Allocating assets to a Work Package

When to allocate an asset

Allocating an asset is how you reserve a piece of equipment for a Work Package over a date range. It tells everyone the kit is needed there, and stops it being claimed elsewhere by accident.

Reach for asset allocation when:

• You're planning a job and need to commit a piece of plant to it for a few days
• You're hiring a tool and want to record where it's going to be used
• You're organising the yard and need to know which equipment is going where
• You're handing kit over to a chargehand and want it documented

Assets can be allocated either to a Work Package as a whole, or to a specific sub-package inside it — pick whichever fits the way you want to track the kit.

Allocation versus checkout

There are two related ideas here that can sometimes be confused, so it's worth being clear:

• Allocation — "this asset is planned to be used on this work between these dates". It's a reservation against the schedule.
• Checkout — the physical handover. It records who actually has the asset on a particular day.

You can allocate without checking out (because the dates are in the future), and you can check out an allocation when the kit physically goes out to site.

Starting an allocation

From the Work Package detail page, you've got two routes to the allocation form:

• To the Work Package as a whole — open the Assets tab and click Allocate Asset
• To a specific sub-package — open the sub-package's actions menu in the Sub-packages card and choose Assign Asset

Either route opens the same Allocate Asset form.

Filling in the form

1. 1

   Search for and pick the asset you want to allocate.

2. 2

   Set the Start Date and End Date the asset is needed for.

3. 3

   Click Allocate. The new allocation appears on the Assets tab straight away.

What the Assets tab shows

The Assets tab on the Work Package detail page lists every asset allocated to the Work Package or any of its sub-packages. Each row shows:

• Asset — the name and reference
• Category — the asset category
• Sub-package — the sub-package the asset is allocated to, if any (blank if it's allocated to the whole Work Package)
• Start and End Dates — the date range the asset is held for
• Actions — checkout, edit, and remove

It's the one place to look for what kit is on a Work Package without clicking through every sub-package.

Checking an asset out

When the kit physically goes out to site, click the Checkout action on the row. The Checkout Asset form opens, where you can:

• Record who the asset is going to
• Set the checkout date and reference
• Add any notes about the asset's condition at the point of handover

This is a separate event from the allocation itself — you can have an allocation that hasn't been checked out yet (because it's for next week), and you can check it out when the kit actually leaves the yard.

Editing an allocation

Click the edit action on a row to change the start or end date. The form opens pre-filled — adjust the dates and save.

Removing an allocation

Click the remove action on a row. You'll be asked to confirm. Removing an allocation frees the asset to be allocated elsewhere.

Real-world examples

• Booking a digger for groundworks — allocate a 3-tonne to the Groundworks Work Package for the planned excavation week, then check it out the morning it arrives on site
• Tracking a hire — allocate the hired tool to the relevant sub-package over the rental period so the cost can be linked to the right job later
• Sharing kit between sub-packages — allocate the asset to one sub-package, then move the allocation to another by editing the dates as the work progresses

Next steps

• Assets introduction — for the asset side of things, including the Pending Audits banner.
• Allocating operatives — for assigning people to sub-packages.
• Sub-packages — for the actions menu including Assign Asset.