100% NZ-owned · Built in Aotearoa

The Pre-Start Checklist App
For NZ Plant & Fleet.

Paper pre-starts get lost, skipped and pencil-whipped. Fieldlink puts the daily plant inspection on the operator's phone — with photos, signatures, automatic damage reports and a searchable history for every machine in your fleet.

No credit card 30-day full access NZ-based support

Built for diggers, trucks and utes — not office forms

Every machine, every morning, thirty seconds on a phone. That's the whole workflow — and everything the office needs happens automatically behind it.

NZ civil default checklist

Ships with a proven NZ plant checklist — brakes, tracks, ROPS/FOPS, hoses, bucket pins, beacon, reverse alarm. Operators tap pass/fail down the list.

Fully customisable

Rename, add, remove and reorder items to match your safety system. Mark which items are mechanical so a fail automatically raises a damage report.

Photo evidence

Cracked windscreen? Hydraulic weep? Operators attach photos to any item. The office sees exactly what the operator saw, timestamped.

Auto damage reports

A failed mechanical item instantly creates a damage report against that machine — no separate form, no 'I told someone about that months ago'.

Signed & timestamped

Every pre-start carries the operator's signature, machine hours/odometer and time. Your WorkSafe evidence trail builds itself.

Full machine history

Every inspection lives against the machine alongside WoF, rego, RUC and service records in Fieldlink fleet management. One place, searchable forever.

Why paper pre-starts fail on NZ sites

Ask any NZ civil contractor where their pre-start books are and you'll get the same answer: some in the ute glovebox, some in the smoko shed, some soaked through in a digger cab. When WorkSafe investigates a plant incident, one of the first requests is the machine's inspection history — and “we do them but can't find them” is not a defence under HSWA 2015.

The deeper problem is that paper hides patterns. If the same excavator has had soft brakes flagged three Mondays in a row, a paper system will never tell you. Fieldlink shows the office every fail across the fleet in one dashboard, and because failed mechanical items raise damage reports automatically, nothing waits for someone to walk a form back to the office.

Thirty seconds for the operator, zero admin for the office

The operator's morning: open Fieldlink on their phone, pick the machine (their permanently assigned vehicle is pre-selected), thumb down the checklist, snap a photo of anything dodgy, sign, done. If the machine is safe they get to work. If it isn't, the office already knows.

Pre-starts also pair naturally with the rest of Fieldlink's safety management tools — SSSPs, toolbox talks and site inductions — and feed your fleet management records, so one app covers the whole compliance story from the yard to the trench.

Common questions

What is a pre-start checklist?

A pre-start (or pre-operational) checklist is the daily inspection an operator completes before using plant or a vehicle — brakes, tyres/tracks, hydraulics, ROPS, seatbelt, leaks and so on. Under HSWA 2015, a documented pre-start process is a core control for plant risk on NZ sites.

Can I customise the checklist for my company?

Yes — office and admin users can rename, add, remove and reorder checklist items to match your fleet and your safety system, and choose which items automatically raise a damage report when they fail. Or just use the built-in NZ civil plant default.

What happens when an item fails?

The operator marks it as a fail, adds a note and photos, and — for mechanical items — Fieldlink automatically raises a damage report against that machine so the office and workshop see it immediately. Unsafe machines are flagged before anyone gets hurt.

Does it work offline in remote areas?

Yes. Fieldlink is a PWA with offline support — operators can complete their pre-start with no signal and it syncs the moment they're back in coverage. Perfect for rural earthworks and forestry sites.

Is the pre-start linked to the vehicle's history?

Every pre-start is stored against the machine, with hours/odometer, photos, the operator's signature and a timestamp. When WorkSafe or an auditor asks for your plant inspection records, they're one search away — no ring binders.

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