How to Assign a Service Schedule Checklist to a Class / Model / Equipment

A service schedule checklist is the list of checks a mechanic works through when a scheduled service comes due, and you assign it by attaching a checklist template to a service schedule on an equipment class, an equipment model or a single piece of equipment.

Overview

Nobody should be servicing a scissor lift from memory. Set the checklist once on the class so every machine of that type is covered, tighten it on the models that need something extra, and add one to a single machine when that machine is the exception.

The checklist is attached to a service schedule, not to the class, model or equipment itself. The level is decided by which screen you launch Options › Add Service Schedule from.
Only checklist templates whose Checklist Type is Service can be picked. Run Up, Rental Return, Pre Start and Take 5 templates are never offered here.
You can either pick a template you already have, or build one inline while you create the schedule by setting Create Checklist to Yes.
The levels stack, they don't override. A machine ends up with its own schedules plus every model schedule plus every class schedule. A model schedule does not replace the class one.
Saving a class or model schedule immediately adds it to every serialized machine already under that class or model. Bulk equipment is skipped.
The checklist is read when the work order is raised, so changing the template on a schedule changes every future service under it. Work orders already raised keep the checklist they were given.
An inherited schedule can't be edited or deleted from the equipment screen, but it can be switched off for a single machine with Disable Schedule.

Before You Begin

Have these ready before you start.

Requirement	Where to Find It
A checklist template with Checklist Type set to Service	Equipment › Configuration › Checklist Templates. See How to Create a Checklist Template.
Create Equipment Service Schedule, Update Equipment Service Schedule and Delete Equipment Service Schedule	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups, under Equipment › Option.
Equipment Class, Equipment Model and Checklist Templates screen access	Security › Configuration › Permission Groups, under Equipment › Configuration.
A Work Order Reason and a Work Order Category to raise the service against	Service › Configuration. Both are required on every service schedule.
Serialized equipment	Service schedules only apply to serialized equipment. On a bulk equipment record the Add Service Schedule option is disabled.

Security › Configuration › Permission Groups, filtered to the three service schedule permissions under Equipment › Option

Attaching a checklist doesn't make anyone complete it. If you want the checklist enforced, turn on Completed Checklists Required for Work Orders under Security › Settings › Equipment, which stops a work order being completed while any task is outstanding. Failed Work Order Checklist Points Require Approval sits beside it and moves a work order with a failed check to Pending Approval instead of Completed.

Assigning the Checklist

Step 1 - Check you have a Service template

Go to Equipment › Configuration › Checklist Templates and look for a template whose Checklist Type is Service. Expand the row to see its tasks. A template of any other type will not appear in the checklist field on a service schedule.

The Checklist Templates screen with a Service template expanded to show its task group, summary, description and Photo Required flag

If you'd rather not leave the schedule form, skip this step. Step 5 shows how to build a template while you create the schedule.

Step 2 - Open the level you want to cover

Start at the class, because that covers the most machines for the least work. Go to Equipment › Configuration › Equipment Class, open the class, then choose Options › Add Service Schedule.

The same option sits on the Equipment Model screen and on an individual Equipment record. Which screen you launch it from is the only thing that decides the level, so there is nothing to choose on the form itself.

The Equipment Class screen with Options open, showing Add Service Schedule

Step 3 - Fill in the schedule and attach the checklist

The Class field at the top is filled in for you and can't be changed. Complete the rest:

Name - required. This becomes the description on every work order the schedule raises, so name it the way your mechanics talk about it ("90 Day Inspection", "500 Hour Service").
Schedule Start Date - required, and defaults to today. The first service is due this date plus the recurrence.
Service Schedule Group - optional. Schedules in the same group supersede each other: complete the longer-interval one and the shorter one is treated as covered and reset. Leave a schedule out of the group, or in a group of its own, if it must never be skipped.
Hours / Meter Recurring and Days Recurring - fill in at least one. You can set both, and the service falls due on whichever arrives first.
One Off Schedule - tick this if the service should happen once and not repeat.
Work Order Reason and Work Order Category - both required. Picking a category fills in its reason, and changing the reason re-filters the categories.
Checklist (optional) - the checklist template to attach. Only Service type templates are listed.

Add Service Schedule at class level. Class is filled in and greyed out, and Checklist (optional) offers only Service type templates

Leave Create Checklist on No when you are picking a template you already have. Click Save.

Step 4 - Confirm it on the Service Schedules tab

The schedule appears on the Service Schedules tab of the class, with the template you chose in the Checklist column. This tab lists class level schedules only, so it stays readable no matter how many models sit under the class.

The class Service Schedules tab, where the Checklist column confirms which template is attached

Step 5 - Narrow it down at model level

Where one model needs checks the rest of the class doesn't, open Equipment › Configuration › Equipment Models, open the model and choose Options › Add Service Schedule. Class and Model are both filled in and locked.

This is a good place to build a template from scratch. Set Create Checklist to Yes and the form swaps the checklist picker for a small builder:

Checklist Type - fixed to Service and can't be changed.
Checklist Name - must be unique among Service templates.
One row per task, each needing a Group, a Task Summary and a Task Description. Use Add Task for more rows and the arrows to reorder them.

The template it creates is a normal checklist template. It shows up on the Checklist Templates screen and can be reused on other schedules.

Add Service Schedule at model level with Create Checklist set to Yes, building a new Service template inline

A model schedule is added to the machine, it does not replace the class one. If the model's schedule is meant to be instead of the class schedule rather than as well as it, you will need to disable the class schedule on each machine (Step 7) or remove it from the class.

Step 6 - Add one for a single machine

For a machine that is genuinely the exception - working a coastal site, doing double the hours, contracted to a customer with its own requirements - open the equipment record and choose Options › Add Service Schedule. Class, Model and Equipment Number are all filled in and locked.

The form is otherwise identical, including the choice between picking a template and building one.

Add Service Schedule from an equipment record, with all three levels shown and locked at the top of the form

Step 7 - Check what the machine ends up with

Open the Service Schedules tab on the equipment record. Unlike the class and model tabs, this one shows the flattened result of all three levels together, with the Service Due Date or Service Due Meter/Hours for the next occurrence and the Checklist that will be attached when it comes due.

The equipment Service Schedules tab, showing class, model and equipment level schedules side by side with their checklists

Nothing in this grid says which level a schedule came from. The quickest way to tell is to tick a row: if the edit and delete buttons are greyed out, it's inherited.

After Creation

Saving a class or model schedule creates a schedule line straight away on every serialized machine already under it, with the first due date or due meter worked out from the start date and the recurrence. Bulk equipment is skipped.
New equipment created later picks up its class and model schedules automatically, as well as any added directly to it.
Nothing is raised on its own. Services appear on Service › Equipment Due For Service, and you turn them into work orders from there. The checklist is copied onto the work order at that moment.
Changing the Checklist (optional) template on a schedule takes effect for every service raised from then on, on every machine the schedule covers. Work orders already raised keep the checklist they were given.
Editing the tasks on a template creates a new version of it. New work orders get the new tasks; checklists already in progress keep the version they started with.
Schedule Start Date, Hours / Meter Recurring and Days Recurring are locked once the schedule is saved. The Name, group, reason, category and checklist stay editable.
An inherited schedule can be switched off for one machine with Disable Schedule on the equipment's Service Schedules tab. It stays on the class or model for everything else, and Enable Schedule puts it back.

Selecting an inherited schedule on the equipment screen. Disable Schedule is available, but edit and delete are not

Deleting a schedule from a class or model deletes it from every machine underneath, and the confirmation tells you how many that is. If you only want it gone from one machine, use Disable Schedule on that machine instead.

FAQs

My checklist template isn't in the Checklist dropdown. Why?

Its Checklist Type isn't Service. The field only lists Service templates, so a Run Up, Rental Return, Pre Start or Take 5 template will never appear no matter what it's called. Open the template under Equipment › Configuration › Checklist Templates and check its type.

I changed the checklist on a class schedule. Do the machines already under it get the new one?

Yes. The checklist is read at the moment a work order is raised, not stored against each machine, so every service raised from then on uses the new template. Work orders already raised keep the checklist they were given, which is what you want for an audit trail.

I put a schedule on the model. Why is the class one still there?

Because the levels stack rather than override. A machine gets its own schedules plus its model's plus its class's. If the model schedule is meant to replace the class one, disable the class schedule on the affected machines with Disable Schedule, or take it off the class entirely.

Add Service Schedule is greyed out on an equipment record.

The equipment isn't serialized. Service schedules track a single machine's due dates and meter readings, so they only apply to serialized equipment. Bulk equipment is also skipped when a class or model schedule fans out.

Why can't I edit a schedule from the equipment screen?

It came from the class or model, and hovering the edit button says so. Inherited schedules are edited where they were created, so one change carries to every machine. Only schedules added directly to that machine can be edited there.

Why can't I change Days Recurring on an existing schedule?

The start date and the two recurrence fields are locked once a schedule is saved, because the due dates already calculated for every machine were worked out from them. To change an interval, create a replacement schedule with the new interval and delete the old one.

I moved a machine to a different model. Did its schedules follow?

No. Class and model schedules are handed out when equipment is created, not re-evaluated when its model changes. After changing the model, add the schedules the machine now needs and disable or delete the ones it no longer does.

Does assigning a checklist force the mechanic to complete it?

Not by itself. Turn on Completed Checklists Required for Work Orders under Security › Settings › Equipment to block completion while a task is outstanding, and Failed Work Order Checklist Points Require Approval to send a work order with a failed check to Pending Approval.

Watch the Demo

Prefer to watch it? Step through the same flow here.