Start with the decision
Review the need for the asset, its current condition and feasible future applications. Retention should not become a target that overrides safety or stores unwanted equipment indefinitely. Distinguish no current use, repairable condition and a reasoned decision that further service is inappropriate.
Build the record
Collect inspection notes, relevant competent advice, repair options, lead times and availability of compatible parts. Record ownership and disposal permission. Identify components that may remain useful separately, without assuming that an unsafe whole can be donated for the same function.
Check before acting
Compare practical repair, supported reuse, appropriate redistribution and accepted treatment routes. Obtain actual recipient or receiver acceptance. Record the reason for retirement and what happens to each component. Keep the historic use record; retiring an item does not erase its confirmed earlier service.
Worked example — illustrative
A fictional team reviews a frame with an unresolved critical defect and no supported replacement part. The responsible reviewer rules out further display use. The owner records retirement and seeks an accepted route for separated materials. It does not advertise the frame as a working donation or keep it in ready stock to protect a reuse target.
Keep a useful handover
Record the responsible person, decision date and next review trigger with the evidence version. Keep planned actions distinguishable from confirmed activity. If later information changes the result, preserve the earlier record and update current guidance.
- Review need and condition.
- Obtain competent advice.
- Compare realistic repair routes.
- Record permission and component outcomes.
- Preserve historical uses.