Run sectioned monthly equipment checklists with configurable action codes
Build your first monthly inspection template and run it against an asset
The Inspections module replaces paper checklists with a CMMS-native workflow. Each template describes the checkpoints you want to verify monthly, and each execution is one filled-in copy of that template for a given (asset, month). The annual grid view shows you 12 months of results at a glance.
On the template page, toggle "Auto-create corrective Work Order on FAIL". When any cell of a future execution is marked FAIL, the system will automatically create a high-priority Work Order with a 24-hour due date, linked bi-directionally to the inspection. The toggle is off by default โ turn it on only when your team is ready for the WO surge. You can also pre-select a default assignee so the new WO lands directly on the right technician. When several items fail in the same inspection, the new "When multiple items fail" setting controls the result: keep one Work Order per inspection (every failed item is listed on it) or create one Work Order per failed item, each independently assignable and closable.
A checkpoint can be set to appear only when an earlier one was answered a certain way โ โdescribe the leakโ only when โleaking?โ is answered Yes. In the template editor, pick the controlling checkpoint under โOnly ask this whenโฆโ and tick the answers that reveal it. Only checkpoints with a fixed set of answers can control another (pass/fail, yes/no, action code, multiple choice); a number or a free text cannot. A hidden checkpoint is not asked, does not block completion even if it is required or needs a photo, and never raises a corrective work order. An answer already recorded is kept and still printed on the report.
To remove a template you no longer use, open the template card (or its detail page) and click the โฏ menu, then choose Delete. The confirmation step shows how many sections, items and scheduled executions will be removed โ read it carefully because deletion is permanent and cascades to every filled cell. Delete requires the inspections:template_write permission (granted to Admins and Managers by default).
Open an inspection from the "Inspections to do" tab (or directly after "Run inspection") and click each item to enter the result. Pick an action code from your template legend, optionally enter a numeric value (the threshold check derives OK/FAIL automatically if you defined min/max), add notes, attach a photo, and save. The status moves to IN_PROGRESS automatically. When every required item is filled, click "Complete" โ the execution locks and (optionally) captures a signature URL for audit.
Open an execution and tap a code on each item โ your choice saves automatically, so there is no per-item save button. A small check appears once a cell is saved. You can also tap "Save all", or just "Complete" (which saves any pending changes first). Attach a photo to any item with the camera button: it shows as a thumbnail, opens full-screen on tap, and is included in the PDF.
In "Edit action codes", mark each code as Pass, Fail, or Neutral. Pass codes turn green and Fail codes turn red โ on both the fill screen and the annual grid. A Fail-coded result is what marks the item as failed, so it is also what triggers the automatic corrective Work Order when that option is enabled. Codes left Neutral (for example "N/A") never fail an item.
Templates โ Items โ Executions โ Cells. A template is the form. An item is one line of the form (e.g. "Motor / body temperature โค 40ยฐC"). Items can be grouped into sections (MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, HYDRAULIC, etc.). An execution is one monthly run for a (template, asset, year, month). A cell is the leaf result for one (execution, item) โ what code, what value, what notes.
Every execution has a "Download PDF" button that renders an A4 portrait report (header + sectioned grid + action-codes legend + signature line) in your interface language. The annual grid page has its own "Download annual PDF" button for the A4 landscape 12-month matrix โ green for OK, red for FAIL, amber for PENDING.
When one template covers several assets, "Inspections to do" shows one row per inspection rather than one per asset, with a progress bar over its assets. Open the row to see the asset list and start any of them; the "Group by inspection" button switches back to the flat list. On the Templates tab, the Table button swaps the cards for a table of every template with its schedule columns and a Jan-to-Dec strip showing what actually ran each month of the selected year.
From a template, click "Run inspection", choose an asset and month, and the inspection opens right away โ already started โ so you can fill it in. To launch the same template on many assets at once, use "Schedule for multiple assets". Every scheduled or in-progress inspection appears under the "Inspections to do" tab on the Inspections page, so created runs are never lost โ open one there to start or continue it. The Calendar view also shows scheduled inspections in purple; drag any inspection still in SCHEDULED status to reschedule it.
Visualize a full year of inspections per asset and template in one view
The annual grid is the at-a-glance view of how a single asset performed against a single template over 12 months. It mirrors the paper grid most plants already use for monthly checks, but with live data, colour-coded cells, and one-click drill-down to each individual execution.
Click any coloured cell to jump to the underlying execution at that item. From there you see the full context โ who filled it, when, what action code, photos, notes. The annual grid is read-only for cell data; edits happen on the execution page.
From any execution detail page, click "Open annual grid" in the header. Alternatively, navigate to /inspections/grid and pick a template + asset + year. The view is a matrix: items as rows (grouped by section bands), 12 months as columns, cells coloured by status.
The "Download annual PDF" button on the grid page generates an A4 landscape report with the same matrix, ready for ISO-9001 audit binders. Action codes legend, signature lines, and the company logo are included. The PDF respects your selected UI language.
Change the year selector in the header to view 2025 vs 2026 โ each year is its own grid. The (template, asset, year, month) uniqueness constraint guarantees one execution per month per (template+asset) pair, so the grid never shows duplicates.
Apply a checklist to many assets, schedule it automatically, and monitor results by week or day
When one checklist applies to hundreds of assets, creating each inspection by hand is the most time-consuming part of maintenance. FreeMaint lets you apply a template to many assets at once, run it automatically on a schedule, monitor results at flexible periods, and export audit-ready reports.
Some rounds cover a place rather than a machine: a corridor, a stairwell, a fire-door line, a storage bay. On the "Automatic schedule" card, use "Locations to inspect" beside "Assets to inspect" โ search by name or browse your location hierarchy. Each pinned location gets its own inspection every cycle, exactly like a pinned asset, and a single template can hold both. Location inspections appear in the annual grid and export to PDF just like asset inspections.
The grid shows months by default. On the Business plan you can also view by week or by day for high-frequency rounds, and the schedule supports daily and weekly cadences. Monthly, quarterly and yearly monitoring stay available on every plan.
Every completed inspection appears in its assetโs history. On the Business plan, the "Export report" button on the Inspections page builds a custom Excel, CSV or PDF filtered by template, asset, status and period โ ready for audits.
On the "Automatic schedule" card, turn on "Only allow these targets to be inspected" to make a template usable only on the assets and locations you pinned. Running it anywhere else is blocked, which keeps your inspection history tied to the correct equipment and places in your register. Leave it off to keep running the template ad-hoc on anything registered.
From the inspection grid, click "Apply to assets", pick a list of assets or a whole asset category, choose the period, and FreeMaint creates one inspection per asset. Assets already scheduled for that period are skipped, so you can re-run a round safely.
On a template, open the "Automatic schedule" card, turn it on, set a frequency (e.g. every 1 month), pick the assets and locations to inspect, and choose a first run date. FreeMaint then generates the inspections each cycle automatically โ optionally creating a Work Order per cycle if your technicians work from a to-do list.
Every failed inspection checkpoint, from detection to verified correction
When an inspection checkpoint fails, that failure is a finding: something is wrong on a specific asset, and someone has to fix it and prove it was fixed. The Defect findings tab collects every failed checkpoint across all your inspections in one list, so nothing gets lost inside an individual inspection report.
When a defect deserves more than a repair โ it keeps coming back, or it points at a process problem โ press Analysis on the finding. FreeMaint opens a problem-solving record, PDCA by default and switchable to 5 Why, Ishikawa, A3 or DMAIC, already linked to that finding. The analysis, its corrective actions and their effectiveness check then live in the Continuous improvement register alongside everything else, instead of in a separate spreadsheet. Pressing Analysis again on the same finding always reopens the same record; it never creates a second one. Opening an analysis requires the Enterprise plan, but reading one you already have never does.
By default a finding can be verified and closed even while its corrective work order is still open, because fixing something on the spot and finishing the paperwork later is a real way to work. If your quality system does not allow that, an administrator can turn on either or both prerequisites under Company settings โ System: require the corrective work order to be finished, and require the problem-solving record to be resolved. When a prerequisite is not met, the "Verify & close" button is disabled and tells you which record is holding it up. Findings with no work order and no analysis are never affected.
A finding's status is worked out automatically from the corrective work order linked to it โ you never have to keep the two in step by hand. Only the final verification is something a person records.
When the same checkpoint fails again on the same asset in a later period, the new failure is recorded as its own finding and both are tagged "Repeat". Two open findings for the same checkpoint is a signal, not a duplicate: it means the problem was seen twice and still is not fixed. Use the "Repeat findings only" filter to spot chronic problems worth a deeper fix.
On any finding, "Full defect report (PDF)" produces a single document covering the entire history: the inspection the defect was found in, the finding itself with its evidence photo, the corrective work order and everything that happened on it, the root-cause analysis with its corrective actions and their effectiveness check, and finally who verified the correction and when. This is what an ISO 9001 auditor asks for, and it replaces having to open seven screens and export three files. Sections you do not use are simply left out.
The register offers two layouts, and your choice is remembered. Cards show each finding in full. The table shows one row per finding โ number, date, inspection, asset, location, work order, analysis, status and actions โ which is faster when you are reviewing many defects at once. Work order and analysis references are clickable in both.
Once the repair is done, go back to the finding and click "Verify & close". Confirm you have checked on site that the problem is actually gone. This step is deliberately separate from finishing the work order: a completed work order proves work happened, not that the defect was corrected. ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 both require this verification, and it is recorded against your name. If the defect comes back, reopen the finding.
Open Inspections and choose the "Defect findings" tab. The list shows every checkpoint currently recorded as failed, newest first. Reading the register is available on every plan.
If a finding has no work order yet, click "Create work order". FreeMaint raises a corrective work order pre-filled with the asset, the location and the failed checkpoint, and links it to the finding. Clicking twice never creates a duplicate. If your template already creates work orders automatically on failure, findings arrive here with the link already in place.
Scan the QR code on a machine and go straight to the checklist due today
Scanning the QR code on a machine takes the person standing in front of it straight to the inspection due today โ not to a list of past inspections. Drivers, operators and technicians get the form in one step, and the record shows the inspection was opened by a scan.
A label that is scratched, worn off or was never printed does not block anyone. Open the equipment page, go to the Inspections tab and use "Start today's inspection". You get the same form. The record then shows a manual start rather than a scan, which is the honest description of what happened.
When an inspection is opened by scanning, the run stores the code that was scanned and the moment it happened, and the PDF prints a "Scan check" line. This is a control and a dated record: it shows that a scan took place. It is not proof that anyone was physically present, because a printed code can be photographed.
Require a supervisor to sign off every completed inspection
Many quality systems require that an inspection be checked by someone other than the person who ran it. FreeMaint supports that as a verification step you turn on per template.
A monthly checklist covering two hundred assets produces two hundred runs, and signing them off one at a time is not a workflow. Filter to Verification: Pending, tick Select all on this page, and use Verify in the action bar. Anything in the selection that cannot be verified โ not yet completed, already verified, or a run you performed yourself โ is skipped and reported back to you rather than silently included.
The person who completed an inspection cannot verify it. That separation is the point of the control โ an inspection signed off by its own author is not evidence. Verification is a workflow milestone available on every paid plan; it is separate from the cryptographic e-signature, which is a Business feature.
As soon as a run of that template is completed it shows as Pending, and a Verify button sits next to it: on the run's own page, on its card in Inspections to do, and in the Verification column of the table view. A "To verify" counter at the top of the page opens the queue, and the Verification filter narrows the list to what is still waiting. Verifying records who checked it and when โ with an optional remark from the run's own page โ and the run then reads Verified. Everyone can see the state; only a user with the verification permission can act on it.
Open an inspection template and set the Verified by field to the person expected to check its runs. That single choice is what enables the step. Leave it empty and nothing changes anywhere โ no template has verification unless you ask for it.
Verification and e-signature answer different questions: one records that a second person checked the work, the other proves who signed.
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