of on the operational level.

### Is one checklist enough for all three levels?

It is easier to use one list with the deeper points marked as belonging to the operational level. That way the same round is recognisable every time and nothing is forgotten when the deeper inspection comes around. What you should not do is run the short list and record it as the deep one.

### Do we need to check equipment we did not buy?

Yes. The standard does not distinguish between purchased and self-built equipment. A climbing tower put up by volunteers, a tyre swing hung by a parent, and the frame that came with the property are all playground equipment, and they are checked in the same round as everything else.

### How long should a round take?

The routine visual inspection should be minutes for a normal site — that is the design intent, and a longer round is one that gets skipped. The operational inspection takes longer because it includes measuring and handling, and it comes around far less often.

## Sources

- [EN 1176 and EN 1177 – CEN/TC 136 Sports, playground and other recreational facilities and equipment (CEN-CENELEC)](https://www.cencenelec.eu/areas-of-work/cen-sectors/consumer/sports-goods/)
- [CEN-CENELEC: European Standards, and how members adopt them nationally](https://www.cencenelec.eu/european-standardization/european-standards/)

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This article is published by Lekko – https://lekko.tech/eu/blog/playground-inspection-checklist