Custom app development for inspecting amusement rides and playground equipment
Before the first ride of the day, someone walks past the unit. Anyone who does that round on paper ends the season with a pile of forms and no way of finding out when a finding was resolved. Meanwhile, the regulation requires you to demonstrate, with an up-to-date file, that the unit has been inspected and maintained.
What needs to happen at the unit
The lessor or operator must ensure that a unit is installed, assembled, tested, inspected and maintained in such a way that there is no danger to persons during use, and must demonstrate this with an up-to-date file. The regulation does not spell out exactly what you check. That follows from the Dutch-language operating manual supplied by the manufacturer, which contains instructions for installation, assembly, use, inspection and maintenance, and from the standards designated by the regulation.
Alongside that round comes the inspection. Anyone opening an amusement ride to the public must hold a valid certificate of approval, which carries a final validity date. If a unit bears a mark of rejection, the lessor, hirer or operator must ensure it is shut down or closed off so that it cannot be entered without tools, with a clear sign stating that it is not intended for use.
When things go wrong, two notifications apply. The hirer or operator must report a serious accident without delay to the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and to the lessor: an accident resulting in death, in permanent injury, or in immediate hospital admission. A significant modification or repair must be reported without delay to the designated body that approved the unit.
Temporary grandstands and stages fall under a different regime than amusement devices, with the municipality as the competent authority. For this, see our app for grandstands and temporary structures.
How we build this
The round takes place at the unit, often early and often with gloves on. Whatever cannot be done in a few actions there gets filled in later, and by then the timing is no longer accurate.
A code on the unit opens the right checklist with the previous rounds alongside. Searching a long list takes time you do not have at that moment.
The points the manufacturer mentions are the starting point, not a generic checklist. A separate list for each type of unit.
A finding that affects opening puts the unit into a blocked state. Releasing it is then a separate action, with a name attached.
Every round is recorded in the unit's history. That way the up-to-date file builds up as you go, rather than being assembled afterwards.
What the app does in practice
The round at the unit carries the whole thing. The rest depends on the number of units and whether you work with changing staff.
Opening the unit by scanning
A code on the unit opens the right checklist. That prevents a list being completed against the wrong unit. We use the same set-up in the inspection log for work equipment and for lifting and hoisting equipment.
Checklist per unit type
The points from the manufacturer's operating manual, organised by type. A bouncy castle requires something different from a carousel.
Blocking and releasing
A finding that stands in the way of opening blocks the unit. Release is a separate action with a name and a time.
Photographs of a finding
A crack, a loose bolt, a damaged impact-absorbing surface. A photo with a timestamp makes a finding verifiable.
Works without signal
On a site, in a hall or at a fairground, coverage drops out. Everything is recorded locally and synchronised later, with the original time.
The rounds as history
Rounds accumulate into the unit's history, which forms the basis of evidence during an inspection or investigation.
Who we build for
The round looks different for each type of business. Four situations.
Parks and playgrounds
Plenty of equipment, fixed opening hours, and a round that is ready for the first visitor. You build the file for each piece of equipment in the accompanying inspection and records software.
Hire of bouncy castles and attractions
Your equipment is with someone else. The round is run by the hirer or your own people on site, and the duty to report an accident lies with the hirer or the operator.
Municipalities, schools and childcare
Play equipment spread across many locations, with a certificate that has no expiry date. The focus is on inspection and maintenance, alongside your maintenance schedule.
Inspection companies
You run rounds for several clients. A separate scope per client saves separate forms that you would otherwise have to merge afterwards. See also the inspection app.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
Equipment is added and removed, and a manufacturer changes its instructions. Lists, equipment types and finding types should be configurable and not hard-coded into the app.
Why Appfront
The code determines the list
We link the checklist to the device rather than to the person doing the round. That way a stand-in can take over the inspection without the content changing.
Blocking is an action
A piece of equipment that has failed inspection must be taken out of use or locked off. We make blocking and releasing recorded actions rather than an arrangement made in the corridor.
No signal is the norm
Rounds take place early, outdoors and in halls. Everything is recorded locally with the original time and synchronised later.
We do not judge anything
Whether a piece of equipment is safe is decided by your own expert, and inspection is reserved for a designated body. We build the record on which that judgement rests.
Security and privacy
An inspection round records who saw what and when, which is the first thing asked for after an incident. We set access by role and by location, give a tenant or external inspection company access only to their own devices, and log every view. Integrations run through secure integrations.
For this subject, immutability is the whole point. A round that was filled in afterwards, once something had already happened, is not evidence but a problem. We record findings, blocks and releases immutably with time and person, even when synchronisation takes place later, and any correction is made as a visible correction alongside the original entry. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside come through our vulnerability disclosure policy.
Frequently asked questions about the equipment inspection round
That abbreviation does not appear in the Warenwet Decree on Attraction and Play Equipment 2023, nor in the Warenwet Regulation that sits beneath it, so we do not use it substantively. The subject concerns the certificate of approval, the mark of approval, the inspection report and the up-to-date file.
The decree does not prescribe a frequency for your own round. It requires you to demonstrate, with an up-to-date file, that the equipment has been properly installed, tested, inspected and maintained. Rhythm and content follow from the manufacturer's instructions and the designated standards. The periodic inspection by a designated body is separate from this.
If a device carries a mark of rejection, the landlord, tenant or manager ensures it is shut down or sealed so that it cannot be entered without tools, with a clear notice that it is not to be used. In the app, this is a block that is only lifted by a release.
The renter or manager notifies the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority without delay, and for a rented ride, the lessor as well. A serious accident is one with a fatal outcome, one resulting in permanent or other injury, or one that leads to immediate hospital admission.
Yes. Rounds run outdoors, in halls and on sites where coverage drops out. Everything is recorded locally and synchronised later, keeping the original time stamp. That moment forms part of the finding.
Yes. We give a tenant or inspection company access to their own devices, so that their rounds end up in the same history as your own records. That saves you from having to merge two sources with slightly different fields afterwards.
This app is about the moment at the device: the round, the finding, the block and the release. The inspection and records software is about the office work around it: which devices you have, when inspection falls due and what has changed. They work together, but they are not the same thing.
It depends on the number of device types, whether you work with tenants or external companies, and whether you need integrations with your records or maintenance system. The round with blocking and release is usually quick to put into use; integrations cost more. We give you a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase.
Do you know who released the device this morning?
Ask for last Tuesday's round on a single device and check whether a name and a time are recorded. If they are missing, you have nothing to fall back on during an investigation. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a broader software project.