🧪 Beta Release: This change is currently in beta testing and is only available to select customers included in the beta. It will proceed to full release pending beta feedback.
Custom checksheets let you run more than WOF inspections in SmartCheck Pro. Build your own checksheets for pre-purchase inspections, vehicle health checks, safety checks or your own quality checks, then complete, print and email them the same way you do a WOF.
This article shows you how to build and manage your checksheets. To use one on a vehicle, see SmartCheck Pro: Completing a Custom Checksheet Inspection.
🧩 Before you start
Access level: only staff with the Admin access level can create and manage checksheets. Operators and Inspectors don't see the Settings menu.
Where: checksheets are managed in Settings → Templates in SmartCheck Pro.
Plan limit: your plan sets how many checksheets you can have published at once. Drafts and unpublished checksheets don't count towards it.
📂 The Templates page
Select Settings from the left-hand menu, then Templates.
The list on the left shows every checksheet, with a tag showing its status, and how many sections and checks it has.
Each checksheet shows one of these statuses:
Draft: saved, but not yet available for inspections.
Published: available to choose when starting an inspection.
Unpublished: taken out of use. It can't be chosen for new inspections, but past inspections are kept.
Your WOF checksheets also appear in the list, tagged NZTA. To change the order of a WOF checksheet's sections, open it and click Reorder sections.
➕ Create a checksheet
You can start from a blank checksheet or from one of the sample checksheets.
Click + New Template to start a blank checksheet, or choose a sample from the gallery on the right of the Templates page:
Blank checksheet
25-Point Vehicle Health Check
Multi Point Check
Vehicle Safety
Pre-Purchase Inspection
Winter Check
The Create Checksheet Template editor opens. A sample comes with its sections, checks and reasons already filled in, and you can change any of it. Nothing is saved until you click Create.
Enter a Checksheet Name. Each checksheet needs a different name.
Check the Number Prefix. SmartCheck Pro suggests one from the name (for example PPI for Pre-Purchase Inspection), and you can type your own.
Add your sections and checks (see below).
Click Create. The checksheet is saved as a Draft.
Number Prefix
Each checksheet numbers its own inspections, using its prefix followed by a five-digit number, for example PPI00001.
Use up to 5 letters and numbers, including at least one letter.
Each checksheet needs its own prefix.
The prefix can't be changed once the checksheet has been published.
Vehicle Details
Every checksheet starts with a Vehicle Details section, shown with a padlock. It confirms the vehicle being inspected, always comes first and can't be edited.
🗂️ Add sections and checks
A checksheet is made up of sections (for example Tyres or Lights), and each section has a list of checks. The inspector marks each check as Pass, Warning, Fail or N/A.
Sections
Click + New Section and type the section name.
Click the pencil icon beside a section name to rename it.
Drag a section by its handle to change the order.
Click the More actions menu ( … ) on a section to Duplicate or Delete it.
Checks
Click + New Check in a section and type what the inspector should check, for example Front tyre condition.
Drag a check by its handle to change the order.
Click the bin icon to remove a check.
Each section needs a name and at least one check.
🏷️ Choose the reasons for each check
When an inspector marks a check as Fail or Warning, they pick one or more reasons from a list. You choose which reasons appear in that list for each check.
Click the Reasons button on the check (it shows how many reasons are selected, for example 17 Reasons).
The reasons are grouped into categories such as Leaks, Damage, and Wear and Age. Tick or untick whole categories, or open a category to pick single reasons. Select All ticks every reason.
To add a reason of your own, type it in the search box and click "your reason" as a custom reason. Your own reasons are listed under Others.
The Preview on the right shows the list the inspector will see.
Click Save.
💡 Tip: A new check starts with every reason ticked. Untick the ones that don't apply so inspectors have a shorter list to choose from.
📏 Add measurements to a check
Measurements ask the inspector to record a value against a check, such as a tread depth or a battery voltage.
Click the measurements button (ruler icon) on the check to open Add Measurement.
Choose Single Option or Multi Option (see below).
Enter a Name for the measurement and choose a Field type:
Number: a number, with an optional Min Value and Max Value.
Text: a short written answer.
True / False: a yes or no answer.
Click + New Measurement to add another, or the bin icon to remove one.
Click Save.
Single Option asks the inspector to fill in every measurement you add, for example tread depth and tyre brand.
Multi Option gives the inspector a choice of measurement sets, and they fill in the one that applies, for example a disc measurement or a drum measurement.
▶️ Test a checksheet
Before publishing, run through the checksheet as if you were doing an inspection.
Click Test Template at the bottom left of the editor. It's available once the checksheet has at least one check.
Work through the sections as an inspector would. The test uses your latest changes, even ones you haven't saved yet.
Click End Test when you're done.
Nothing entered in a test is saved, and no inspection is created.
🚀 Publish a checksheet
Only published checksheets can be chosen when starting an inspection.
Open the checksheet and click Publish at the top right, or choose Publish from the More actions menu ( … ) on its card.
Click Proceed to confirm.
The checksheet's tag changes to Published, and it appears under Custom Inspections when you start a new inspection.
✏️ Edit a checksheet
Click a checksheet in the list. It opens in a read-only view.
Click Edit, make your changes, then click Save. To save and publish in one step, click the arrow beside Save and choose Save & Publish.
When you edit a published checksheet and click Save, your changes are saved as a draft. Inspectors keep using the published version until you publish the draft.
Changes never affect inspections that have already started. They stay on the version they started with, and new inspections use the latest published version.
📄 Copy, unpublish or delete a checksheet
Copy: choose Copy from the More actions menu ( … ) on the checksheet's card. This opens a new checksheet with the same sections, checks, reasons and measurements, named Copy of the original with a new prefix. Give it a new name, then click Create to save it as a draft.
Unpublish: open the checksheet and click Unpublish at the top right. It can no longer be chosen for new inspections, but all past inspections are kept. Click Publish to use it again.
Delete: choose Delete from the More actions menu ( … ) on the card, then click Confirm. You can only delete a checksheet that has never been used for an inspection. Once it has been used, unpublish it instead.
📌 Good to know
A checksheet can have up to 30 sections, with up to 50 checks in each section.
Measurement units can't be set in the editor.
Photo and signature questions aren't available in custom checksheets.
If you've reached your plan's limit, + New Template is unavailable. Unpublish a checksheet you no longer use to publish another.
Custom checksheet inspections aren't submitted to NZTA.