What this is
What is an equipment manual record?
What is an equipment manual record?
It is the per-asset index of technical information: operating and maintenance manuals, parts lists, electrical and mechanical drawings, control programmes and certificates. It records what is held, in what format, where it lives and whether it is the current revision. It is a register, not a document store — the file may sit anywhere, but the record is the single place that says which revision is authoritative.
What does 'as-built' mean on a drawing?
As-built means the drawing reflects the equipment as it physically exists today, including every modification made since it left the manufacturer. A supplier's original issue is an as-designed drawing. The moment a panel is rewired or a guard is redesigned, the as-designed drawing becomes a historical document, and only a marked-up or reissued version is as-built.
What counts as a control programme backup?
A retrievable copy of the PLC, HMI, drive or safety-relay configuration as currently running, with its version identifier, stored somewhere that survives loss of both the controller and the workshop laptop. An untested copy is not a backup.
Scope
When is an equipment manual record required?
This register holds the technical information about an asset. It does not hold the events that happen to the asset. Records that describe an activity belong in the templates built for that activity, and mixing them makes the register impossible to report on.
Use this template when
- A new asset is being commissioned and the supplier's documentation pack is being received and indexed
- A modification has been completed and drawings, manuals or the control programme now need reissuing
- A documentation audit or handover requires proof of what technical information exists per asset
- The Next Review Due date has arrived and the register is being verified against the machine
- A control system has been upgraded and the backup, its location and its test status need re-recording
Do not use it for
- Asset Modification Record, which captures the change itself — what was altered, why, and the safety and food safety review around it.
- Asset Commissioning Record, which proves a new asset was installed, tested and handed over, and which triggers this register rather than replacing it.
- Asset Register, which is the identity and hierarchy of the asset, not its documentation set.
- Preventive Maintenance Plan, which holds the task content drawn from these manuals rather than the manuals themselves.
- General document control for policies and procedures, which belongs in the document register rather than an asset-keyed record.
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 55001 cl.7.5 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 55001 treats asset information as a controlled input to decisions, not as an archive. The clauses below map to the sections that actually carry the evidence.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 55001 cl.7.5 | Determine the information needed to support assets and asset management, and specify its quality and how it is collected and maintained | Documents held |
| ISO 55001 cl.7.6 | Documented information identified, described and controlled, including version and format | Documents held |
| ISO 9001 cl.7.5.3 | Documented information available and suitable for use where needed, and adequately protected against loss | Completeness |
| ISO 9001 cl.7.5.2 | Review and approval for suitability and adequacy when creating and updating documented information | Completeness |
| PUWER 1998 reg.8 | Adequate health and safety information and, where appropriate, written instructions available to those using and maintaining work equipment | Documents held |
| Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC Annex I 1.7.4 | Instructions supplied with the machinery in the official language of the country of use, covering maintenance and adjustment | Documents held |
| ISO 55001 cl.8.1 | Control of planned changes, with the consequences of change reviewed and records kept current | Completeness |
What it does not cover
- A shared drive folder named after the machine, which contains nine files, three of them drafts, with nothing recording which one is authoritative.
- The supplier's original documentation pack, which describes the machine as it was delivered, not as it exists after commissioning changes and later modifications.
- A PLC programme on the workshop laptop, which is neither located, dated nor tested, and disappears with the laptop.
- An English-only manual on a line staffed by non-English speakers, which does not meet the information duty however complete the content is.
- A completeness tick applied at commissioning, which asserts a state that was true once and has not been verified against the machine since.
Global
Equipment Manual Record requirements by country
The duty to hold and provide equipment information sits in different instruments depending on where the asset runs, and the wording changes what counts as compliance.
Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, reg.8 and reg.9
The employer must ensure those who use and maintain equipment have adequate information and, where appropriate, written instructions, and adequate training.
Language Suitable and the maintenance manual holdings are the evidence an inspector asks for after an incident. A manual held centrally but unavailable at the machine is an arguable breach.
Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Annex I 1.7.4 (instructions)
The manufacturer must supply instructions covering installation, use, maintenance and adjustment in an official language of the member state of use.
Gaps in the operating or maintenance manual holdings are a supply defect to raise with the OEM, not an internal filing problem. Record them and chase them under warranty.
ISO 55001:2014 cl.7.5 and cl.7.6
Information requirements are determined, and documented information is controlled for availability, currency and protection.
Auditors sample assets and ask what the register claims, then check the machine. Drawings Match As Built Condition answered honestly is the field that survives that test.
How to complete it
How to complete an equipment manual record, step by step
Four judgements decide whether this register holds up under audit or under a breakdown at three in the morning. None of them are about filling boxes.
The Documents held section repeats per document. The temptation is one entry per bound folder, which is fast and useless. Index at the level a technician searches: the electrical drawing set for one panel is one entry with a revision; the parts list is another. If an entry cannot carry a meaningful Revision value, it is probably too coarse.
Drawings Match As Built Condition is a claim about the machine, and it cannot be answered from the desk. Someone has to open a panel. 'Minor differences' is a legitimate middle answer only where the differences are documented in the same section — otherwise it is a euphemism for nobody having looked, and it should be 'No'.
Control Programme Backed Up, Backup Location, Backup Date and Backup Tested are one judgement, not four. Backup Tested means someone loaded the file and confirmed it opens and matches the running version. A file never opened since it was saved scores zero, and Backup Date should be the date of the last successful test.
A static packaging line can be reviewed annually. A machine under active development, or one with an open modification programme, drifts within weeks. Set the review interval from how fast the asset changes, and shorten it whenever an Asset Modification Record closes against the asset.
What auditors find
Most common equipment manual record findings
The findings below are what documentation audits on this register actually produce, in rough order of frequency.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Completeness marked fully held at commissioning and never re-verified | ISO 55001 cl.7.5 | Re-baseline against the machine at the next review, and record the verification date rather than inheriting the commissioning answers. |
| PLC programme held but Backup Tested blank or 'No' | ISO 9001 cl.7.5.3 | Schedule a restore test into the PM plan for every controlled asset, and make Backup Date the date of the last successful test. |
| Drawings answered 'Yes' for as-built while open modification records exist against the same asset | ISO 55001 cl.8.1 | Cross-check the register against closed Asset Modification Records; where a modification closed without a drawing reissue, raise the CAPA against the modification process. |
| Format recorded as Paper for a manual kept in a locked planner's office | PUWER 1998 reg.8 | Digitise and index, and record the link in Location Or Link so the maintainer can retrieve it out of hours. |
| Language Suitable answered 'Yes' by the planner, who is not the person using the manual | Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC Annex I 1.7.4 | Ask the maintenance crew, not the planner, and record 'Partly' where only the safety sections are translated. |
| Action Required set to 'Yes' with no CAPA ID entered | ISO 9001 cl.7.5.2 | Make the record uncloseable without the reference; an open action with nowhere to live is a gap that closes itself at the next review. |
Case in point
Case in point: the filler that could not be restarted
A dairy site lost the main PLC on a filling line during a Saturday night run. The equipment manual record showed the control programme as held, with a backup location naming a folder on the engineering share. The folder existed. The file in it was the commissioning version from six years earlier, saved before three separate recipe and interlock changes were made directly online and never exported.
Restoring it would have run the line with superseded interlocks, so the site chose not to. The OEM rebuilt the logic from the machine over four days, at a cost exceeding the line's annual maintenance budget. The register had asked the right question — Backup Tested — and the field had been left blank at every review because nobody owned the test. The fix afterwards was one line in the annual PM checklist.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
3 sections
- Reference
- MNT-047
- Archetype
- Register
- Record ID
- EMAN-2026-000
- Scoring
- Not scored
- Direction
- n/a
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 55001 cl.7.5
- Links
- Links Asset, Document
- Tags
- Maintenance, Documentation
- Sections
- 3
- Fields
- 40
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 1
- Links out
- 4
Header
11 fieldsRecord ID*
Auto sequence. Format EMAN-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Raised By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Area
The area within the site.
Exact Location
Drop a pin for anything hard to find.
Asset*
Asset ID*
Format AST-0000.
Links to FDN-002 Asset ID
Seconds, Not Minutes
A technician finding the right drawing in seconds saves more time across a year than most efficiency programmes. Index it properly once.
Documents held
Repeats9 fieldsDocument Type*
Operating manual, maintenance manual, parts list, electrical drawing, mechanical drawing, PLC programme, certificate.
Document Title*
Revision
Format*
Digital and searchable beats a scanned image beats a paper copy in a cupboard.
- Digital3 pts
- Paper1 pt
- Both2 pts
Location Or Link*
File
Language Suitable*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Current Version*
- Yes3 pts
- Superseded0 pts
Document ID
Links to FDN-008 Document ID
Completeness
20 fieldsOperating Manual Held*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Maintenance Manual Held*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Parts List Held*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Electrical Drawings Held*
- Yes3 pts
- Partial1 pt
- No0 pts
Mechanical Drawings Held*
- Yes3 pts
- Partial1 pt
- No0 pts
Control Programme Backed Up*
A PLC programme with no backup means a controller failure becomes a rebuild from scratch.
- Yes3 pts
- Not applicable3 pts
- No0 pts
Backup Location
Backup Date
Backup Tested
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Drawings Match As Built Condition*
Drawings that do not match the machine cost more time than no drawings at all.
- Yes3 pts
- Minor differences1 pt
- No0 pts
Modifications Recorded On Drawings*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Next Review Due*
Planner*
Signature*
Engineering Manager*
Second Signature*
MNT-047 · record IDs look like EMAN-2026-000 · Links Asset, Document
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
Holding the register is easy. Keeping it true as the plant changes is the work, and it happens in four places.
Keys the record to the asset register, opens it automatically at commissioning, and reopens it whenever a modification record closes against the same asset so the as-built answers cannot silently age.
Runs the currency side: flags superseded entries, tracks Next Review Due per asset, and holds the trail of who verified completeness and when.
Picks up the safety-critical subset — guarding drawings, interlock schematics, safety-relay configurations — so a missing backup on a safety controller escalates rather than sitting beside a missing parts list.
Watches for the pattern nobody sees from a single record: assets whose drawings have never been re-verified, backups with no test date, and modification closures with no matching documentation update. Every write is held for approval first.
This template lives in KnowMaintain — asset maintenance. Work orders, planned maintenance, calibration, reliability and shutdowns.
Meet KnowMaintain→Glossary
Equipment Manual Record definitions and key terms
- As-built drawing
- A drawing that reflects the equipment as it physically exists now, including all modifications, rather than as it was originally designed or supplied.
- Revision
- The issue identifier a document carries, used to establish which of several copies is authoritative and whether a held copy has been superseded.
- Superseded
- A document that has been replaced by a later issue. Superseded copies are kept for history but must be marked so they are never worked from.
- Control programme backup
- A retrievable and version-identified copy of the PLC, HMI or drive configuration as currently running, held independently of the controller itself.
- Documentation pack
- The set of manuals, drawings, certificates and parts lists supplied by the manufacturer at handover, which forms the opening baseline for this register.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about equipment manual record
Should this register hold the documents themselves or just point to them?+
Either works, and most sites do both. The File field carries the document where it is small enough to be useful; Location Or Link points at a CAD system, vendor portal or controlled document register. What matters is that the register, not the folder, records which revision is authoritative.
How does this differ from general document control?+
General document control governs procedures and policies owned by the management system. This register is asset-keyed: it answers 'what technical information exists for this machine', a question asked by a technician at a breakdown rather than an auditor sampling a procedure list.
Who should sign the record?+
The planner completes it and signs, and the engineering manager countersigns. The second signature exists because the completeness and as-built answers are self-assessed by the person who also owns fixing them, and a single signature makes optimistic answers cost-free.
What should trigger an update outside the review cycle?+
Closure of any Asset Modification Record against the asset, receipt of a revised drawing or manual from the OEM, any control system change including online edits, and any occasion where a technician finds a drawing that does not match the machine.
Is 'Partial' an acceptable answer for drawings?+
Yes, and it is often the honest one on older assets where the mechanical set is complete and the electrical set covers only the original panels. It scores one rather than three, which keeps the gap visible without forcing a false zero that gets argued away.
Can the template be changed?+
Yes. Fields, options, scores and conditional rules are editable, and the links to the asset, site, document and CAPA registers come with it. Most teams run it unchanged for one cycle, then tighten the document type list to match how their technicians search.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Planned Maintenance
Asset Register
Holds every piece of equipment, machine, vehicle and tool you track
Tool and Equipment Register
Holds portable tools, gauges, lifting accessories and small equipment that sit below asset level but still need control
Maintenance Request
Asks maintenance to look at a problem or carry out a job
Work Order
The main record for a planned maintenance job, covering what, where, who and when
Corrective Work Order
Covers a repair to fix something that has already failed or degraded
Emergency Work Order
Covers urgent work where equipment has stopped or become unsafe
More in Asset Records
Asset Commissioning Record
Records that a new asset was installed, tested and handed over correctly
Asset Criticality Assessment
Rates how important an asset is, based on safety, production, quality and cost consequences of failure
Asset Transfer Record
Records an asset moving between locations, departments or sites
Asset Disposal Record
Records an asset being taken out of service and disposed of
Warranty Claim Record
Records a claim against a supplier warranty for a failed asset or component
Asset Modification Record
Records a permanent change to an asset, including what changed and why
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- ISO 55001:2014 — Asset management systems, cl.7.5 Information requirements and cl.7.6 Documented information
- ISO 9001:2015 — Quality management systems, cl.7.5.2 and cl.7.5.3 Control of documented information
- Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/2306), reg.8 Information and instructions, reg.9 Training
- Directive 2006/42/EC on machinery, Annex I 1.7.4 Instructions
- ISO 55002:2018 — Guidelines for the application of ISO 55001, cl.7.5
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.