What this is
What is a Temporary Equipment Approval?
What is a Temporary Equipment Approval?
It is the record that authorises equipment onto a site for a defined period rather than as a permanent asset. It covers suitability for the task and the environment, electrical safety evidence, statutory examination where required, and the controls needed while it is present. It is raised before the equipment arrives and closed only when removal is confirmed and the area reinstated.
What counts as temporary equipment under this record?
Anything brought in from outside the site's own asset base for a bounded period: hired plant, a contractor's own tools or generator, a borrowed instrument. The Owner Or Supplier and Reason fields exist because temporary equipment always belongs to someone else and always leaves for a stated reason, not because the job simply ended.
Who has to sign a Temporary Equipment Approval?
Engineering approves it before the equipment is used, recorded against the Approved field and an Engineering signature. A second signature from the Site Manager is also required, because suitability and safety are an engineering judgement but positioning, access and emergency arrangements are a site one.
Scope
When is a temporary equipment approval required?
This record is one step in a larger programme. Using it for work that belongs to a neighbouring template produces records that are hard to report on later.
Use this template when
- Equipment arriving from outside the site's own asset base needs its suitability, safety and duration checked before it is used
- The workspace is being set up, or the register needs an entry added or retired
- You are running the Asset and Equipment Control programme and this is one of its steps
- A linked record needs this one to exist: links Portable Appliance Testing and Interim Control
- An existing approval is being extended past its original removal date and needs the checks repeated, not just the date moved
Do not use it for
- Asset Movement and Transfer, which records an asset moving between areas, sites or owners, with condition at both ends.
- Tool Crib Issue and Return, which issues a tool or instrument to a person and records its return and condition.
- Equipment Loan Record, which lends equipment to or borrows it from another site, a contractor or a supplier, with terms and condition.
- Portable Appliance Test Record, which is the electrical test itself, referenced by this approval rather than repeated inside it.
- Anything outside KnowOps, which belongs in the workspace that owns that process
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 45001 cl.8.1 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 45001 cl.8.1 covers operational planning and control, including how organisations manage change and bring externally supplied equipment under their own controls; this record is where that requirement becomes a dated, signed approval.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.1 | Establish operational controls before an activity or item is introduced, not after | Header |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.2 | Eliminate hazards and reduce risks arising from the equipment before it is used | Suitability |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.2 | Apply controls for isolation, storage, positioning and emergency arrangements while the hazard is present | Controls |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4.2 | Coordinate with contractors and external parties whose equipment is brought onto a shared workplace | Header |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.3 | Manage a planned change, including one with a planned end, through to a defined and verified conclusion | Removal |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1 | Keep operational control records linked so related evidence can be traced from one to the other | Related records |
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1 | Retain documented evidence that the control was approved, and that its outcome was verified, not assumed | Outcome |
What it does not cover
- Suitable For The Intended Task, which is marked No or left unanswered, meaning the equipment has never been confirmed fit for the job it is here to do.
- Electrical Safety Evidence Provided, which is missing or marked No, meaning the equipment has gone into use without a PAT record or equivalent evidence behind it.
- Must Be Removed By, which has passed with no answer against Extension Requires Reapproval, meaning the equipment is now on site with no approval actually covering it.
- Included In Emergency Arrangements, which is marked No or Partly, meaning the emergency plan has not caught up with what is physically on site.
- Removal Confirmed and Area Reinstated, which are both required at closure, meaning an approval that never confirms removal has only documented how the equipment became permanent.
Global
Temporary Equipment Approval requirements by country
ISO 45001 sets the operational-control requirement everywhere this record is used, but the evidence it asks for behind Electrical Safety Evidence Provided and Statutory Examination Where Required is defined by whichever national electrical and equipment-safety law actually applies on the site.
ISO 45001 cl.8.1
A certifiable management-system requirement to control operational risk, including risk introduced by equipment the organisation does not own
This record is how a hired or contractor-supplied item is brought under the same control regime as anything the site owns outright, before it is allowed to work.
Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, reg.4
A duty to maintain electrical systems, including portable and temporary equipment, so far as reasonably practicable to prevent danger
Electrical Safety Evidence Provided is not optional paperwork here; it is the record that discharges reg.4 for equipment brought in from outside, and it is exactly what Portable Appliance Testing exists to supply.
OSHA General Duty Clause, 29 U.S.C. §654(a)(1)
A duty to keep a workplace free of recognised hazards, applied to equipment introduced by a contractor or supplier as much as to owned plant
Where no specific standard governs the exact item, the suitability and controls sections are the evidence that the hazard the equipment introduces was recognised and addressed, not overlooked because it was only temporary.
How to complete it
How to complete a temporary equipment approval, step by step
Filling in every field is the easy part. The judgement calls below are what decide whether the approval actually stands up when the equipment is still there longer than planned.
Days Approved For and Must Be Removed By are only meaningful if someone is prepared to say no to an extension. The judgement call is whether the item is still doing a bounded job, or has quietly become part of how the site runs day to day.
Food Area Suitability Where Relevant and Noise Or Emissions Acceptable both allow N/A. That answer needs to reflect the equipment's actual location and use, not a shortcut past a check that felt awkward to answer.
Approved By signs off the equipment coming in. The harder call is whether a different, accountable person is watching Must Be Removed By, because the person who wanted it on site has no reason to be the one who tells it to leave.
Extension Requires Reapproval existing as a field does not guarantee it is used as intended. The judgement call is whether reapproval re-runs Suitability and Controls, or simply pushes Must Be Removed By further out without re-asking any of the original questions.
What auditors find
Most common temporary equipment approval findings
These are the failure patterns that actually show up in Temporary Equipment Approval records once the equipment has been on site a while, not the ones a checklist would predict.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Must Be Removed By has passed, Status still reads In progress, and Extension Requires Reapproval has never been answered. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.3 | Force a review at the removal date, and block Status remaining open past it unless Extension Requires Reapproval is answered Yes with a new date. |
| Electrical Safety Evidence Provided is marked Yes with no PAT reference anywhere in the record. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.2 | Require a Portable Appliance Test Record reference whenever this field is Yes, rather than leaving it as a plain Yes/No with descriptive help text. |
| Food Area Suitability Where Relevant is marked N/A for equipment sited in a food-handling area according to the site's own records. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.2 | Cross-check Site against a food-area flag so N/A cannot be selected where the site record says otherwise. |
| Removal Confirmed is Yes but Area Reinstated is blank, and the record is closed anyway. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1 | Block closure logic until both fields are answered Yes, not just the first of the two. |
| Times Extended keeps incrementing with no matching re-answer in the Suitability section. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.3 | Require the Suitability fields to be re-entered, not carried over, at every extension counted in Times Extended. |
| Loan ID is left blank for equipment where Owner Or Supplier plainly names an external party. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4.2 | Make Loan ID required whenever Owner Or Supplier indicates an outside owner, so the two records reconcile instead of drifting apart. |
Case in point
Case in point: the generator that never left
A contractor's generator was approved for fourteen days to cover a planned outage. Suitability, electrical safety and controls were all answered cleanly, Must Be Removed By was logged, and Approved read Yes. Partway through, the outage ran long, and someone extended the date informally by messaging the site manager rather than raising a reapproval.
Eighteen months later the generator was still running, discovered only when an unrelated audit walked the site perimeter. It had never been re-tested, never appeared on the asset register, and the original approval record showed a removal date that had simply been ignored rather than replaced.
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.
6 sections
- Reference
- OPS-027
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- TEMP-2026-000
- Scoring
- Removed by the agreed date
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- Yes
- Basis
- ISO 45001 cl.8.1
- Links
- Links Portable Appliance Testing and Interim Control
- Tags
- Asset, Temporary
- Sections
- 6
- Fields
- 51
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 4
Header
13 fieldsApproval ID*
Auto sequence. Format TEMP-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*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Equipment Description*
Owner Or Supplier*
Reason*
Arriving*
Must Be Removed By*
Days Approved For*
Temporary Becomes Permanent With Nobody's Approval
A hired chiller, a borrowed compressor or a contractor's generator arrives for two weeks and is still there eighteen months later, outside every inspection regime you run.
Suitability
6 fieldsSuitable For The Intended Task*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Suitable For The Environment*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Electrical Safety Evidence Provided*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Statutory Examination Where Required*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Food Area Suitability Where Relevant*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Noise Or Emissions Acceptable*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Controls
6 fieldsRisk Assessment Completed*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Users Trained Or Competent*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Isolation Arrangements Understood*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Fuel Or Chemical Storage Controlled*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Positioned Without Blocking Access Or Egress*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Included In Emergency Arrangements*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Removal
6 fieldsRemoval Date Recorded And Owned*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Extension Requires Reapproval*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Inspection While On Site Where Extended*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Not Quietly Absorbed Into The Asset Base*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Removal Confirmed*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Area Reinstated*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Related records
1 fieldLoan ID
Where the temporary equipment is a loan.
Links to OPS-025 Loan ID
Outcome
19 fieldsApproved*
- Yes3 pts
- With conditions2 pts
- No0 pts
Approved By
Removed By The Agreed Date*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Extended*
Times Extended
Interim Control ID
Links to FDN-032 Interim ID
Items Assessed*
Excludes anything marked N/A.
Items Failed*
Score Percent*
Calculated on submission. High is good. N/A items leave the denominator.
Result Band*
- Pass3 pts
- Caution1 pt
- Fail0 pts
Completeness Percent*
How much of the template was actually answered. A high score on a half completed form is not a high score.
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
Engineering*
Signature*
Site Manager*
Second Signature*
OPS-027 · record IDs look like TEMP-2026-000 · Links Portable Appliance Testing and Interim Control
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The form is the easy part. Keeping it current, routing it to the right owner and holding the evidence together is the work that actually slips.
Holds the Temporary Equipment Approval register against Site and Site ID, flags anything past its Must Be Removed By date, and keeps the PAT and Interim Control links live.
Watches the suitability and controls answers for anything scored below par, and makes sure Electrical Safety Evidence Provided actually carries a live PAT reference, not just a Yes.
Catches equipment that has quietly outlived its approval and should have moved onto a proper asset or tool register instead of sitting outside every inspection cycle.
Coordinates the crew, rolls completion and exceptions into one view, and holds every write for your approval before it touches a record.
This template lives in KnowOps — frontline execution. Shift handover, production control, daily management, worker lifecycle and improvement.
Meet KnowOps→Glossary
Temporary Equipment Approval definitions and key terms
- Temporary equipment
- Plant, tools or instruments brought onto a site from outside its own asset base for a bounded period, rather than purchased and registered as a permanent asset.
- PAT (Portable Appliance Testing)
- A periodic electrical safety inspection and test applied to portable and movable electrical equipment, used here as the evidence behind Electrical Safety Evidence Provided.
- Statutory examination
- An inspection required by law for specific categories of equipment, such as lifting equipment or pressure systems, distinct from a routine safety check.
- Interim control
- A temporary measure put in place to manage a risk or gap until a permanent fix is available, linked here where a temporary equipment approval covers that gap.
- Isolation
- Physically or electrically disconnecting equipment from a hazard source, such as power or fuel, so that it can be worked on or is safe in its current position.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about temporary equipment approval
Does every piece of temporary equipment need this record, however small?+
Anything brought in from outside the site's own asset base for a defined period should go through it, because the suitability and safety checks are what stop a small item from being the one nobody watches. The record is short by design so this is not a heavy ask.
What happens if the equipment needs to stay past Must Be Removed By?+
Extension Requires Reapproval exists so that staying longer is a decision engineering makes again, not a date that quietly slips. The intent is that suitability and controls get re-checked, not just the date field.
Why does this link to Portable Appliance Testing instead of repeating the electrical check?+
Electrical Safety Evidence Provided points at the underlying PAT record so the two don't drift apart into separate stories. This template approves the equipment's presence; the PAT record is the evidence behind one of its checks.
Who is accountable if the equipment is never removed?+
Approved By signs off the arrival, and the Site Manager's second signature covers positioning and site-level controls. Removal Confirmed and Area Reinstated are the fields that prove the loop was actually closed rather than just opened.
Is this the same as an asset register entry?+
No. A singleton approval like this one governs equipment that is meant to leave; the Asset Register and Tool and Equipment Register govern items the site owns and keeps. Equipment that stops being temporary should move to one of those instead of staying here indefinitely.
Can the suitability and control checks be reduced for low-risk items?+
The template allows N/A on individual checks such as Food Area Suitability or Noise Or Emissions where they genuinely don't apply, but Risk Assessment Completed and the core suitability questions are required regardless of how small the item seems.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Asset and Equipment Control
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
Asset Movement and Transfer
Records an asset moving between areas, sites or owners, with condition at both ends
Tool Crib Issue and Return
Issues a tool or instrument to a person and records its return and condition
Equipment Loan Record
Lends equipment to or borrows it from another site, a contractor or a supplier, with terms and condition
Key and Access Device Register
Holds every key, fob and access device, who has it and what it opens
More in Equipment Movement
Asset Movement and Transfer
Records an asset moving between areas, sites or owners, with condition at both ends
Tool Crib Issue and Return
Issues a tool or instrument to a person and records its return and condition
Equipment Loan Record
Lends equipment to or borrows it from another site, a contractor or a supplier, with terms and condition
Key and Access Device Register
Holds every key, fob and access device, who has it and what it opens
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 45001 cl.8.1 — Operational planning and control
- ISO 45001 cl.8.1.4.2 — Contractors
- Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, reg.4 — Maintenance
- OSHA General Duty Clause, 29 U.S.C. §654(a)(1)
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.