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Playground equipment inventory: what to record

What is worth recording about a piece of playground equipment, and why self-built equipment belongs in the same list.

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Short answer

A list of the equipment is the basis for everything else. Record the type, where it stands, ideally a photograph, and what you know about the year it was bought and who supplied it. Equipment built on site, and equipment that came with the property, belong in the same list — EN 1176 does not distinguish between purchased and self-built.

How to do it in Lekko

  1. 1Go to Equipment and choose to add a new one.
  2. 2Give it a clear name, ideally including where it stands — for example “The swing by the sandpit”.
  3. 3Choose the right equipment type. The type decides which checklist items apply on top of the common ones.
  4. 4Choose an area for it if you use areas.
  5. 5Mark the position on the map if you like — search for an address or tap directly in the satellite image. This is optional.
  6. 6Take or upload a photograph. A photograph makes the equipment easy to recognise in the documentation and in the history.
  7. 7Fill in the year purchased, the supplier and a note if you have them. All of that is optional.
  8. 8Save.

You can change or delete a piece of equipment later from its own page. Deleting it also removes the inspections and defects that belong to it.

Equipment that was built on site counts too. EN 1176 does not distinguish between purchased and self-built equipment, so a climbing tower put up by volunteers belongs in the same list as a factory-made swing.

Background

Why the inventory comes first

Intervals are counted per piece of equipment, defects belong to a piece of equipment, and an inspection is only complete relative to a list of what was supposed to be inspected. Without the list you cannot say that a round covered the whole site — only that it covered what somebody remembered.

  • Self-built counts. A climbing tower put up by volunteers is playground equipment in the meaning of the standard.
  • The surfaces count. Impact attenuating surfacing, fences and gates belong to the site and are inspected with it.
  • Removed equipment stays in the history. Mark it as removed rather than deleting it — the history belongs to the record even when the equipment is gone.

Lekko builds on EN 1176 and EN 1177. It says that the equipment has been checked against those standards — not that any national requirement has been met. What makes the standard binding is national law, and that differs across the countries this market covers, so we do not claim to know what applies where you are.

Sources

This article gives a practical account of the requirements. It does not reproduce the standards EN 1176 and EN 1177, and it does not replace the annual main inspection by a competent person. If you are unsure what applies to your playground, ask a competent person or the relevant authority in your own country.

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Less fuss. Lekko remembers.

Ready-made checklists built from EN 1176 and EN 1177, a reminder before every inspection, and a report you can hand over in one click.

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See also

Areas: grouping playground equipment by placeWhen it is worth splitting the grounds into areas, and what that does to an inspection round.How to inspect a playground, step by stepFrom choosing the level to completing the round: the checklist, grading what you find, and what happens next.Your own playground checklist itemsWhen it is right to add an item of your own to the checklist, and how it should be worded so two people answer it the same way.

Guides on the same subject

Playground inspection records: what belongs in the logbookAn inspection that cannot be shown afterwards is hard to tell apart from one that never happened. The four parts of a record, and how little it takes to start.