How to Handle Damaged Gear?
When an inspection turns up a problem — a cracked LCD, a frayed strap, a motor that won’t start — you don’t want that item quietly going back into stock. Rentablez lets you log a defect right on the inspection, tag how serious it is, and spin up a maintenance job to get it fixed. Everything stays linked so you always know why an item was pulled and what happened next.
Where Defects Live
Defects are attached to a single inspection. You log and review them from the inspection detail page, which you reach by starting or opening an inspection from the Inspections hub at Inspections.
Every inspection detail page has three tabs:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Inspection Form | The checklist itself (filled in the field) |
| Defects | Every problem logged against this inspection |
| Activity | The audit trail of who did what and when |
Inspections are completed on the mobile app — that’s where your team walks the checklist and captures photos. The defect and maintenance actions described below are available on the inspection detail page for anyone reviewing the inspection.
Logging a Defect
While an inspection is in progress, open it and click Log Defect in the top-right corner. Fill in the short form:
1. Defect Title (required)
A brief, scannable name for the problem — for example, “Cracked LCD screen” or “Tripod leg won’t lock.”
2. Description (optional)
A longer note with the details: where the damage is, how bad it looks, whether it still powers on, anything the repair team should know.
3. Severity (required)
Pick how serious the problem is. Severity is just a label to help you triage — it doesn’t block anything on its own.
| Severity | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Critical | Item is unusable or unsafe |
| High | Major issue, needs attention before renting again |
| Medium | Noticeable but the item may still function |
| Low | Minor or cosmetic |
Click Log Defect to save. The defect now appears under the Defects tab, and the tab counter goes up so nobody misses it.
Reviewing Logged Defects
Open the Defects tab to see every problem raised on that inspection. Each defect card shows the title, a colour-coded severity tag, the description, and the defect’s current status (a fresh defect starts as open).
If an inspection has no problems, the tab simply reads “No defects logged for this inspection” — a clean bill of health.
Turning a Defect Into a Maintenance Job
Logging a defect flags the problem, but it doesn’t fix it. To get the item repaired, create a maintenance job straight from the defect.
On any open defect card, click Create Maintenance Job. Rentablez creates a maintenance record and links it back to this defect. The card then shows Maintenance Job Linked, so you can see at a glance that the repair is already in motion — and the button disappears so nobody creates a duplicate.
From there, the repair is tracked in the Service & Repair module, where you schedule the work, record parts and labour, and mark it complete.
Nothing is automatic here. A failed checklist item does not pull an asset out of stock on its own, and defects do not create maintenance jobs by themselves. You stay in control: log the defect, then decide whether it needs a maintenance job.
Keeping Damaged Gear Out of Circulation
To actually stop a damaged item from being rented while it’s being repaired, use the maintenance job’s block availability option (set when you schedule maintenance). That’s what removes the item from availability for the repair window and puts it back once the job is completed.
Charging a Customer for Damage
Rentablez doesn’t post a damage charge from the inspection screen. If a customer is liable for the damage, handle it on their order — add a charge or adjust the security deposit there — and use the inspection’s defect record and any photos captured in the field as your supporting evidence.