Permissions Reference

This document explains how permissions work in StationOne and provides detailed reference matrices showing what each role can do.

Understanding the Permission System

StationOne uses a two-layer permission model:

1. Role — determines the user’s administrative level and unit scope
2. Feature Permissions — extend a non-admin user’s access to specific areas beyond their base role

Feature permissions can be granted to a user three ways:

• Directly on a member’s profile (permanent)
• Via an appointment (active only while the appointment is current)
• Via a custom group (active only while the member belongs to the group)

A user’s effective access to a feature is the union of whatever they hold directly, through any active appointment, and through any custom group they belong to.

Role Tracks

Every scope level (brigade, group, district, region) has two parallel roles:

• An admin role — full, unrestricted access to that unit and everything beneath it in the hierarchy
• A user role — limited to that single unit only (no descendant visibility), with access to specific features controlled by feature permissions

Admin track:  Brigade Admin → Group Admin → District Admin → Region Admin → Organisation Admin → Super Admin
User track:   Brigade User,   Group User,   District User,   Region User

Higher-level admin roles inherit all capabilities of lower admin roles plus additional scope. The four user-track roles (brigade_user, group_user, district_user, region_user) behave identically to each other — the only difference is which unit level they sit at — and none of them see descendant units the way their admin counterparts do.

Scope Hierarchy

The unit hierarchy defines what data admin roles can access:

Brigade → Group → District → Region → Organisation

Admins at higher levels can see and manage data from all descendant units. User-track roles (brigade_user, group_user, district_user, region_user) only ever see resources belonging to their own unit — never descendants — regardless of which level that unit sits at.

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User Roles

Brigade User, Group User, District User, Region User (Member)

Scope: A single unit only — the brigade, group, district, or region the member belongs to. No descendant units.

These four roles share identical behaviour; only their unit level differs. A user’s access to specific features is controlled by feature permissions — either granted directly on their profile, via an active appointment, or via a custom group. Without any feature permissions, a user has minimal read access only.

Base access (no feature permissions required):

• View and update their own profile
• View members in their own unit (name/summary only — full profile details require the users: view permission)
• View vehicles, equipment, inspections, events, bookings, hoses, duty crews, and hydrants belonging to their own unit
• View and consume stock items
• Receive and respond to assigned actions

Additional access via feature permissions:

• Create/manage vehicles, equipment, stock, hoses, hydrants, water points, pre-plans
• Create and conduct training sessions; view training records
• Approve inspections, bookings; create/manage inspection templates
• View and manage BA equipment, availability, duty crew assignments
• Manage attendance and create events
• See the full Feature Permissions list for everything that can be granted

Use for: Operational members who need platform access but not full administrative control. Use appointments or custom groups to grant them the specific capabilities their role requires. Group User / District User / Region User are uncommon in practice — most organisations only use Brigade User at the operational level — but they exist for members formally attached to a group/district/region unit rather than a brigade.

Brigade Admin

Scope: Single brigade only

Full administrative access for brigade-level management. Brigade admins do not require feature permissions — they have unrestricted access to all features within their brigade.

Can do everything Brigade Users can, plus:

• Create and edit members in their brigade
• Award qualifications and endorsements
• Endorse members on vehicles
• Create and manage vehicles, equipment, and stock
• Create and assign inspections; approve/reject inspection reviews
• Create and edit unit-level inspection templates
• Manage action items for their brigade
• Create and manage events and training
• Configure public access for brigade resources
• Assign appointments to members; create and manage custom groups

Cannot:

• Delete vehicles permanently (requires group/district/region/organisation admin or above)
• Access members or resources from other brigades
• Create or modify organisation-level (proforma) templates
• Create inspection schedules
• Access organisation-wide settings

Use for: Brigade officers, captains, and lieutenants managing daily brigade operations.

Group Admin

Scope: Group and all brigades within the group

Can do everything Brigade Admins can, plus:

• View and manage all brigades in their group
• View and manage members, vehicles, and equipment across all group brigades
• View inspections and manage actions across the group
• Delete vehicles permanently within their hierarchy

Use for: Group officers managing multiple brigades.

District Admin

Scope: District and all groups/brigades within the district

Can do everything Group Admins can, plus:

• View and manage all groups and brigades in their district
• District-wide reporting and oversight

Use for: District officers overseeing multiple groups.

Region Admin

Scope: Region and all districts/groups/brigades within the region

Can do everything District Admins can, plus:

• View and manage all districts, groups, and brigades in their region
• Regional reporting and oversight

Use for: Regional officers overseeing multiple districts.

Organisation Admin

Scope: Entire organisation

Can do everything Region Admins can, plus:

• Create and manage all units (brigades, groups, districts, regions)
• Create and manage inspection templates (including organisation-level proforma templates) and schedules
• Create and configure qualification and endorsement types
• Create and manage appointment types
• Configure organisation-wide settings
• Delete vehicles permanently and move them between units
• Full reporting across the organisation

Use for: Organisation leadership and administrators managing the entire organisation.

Super Admin

Scope: System-wide (all organisations)

Can do everything Organisation Admins can, plus:

• Access all organisations
• Create and manage organisations
• Configure system settings

Use for: Platform administrators and system operators only.

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Feature Permissions

Feature permissions extend what a non-admin user (brigade_user, group_user, district_user, region_user) can access beyond their base role. They are granted:

• Directly on a member’s profile (permanent)
• Via an appointment (active only while the appointment is current)
• Via a custom group (active only while the member belongs to the group)

A member’s effective permission for a feature is the union of all three sources. Admin roles (brigade admin and above) always have full access within their scope and are not affected by feature permissions.

Some features are only available when the corresponding module is enabled for the organisation/unit — these are marked below. Core features (no module gate) are always available.

Important: the actions listed below are the only checkpoints StationOne’s policies actually enforce. If a feature has no view action listed (e.g. Vehicles, Inspections, Events, Bookings, Hoses, Duty Crews, Hydrants), viewing that resource within a user’s own unit requires no feature permission at all — it’s part of everyone’s base access.

Available Feature Permissions

Feature	Module gate	Permission	What it grants
Vehicles	—	manage	Create & edit vehicles
Events	—	create	Create & edit events
		manage_attendance	Manage attendance
Members	—	view	View full member details
		view_induction_plans	View active induction plans
		view_offboarding_plans	View active offboarding plans
Bookings	—	approve	Approve & reject bookings
Inspections	inspections	approve	Approve & review inspections
		manage_templates	Create & edit inspection templates
Training & Skills	training	view	View training records
		create	Create & edit training records
		manage	Manage member skills & attendance
Skills Maintenance	skills_maintenance	view	View skills maintenance plans & progress
		manage	Create & edit plans and enrolment
		sign_off	Sign off member skill completions
Breathing Apparatus	ba	view	View BA equipment
		manage	Manage BA sets, cylinders & components
Hydrants	hydrants	manage	Create & edit hydrants
		manage_runs	Create & edit hydrant runs
Hose Management	hoses	manage	Create, repair & assign hoses
Pre-Plans	pre_plans	create	Create & edit pre-plans
Availability	availability	view	View member availability
		manage	Manage own & others’ availability
Duty Crews	duty_crews	manage	Manage duty crew assignments
Water Points	water_points	view	View water points
		manage	Create & edit water points
Brigade Activities	brigade_activities	view	View brigade activities
		create	Log & edit brigade activities
Reporting	—	view	View brigade reports
Stock Management	—	manage	Create, restock & manage stock items
Purchase Orders	purchase_orders	view	View purchase orders
		manage	Create, edit & manage purchase orders
Equipment	—	manage	Create & manage equipment
PPC & Equipment Allocation	ppc	view	View PPC allocations
		manage	Issue, return & manage PPC items
Library	library	create	Create articles and folders
		update	Edit articles and folders
		delete	Delete articles and folders
Development Plans	—	view	View member development plans
		manage	Create & edit member development plans

The list of feature permissions available to grant is filtered per-unit (or per-organisation for appointment types) to only the modules that are actually enabled — a unit without the Hydrants module enabled won’t show Hydrants permissions when configuring an appointment type or custom group.

Purchase Orders module gate: most module gates check the acting unit — the unit an admin is currently viewing/impersonating, or a non-admin user’s own unit. Purchase Orders is an exception: on a specific purchase order (viewing, editing, approving, etc.) the gate checks the module setting on that PO’s own unit, not the admin’s acting unit. This means a group/district/region admin can still open and manage a purchase order belonging to a unit further down their hierarchy even if the Purchase Orders module happens to be disabled on their own home unit — matching what PurchaseOrderPolicy::Scope already allows them to see. Listing/reporting screens (which aren’t tied to one PO) still gate on the acting unit by default, but for group/district/region admins the gate is skipped instead if the Purchase Orders module is enabled on any unit in their hierarchy — so they aren’t locked out of listings/reports that the policy scope permits just because their own home unit has it disabled.

Article Library note: the Library feature permissions above control who can create/edit/delete articles generally. Individual article folders also have their own, separate per-folder access list (which users, appointment holders, or custom groups can see a given folder) that layers on top of these feature permissions.

Feature Permissions and Actions

Action items in StationOne are categorised by the area they relate to (vehicle, equipment, BA set, stock, etc.). A non-admin user only sees action items for categories they have the relevant feature permission for — except actions assigned to or flagged by them personally, which they can always see:

Action category	Permission required
Vehicle	vehicles: manage
Equipment	equipment: manage
BA Set	ba: view
Stock / PPE & Uniform	stock: manage
Pre-Plan	pre_plans: create
Building & Maintenance, IT, Other	No permission required
Suggestion	Admin roles only — never shown to non-admin users

Feature Permissions and Notifications

Email notifications follow the same feature permission boundaries. A non-admin user only receives notification digests for the features they can access:

Notification	Permission required
Overdue inspection schedules	Matches the inspectable type: vehicles: manage for vehicles, equipment: manage for equipment, ba: view for BA sets
Expiring inspection items	Same as above
Training notifications	Any training permission
Event notifications	Any events permission
Vehicle booking updates	Bookings or vehicles permission

See Manage Email Notifications for more on notification preferences.

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Permission Matrix by Feature

In the tables below, ✅† indicates the action is available to non-admin users who hold the appropriate feature permission (see footnote under each table). Where no permission is required, base access applies to any authenticated user in their own unit.

Members Management

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View members in own unit (summary)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
View full member details	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
View members in hierarchy	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅
Create members	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Edit own profile	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Edit members in unit	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Archive/delete members	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Grant platform access	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Assign appointments	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Create appointment types	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅

† Requires users: view.

Vehicles

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View vehicles in own unit	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
View vehicles in hierarchy	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅
Create vehicles	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Edit vehicles	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Delete vehicles	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅
Assign to different unit	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅

† Requires vehicles: manage. Viewing vehicles in your own unit requires no feature permission.

Equipment

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View equipment in own unit	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
View equipment in hierarchy	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅
Create equipment	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Edit equipment	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Delete equipment	✅†	✅	❌‡	✅	✅

† Requires equipment: manage. ‡ Unlike create/edit, deleting equipment is not extended to Group/District/Region Admins in the current policy — only Brigade Admin, Organisation Admin, and Super Admin (or a non-admin user with equipment: manage in their own unit) can delete equipment.

Inspections

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View inspections in own unit (listing)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Create & conduct inspections	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Delete inspections	❌	✅ (own unit)	❌	❌	✅
Approve/reject inspections	✅†	✅	❌	✅	✅

† Requires inspections: approve (or inspections: manage_templates). Viewing and conducting inspections require no feature permission — any authenticated user can conduct inspections against their own unit’s resources. Deleting and approving/rejecting inspections are not extended to Group/District/Region Admins — only Brigade Admin, Organisation Admin, and Super Admin can delete or approve/reject an inspection; this is narrower than most other resources in this reference, so double-check in app/policies/inspection_policy.rb if you’re relying on it.

Templates & Schedules

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View templates	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Create/edit unit templates	✅†	✅	❌	✅	✅
Create/edit org (proforma) templates	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
Delete templates	❌	✅ (own unit)	❌	✅	✅
Create/edit schedules	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅

† Requires inspections: manage_templates. Note: Group/District/Region Admins cannot create, edit, or delete unit templates at all under the current policy — template management is limited to Brigade Admins (their own unit), Organisation Admins, and Super Admins.

Actions

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View actions (feature-matched)	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Create actions manually	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅
Resolve/close actions	✅‡	✅ (own unit)	❌§	✅ (own org)	✅
Reopen actions	❌	✅ (own unit)	❌§	✅ (own org)	✅
Delete actions	❌	✅ (own unit)	❌	❌	✅

† Non-admin users see only actions in categories matching their feature permissions (see Feature Permissions and Actions), plus any action assigned to or flagged by them personally regardless of category. ‡ Non-admin users can resolve/close an action if it’s assigned to them personally, or if it’s in a category they hold feature permission for, in their own unit. § Group/District/Region Admins are not currently granted action management rights beyond an action assigned to them personally — this is narrower than most other resources in this reference (create/resolve/reopen/delete all key off brigade_admin?/organisation_admin?/super_admin? specifically rather than the full admin hierarchy). Note also that Delete actions is not available to Organisation Admin — only Brigade Admin (own unit) and Super Admin can delete an action. Verify current behaviour in app/policies/action_policy.rb before relying on this for a permissions-sensitive workflow.

Stock Management

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View stock items	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Consume stock (record usage)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Create stock items	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Edit/restock stock items	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Delete stock items	✅†	✅	❌‡	✅	✅

† Requires stock: manage. ‡ Unlike create/edit, deleting stock items is not extended to Group/District/Region Admins in the current policy — only Brigade Admin, Organisation Admin, and Super Admin (or a non-admin user with stock: manage in their own unit) can delete a stock item.

Events

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View events in own unit	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Create/edit events	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅
Manage attendance	✅‡	✅	✅	✅	✅
Delete events	✅†	✅	✅	✅	✅

† Requires events: create (in own unit), or being the event’s original creator. Viewing events in your own unit requires no feature permission. ‡ Requires events: manage_attendance.

Qualifications & Endorsements

Action	Brigade/Group/District/Region User	Brigade Admin	Group Admin+	Org Admin	Super Admin
View qualifications	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Award/remove qualifications	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
View endorsements	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Award/remove endorsements	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Configure types	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅

Awarding/removing qualifications and endorsements is admin-only in all cases — there is no feature permission that extends this to non-admin users.

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Permission Decision Flow

When the system checks whether a user can perform an action:

1. Is user Super Admin?
   └─ Yes → Allow

2. Does user have required admin role (Brigade Admin or higher)?
   └─ Yes → Check scope (is resource in user's unit hierarchy?)
             └─ Yes → Allow
             └─ No  → Deny

3. Is user a non-admin user (brigade_user/group_user/district_user/region_user)?
   └─ Is the action gated by a feature permission at all?
      └─ No  → Allow if resource is in the user's own unit
      └─ Yes → Does user hold the required feature permission?
               (via direct grant, active appointment, OR custom group membership)
               └─ No  → Deny
               └─ Yes → Is resource in user's own unit?
                        └─ No  → Deny
                        └─ Yes → Allow

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Hierarchical Scope Examples

Brigade Admin Managing Their Brigade

User: Captain Smith, Brigade Admin at Tyabb Fire Brigade

Can access:

• All members, vehicles, equipment, and resources at Tyabb
• All inspections and actions for Tyabb resources
• All events at Tyabb

Cannot access:

• Resources from other brigades
• Organisation-wide settings or proforma templates

Group Admin Managing Multiple Brigades

User: Captain Jones, Group Admin for District 8 Group

Can access:

• All brigades in District 8 Group (e.g., Tyabb, Somerville, Hastings)
• All members, vehicles, equipment, inspections, and actions across those brigades
• Deleting vehicles permanently within the group’s hierarchy

Cannot access:

• Brigades in other groups
• Organisation-wide templates or settings

Brigade User with Feature Permissions

User: Alex, Brigade User at Tyabb — appointed as Stores Officer

Can access:

• Own profile
• All stock items at Tyabb (create, restock, manage — via stock: manage permission)
• Action items in the stock and PPE categories
• Notifications about stock-related items
• Viewing vehicles, inspections, and events at Tyabb (base access — no permission needed)

Cannot access:

• Creating/editing vehicles, approving inspections (unless separately granted)
• Resources from other brigades
• Admin features

Group User (uncommon role)

User: Priya, Group User at District 8 Group — granted duty_crews: manage directly on her profile

Can access:

• Her own profile
• Duty crew assignments belonging to the Group unit itself (not the brigades beneath it)

Cannot access:

• Brigades within the group (a Group User does not inherit descendant visibility the way a Group Admin does)
• Anything not covered by her granted feature permissions

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Best Practices

Principle of Least Privilege

Assign the minimum access level needed for each member’s responsibilities.

• Operational members with no admin duties: Brigade User + appropriate feature permissions via appointment or custom group
• Brigade officers: Brigade Admin
• Group/district/region officers: corresponding admin role
• Organisation leadership: Organisation Admin
• Platform operators only: Super Admin

Appointments vs. Custom Groups for Functional Access

Rather than promoting a member to brigade admin to give them access to a specific area, grant feature permissions via an appointment type or a custom group instead of a full admin role. This:

• Keeps the role level appropriate
• Creates a clear record of who held which position and when

Choose based on how the access should behave:

• Appointments — best for a single functional role with a defined tenure (e.g. Stores Officer, Training Officer). Access is automatically revoked when the appointment ends.
• Custom groups — best for standing sets of members who need the same permissions indefinitely (e.g. “Senior Firefighters”), without the appointment-tenure semantics. Access lasts as long as membership in the group.

See Appointments & Feature Permissions for full details.

Managing Transitions

When a member’s role or appointment changes:

1. End any appointments that no longer apply, and remove them from any custom groups whose permissions no longer fit
2. Assign the new role or appointment
3. If promoting to an admin role, feature permissions are cleared automatically
4. Verify access is correct with the member

Auditing Access

Regularly review:

• Active appointments — are all still current?
• Custom group membership — does everyone in each group still need those permissions?
• Direct feature permission grants — are these still needed, or should they be appointment- or group-based?
• Admin role assignments — does each admin still need that level of access?

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Common Scenarios

New Operational Member

Need: Member needs to conduct inspections and view brigade resources.

Solution: Role brigade_user. Conducting inspections and viewing vehicles/equipment/events require no feature permission — they’re part of base access within the member’s own unit.

Stores Officer

Need: Member takes on responsibility for managing stock and PPE.

Solution: Appointment with stock: manage permission. Member gains stock management access for the duration of the appointment without needing a full admin role.

Training Officer

Need: Member coordinates training sessions and tracks member attendance.

Solution: Appointment with training: create and training: manage permissions.

Senior Firefighters Group

Need: A standing group of experienced members should be able to approve inspections and bookings indefinitely, without a defined end date like an appointment implies.

Solution: Custom group with inspections: approve and bookings: approve permissions. Add/remove members as their status changes; permissions apply immediately on membership.

Promoted to Captain

Need: Existing brigade user promoted to captain.

Solution: Change role from brigade_user to brigade_admin. Any existing feature permissions are cleared automatically — they are no longer needed.

Member Transfers to Another Brigade

Need: Member moving from Tyabb to Somerville.

Solution: Update unit assignment. Role and qualifications transfer. End and reassign any active appointments, and update custom group membership, in the new brigade.

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Related Documentation

• Appointments & Feature Permissions
• Add Members
• Manage Email Notifications
• Getting Started