Two minutes of photographs at handover settle every argument that could happen later. This is the cheapest insurance there is.
One wide shot of the whole item. Then each side. Then a close-up of every scratch, dent, crack and stain you can find, including the ones you think are too small to matter. Those are exactly the ones that get argued about.
With the item switched on and running. A camera shutter clicking, a generator idling, an engine turning over. A photo shows what it looks like; a video shows that it works.
Serial number, IMEI, chassis, number plate. Get it in the same frame as the item where you can. This is what proves the thing that came back is the thing that went out.
In front of each other, before you separate. Now both of you hold the same timestamped set, and neither of you can produce a different version of the story next week.
Same angles, same order, ideally the same kind of light. Two matching sets are easy to compare in thirty seconds. Two random sets prove nothing.
Photos only protect you if both of you have them. Send them in the chat while you're still standing together.
For generators and vehicles, photograph the fuel gauge and the hour meter or odometer, and write the reading into the chat. "Return it as you found it" means nothing without a number.
In the rainy season, check for water marks and rust before you accept an item, and photograph them, so a problem that was already there doesn't become yours.
