Equipment Requests and Approvals

Equipment requests let leaders reserve kit in advance for events and activities. Depending on your group's approval settings, requests are either auto-approved or reviewed by a quartermaster.

Creating a Request#

Any leader can submit a request. Click the Actions dropdown on the Equipment page and choose New Request, or use the New Request button on the My Requests tab.

The Request Equipment dialog walks you through:

1. For event (optional) -- select an event to auto-fill the dates and reason. If an event is selected, the reason is pre-filled to "Equipment for [event name]" and dates are copied from the event's start and end times.
2. When do you need it? -- pick a From date/time and an Until date/time.
3. Equipment Items -- browse your group's inventory grouped by category, or search by name, asset number, or category. Click an item to add it. Sub-items are added automatically when you select a parent. Adjust quantities with the +/- stepper next to each item.
4. Reason -- describe why you need the equipment (often auto-filled from the event).

As you add items, live availability indicators show whether each item is Available, has a Pending request clash, or has a Conflict during your requested dates.

Click Submit Request (or Reserve Equipment if approval is not required) to finalise.

Request Statuses#

Viewing Your Requests#

The My Requests tab shows all requests you have submitted. You can search, filter by status, date range, equipment, or event, and sort by date submitted, date needed, or status.

Click any request to open its detail dialog, which shows the full request summary, item list, and any review notes from the quartermaster. It is also where you cancel a request or change the quantities on it -- see Changing or Cancelling a Booking below.

Changing or Cancelling a Booking#

Plans change. A camp is called off, or you find you only need two tents rather than four. Both cases are handled from the request detail: open the request from My Requests or All Requests and use the buttons at the bottom.

You can cancel or change a request right up to the From date and time on it. After that moment neither button appears -- the booking is a record of what happened, not a plan, and rewriting it would lose the history.

Both actions are open to the person who booked the kit and to any quartermaster, because the person who needs to free the kit is often not the person who asked for it. Group admins have quartermaster access, so they can do both as well.

Who can do what#

Once a quartermaster has approved a booking, raising a quantity would be approving your own kit, so Scoutworks refuses it. If you need more than was approved, submit a new request for the extra.

Cancelling a request#

Click Cancel Request, then confirm with Yes, Cancel. The kit is released straight away: a cancelled request no longer counts as reserved, so the items show as free again for those dates instead of staying tied up until the date passes.

Cancelling cannot be undone. If you need the kit after all, submit a new request.

Scoutworks does not email anyone about a cancellation. If you cancel someone else's booking as a quartermaster, tell them.

Reducing a request#

Click Change quantities, set a new number against each item, and click Save changes.

• Set a quantity to 0 to drop that item from the booking.
• You cannot zero every item. A request always keeps at least one item -- if nothing is left, cancel it instead.
• You cannot add a new item here. For extra kit, submit a new request.

When you reduce a quantity on an approved request, the approved figure comes down with it, so the request, its item list and the equipment timeline all report the smaller number. Nobody is left planning around four tents you no longer need.

Reviewing Requests (Quartermasters)#

Quartermasters and group admins see the All Requests tab, which displays every request across the group. This tab supports two view modes, toggled with the list/calendar icons in the filter bar:

• List view -- a table with all requests, sortable and filterable.
• Calendar view -- requests plotted on a month, week, day, or agenda calendar, making it easy to spot scheduling conflicts.

To review a request, click it to open the request detail, then click Approve Request. The review panel shows:

• Availability for these dates -- a clash check for the items on this request, over the dates requested. See Checking availability before you approve below.
• Decision -- choose Approve All, Partially Approve, or Decline.
• Auto-approved items -- in hybrid mode, items that do not require approval are shown as already approved and cannot be changed.
• Approved quantities -- when partially approving, adjust the quantity for each item.
• Notes -- add optional notes explaining your decision.

Click Approve Request, Partially Approve, or Decline Request to submit your review.

Checking availability before you approve#

The review panel opens with an availability check, so you can see whether the kit is actually free before you commit. It covers only the items on this request, over exactly the dates requested. Each item gets a verdict:

Every clash names who has the item and when, plus the event or reason where there is one, so you can decide whether to approve, reduce the quantity, or decline. When everything is free you see All items available for the requested dates.

The request you are reviewing never counts as a clash against itself -- only genuine clashes from other checkouts, reservations, and pending requests appear.

Approval Modes#

Your group's approval mode determines how requests are processed. Configure this in Equipment > Settings > Approval Workflow.

No Approval Required#

Equipment is reserved automatically when it is available. If an item is already checked out or reserved for the requested dates, the request is blocked. No quartermaster review needed. Best for small groups with informal kit management.

Full Approval#

Every request goes to the quartermaster queue for review. Nothing is reserved until a quartermaster explicitly approves it. Best for groups with expensive or limited equipment.

Per-Item Approval#

A hybrid approach. Individual equipment items can be marked as Requires Approval (set this when adding or editing an item). Items without the flag are auto-reserved; items with the flag need quartermaster review. Best for groups where most kit is freely available but a few high-value items need oversight.

When switching from Full or Per-Item approval to No Approval Required, any pending requests where all items are currently available will be automatically approved. A confirmation dialog warns you before this happens.

Quartermaster Management#

Group admins can control who has quartermaster access from Equipment > Settings > Quartermaster Access. Quartermasters can:

• Add, edit, and delete equipment items
• Review and approve/decline equipment requests
• Manage categories, locations, and approval settings
• Access the All Requests and Settings tabs

Any group admin automatically has quartermaster access. Additional leaders can be assigned the quartermaster role from this settings section.

For more on user roles, see Managing Users and Roles.

What's next#

• Condition Reports and History -- track equipment wear and flag items for repair.
• Checkouts and Returns -- check items in and out directly.
• Managing Your Equipment Inventory -- add items, import, and use bulk actions.
• Getting Started with Equipment -- revisit the setup wizard.