Custody Feature for Long-Term Equipment Lend-Outs
The custody feature functions like an indefinite checkout system, allowing organizations to track which team members have borrowed assets without specifying return dates or locations.
Using the Custody Functionality
Asset custody operates as an infinite checkout mechanism. You can document which assets have been borrowed and by whom, without requiring return dates or location specifications. This functionality proves valuable for assets borrowed for brief or extended periods.
Assigning Custody of an Asset to a Team Member
- Navigate to your Assets and select an asset from the index
- Click Actions, then select Give custody
- Choose a team member to receive custody over the asset
The Actions button reveals the Give custody option.
Releasing Custody of an Asset
When a custodian returns the asset to the equipment room and you wish to make it available again, you can release custody.
- Go to the asset page
- Click Actions and select Release custody
The Actions button displays the Release custody option.
Note: Assets in custody display a blue status badge. Releasing custody clears that hold. The asset returns to Available unless something else is still holding it, which is covered below.
Custody and Bookings Are Separate Commitments
An asset can be spoken for in two independent ways: someone holds it in custody, or a booking has checked it out. Custody never decides the outcome of a booking, and the two are now kept strictly apart.
You cannot give custody of an asset that is checked out. Try it and Shelf refuses with "[Asset] is currently checked out on a booking, so it cannot be given to a custodian. Check the booking in first." An individually tracked asset is one physical item, so a custody claim while it is out on a booking is a genuine conflict rather than something to quietly allow.
Releasing custody does not check a booking in. If an asset is both in someone's custody and checked out on a booking, releasing the custody leaves it Checked out. It does not go back into the available pool while it is physically out on a job. Check the booking in to complete the return.
A kit takes what it can. Assigning custody of a kit gives its members to the custodian, except any member that is currently checked out on a booking. Those members keep their Checked out status, and the kit's custody applies to the rest.
The rule in one line: checked out outranks in custody, which outranks available. Only the booking flow can take an asset out of Checked out.
Quantity-Tracked Pools Can Be Both at Once
A quantity-tracked asset is a pool rather than a single item, so both commitments can be true of the same asset at the same time: 20 units with a custodian, 5 out on a booking, the rest on the shelf. Each figure is counted on its own row of the Quantity Overview card, and Available is what is left after all of them.
For the same reason, a booking that draws on the free units of a pool is a valid booking. The bookings list does not flag it as containing unavailable assets just because some other units of that pool happen to be in someone's custody. If the booked quantity genuinely exceeds what is available, that shows up as its own stock warning on the item's row. See Troubleshooting booking conflicts.
Important
Only individuals with appropriate custody permissions can grant or remove custody from assets.
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