Overview
Replacing a GoTag — because it's damaged, or you're moving a machine's scan point to a better spot — is a single guided flow in the mobile app, not a two-step manual process. The flow retires the old tag and installs the new one as one action, so the equipment is never left with no active tag partway through.
Before you start
- Role
- Technician licence for the equipment's license group
- A new, unused GoTag, already physically fitted to the machine
- A phone with NFC and an internet connection — tag lifecycle changes are online-only
Note
GoTags are one-way: once a tag is retired it cannot be reinstalled or returned to stock, and peeling a tag off destroys it. Every lifecycle action here is permanent by design — the machine's history is what carries forward, not the sticker.
Replacing a damaged or lost tag
- 1
Fit the new physical GoTag to the equipment first — see Fitting and Placing a GoTag. If the old tag died from abrasion or heat, choose a better spot for its successor.
- 2
Open the equipment's page in the mobile app, signed in with a Technician licence for that equipment's group. The app re-verifies your licence immediately before the change is made.
- 3Start the Replace flow from the equipment's Device/Tag section.
- 4
Scan the new tag's NFC chip. The app reads the chip's factory identifier directly and matches it against the tag's record — this hardware match is what proves the sticker you're installing is a genuine, unused GoTag. A QR-only scan isn't accepted for this step, even though QR works fine for everyday inspections, because the printed code can be copied and the chip can't.
- 5
Confirm. The app retires the old tag and installs the new one in a single action. The equipment's history, inspections, and defects all carry forward unchanged — only the physical scan point has changed.
If the chip the app reads doesn't match the tag's record — a wrong tag from the box, or a non-genuine sticker — the flow refuses with a mismatch error rather than installing it. Grab the right tag and rescan; nothing has been changed.
Adding an additional tag
Fitting a second GoTag to a machine that already has one — rather than replacing a damaged one — is a plain install, not a replace: fit the new physical tag, then add it from the equipment's Device/Tag section. The existing tag keeps working, and the machine now has two valid scan points. A common pattern is one tag on the exterior as the primary and one in the cab as the backup.
Reference: the tag lifecycle
| State | Meaning | Who moves it on |
|---|---|---|
| Available | Supplied stock, not yet on any machine | A Technician, by installing it |
| Installed | Live on a machine, resolving scans | A Technician, by replacing or retiring it |
| Retired | Permanently done — history only | No one; retirement is final |
Notice what's missing: there is no "uninstalled" and no path back to stock. That's the one-way consumable lifecycle, and it's why "move this tag to another machine" is really "retire it here, install a fresh tag there".
Why this is Technician-only
Binding a GoTag's identity to a piece of equipment is a hardware-lifecycle action, the same category as commissioning or releasing an Interlock — it changes what a scan means for that machine from now on. So it's restricted to a licensed Technician for that equipment's group rather than any operator, and it's re-verified at the moment of the change. See Console Roles and Permissions for how licence roles work.
Tip
A tag can't be moved between organisations — Replace and Install both bind a tag to equipment within your own org. If the equipment itself is changing hands (a rental return, a sale), that's an equipment transfer, not a re-tag — see Cross-Org Equipment Rental.
Edge cases
- Working offline. Tag install, replace and retire are online-only, deliberately — unlike a pre-start, which always works offline. If you're out of coverage, the flow will tell you rather than queueing a half-done lifecycle change.
- A machine with no tag at all (brand new, or its only tag retired without replacement) is still fully inspectable by browsing to it in the app; it just has no walk-up scan point until a tag is installed.
- Writing a tag off entirely — lost stock, a damaged batch — is a support action rather than something the app exposes; contact support with the tag serials.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Replace flow refuses the new tag's scan | Chip doesn't match the tag record — wrong or non-genuine tag | Use the correct tag from your stock; the flow changed nothing |
| The app demands NFC and won't take QR | That's by design for lifecycle changes | Scan the chip; QR is fine for inspections but not for identity binding |
| Flow won't start | No Technician licence for this machine's group | Check your licence with your admin — see Licensing Operators |
| Flow fails partway with a network error | Lifecycle changes are online-only | Get coverage and run it again — the old tag is still active until the replace completes |