# Playground equipment inventory: what to record

> **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.

Category: Getting started · Updated: 2026-08-09 · Published by: Lekko · Canonical address: https://lekko.tech/eu/help/add-a-piece-of-equipment

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

## How to do it in Lekko

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

> 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.

## 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

- [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/)

---

This guide is published by Lekko – https://lekko.tech/eu/help/add-a-piece-of-equipment