Key Concepts

AssetBuddy is built around a handful of core concepts. Understanding how they relate to each other will help you get the most out of the system.

Organisation

Your organisation is the top-level container. Everything — sites, assets, users, templates — belongs to a single organisation. Each user belongs to one organisation.

Sites

A site is a physical location your organisation manages (e.g. a warehouse, office, or construction site). Sites have an address, contact information, and can be active or deactivated.

Locations

Locations are subdivisions within a site — floors, zones, rooms, or areas. They help you organise where assets are physically located. Each location belongs to one site.

Assets

An asset is any piece of equipment, plant, or infrastructure that needs to be tracked and inspected. Assets belong to a site and optionally to a location within that site. Each asset has:

• A category (e.g. Fire Safety, Vehicles)
• A unique code generated automatically from the category prefix
• A status (In Service, Restricted, Out of Service, or Disposed)
• A criticality rating (Critical, High, Medium, Low)

Asset Categories

Categories group similar types of assets together. Each category has a code prefix (e.g. FS for Fire Safety) that's used to generate unique asset codes. Categories also define a default criticality level and determine which check templates apply.

Check Templates

A check template is a reusable inspection form. It defines:

• The questions (items) to be answered during an inspection
• The input type for each question (Pass/Fail, Yes/No, Number, Select, Text, Photo)
• Fail logic — what constitutes a failure
• A scoring model (Pass/Fail, Rated, or Checklist)
• A frequency rule for automatic scheduling (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, or pre-use)
• Whether to automatically create a defect when a check fails

AssetBuddy provides system default templates that you can copy and customise for your needs.

Check Instances

A check instance is a single occurrence of a check being performed on an asset. When someone performs an inspection, they create responses against a check instance. Each instance records:

• When it was due and when it was completed
• Who performed it
• The overall result (Pass, Fail, Partial, Not Completed)
• Individual responses to each template question

Defects

A defect is a problem found on an asset — either reported manually or created automatically from a failed check. Defects follow a workflow from discovery through to verified closure:

• Severity — Critical, High, Medium, Low
• Status — Open → In Progress → Awaiting Parts → Awaiting Verification → Closed
• Assignment — who is responsible for the repair
• Cost tracking — parts and labour costs

Documents

Documents are files attached to assets — certificates, warranties, manuals, insurance, reports, and photos. Documents with an expiry date are monitored automatically, and warnings are sent before they expire.

How it all fits together

Organisation
├── Sites
│   ├── Locations
│   └── Assets
│       ├── Check Instances (from Check Templates)
│       ├── Defects
│       └── Documents
├── Asset Categories
├── Check Templates
└── Users (with Roles)

1. You create sites and locations to represent your physical spaces
2. You add assets to sites, categorised by type
3. You configure check templates with questions and scheduling rules
4. AssetBuddy generates scheduled checks that users perform
5. Failed checks can automatically create defects
6. Defects are assigned, repaired, verified, and closed
7. Documents track certificates and warranties with expiry alerts
8. Dashboards and reports give you a compliance overview