---
id: KB-CF-014
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/use-cases-by-capability/the-file-for-a-machine
idioma: en
categoria: casos-por-funcionalidad
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CF-001, KB-IU-005]
citadoPor: [KB-CN-012, KB-CN-014, KB-IU-016]
---

# The file for a machine

_One piece of equipment, a long service life, and everything you must be able to show about it._

**Responde a:** machine documentation · equipment maintenance history · machinery inspection certificates · industrial equipment file

A machine, a vehicle, lifting gear or an installation share something with a person: they accumulate documentation over years, and that documentation is always requested by equipment, never by the date the paper arrived.

## What an equipment file contains

| Block | What it includes | Expires |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Origin | Invoice, declaration of conformity, manual | No |
| Certification | Mandatory inspections and examinations | Yes, and it weighs most |
| Maintenance | Preventive, corrective, parts fitted | No, but it accumulates |
| Use | Who is authorised to operate it and their training | Yes |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second and fourth blocks are what generate penalties: equipment without a current inspection, or operated by someone without evidenced training. The other two generate quieter losses, like being unable to claim under warranty.

## What makes it work

1. **One file per item, identified as on the shop floor** — With the same number or name people use, not a new code.
2. **Everything done to it, inside** — Including third-party interventions, which are the ones that get lost.
3. **Due dates with warnings and an owner** — Each mandatory inspection with its date and who arranges it.
4. **And a live list of authorised operators** — With their training; if someone falls out of date, they stop being authorised.

> [!WARNING]
> The commonest mistake is filing by maintenance contractor instead of by equipment. It works while the contractor stays the same; the day it changes, the machine's history is split in two and neither half tells the whole story.

## What it is for besides compliance

**En corto**

- Deciding repair versus replacement, with accumulated cost in front of you.
- Claiming under warranty knowing what was fitted and when.
- Selling the equipment with its history, which is worth money.
- And answering an insurer after an accident.

> [!NOTE]
> The same scheme suits fleet vehicles, medical equipment, refrigeration plant and pressure equipment. Which inspections are mandatory changes; that the file belongs to the equipment and follows it for life does not.

**What if the equipment moves site?**

The file travels with it; it belongs to the equipment, not the site.

**Should old history be loaded in?**

Whatever exists and is relevant. From today, everything.

**Does it suit hired machinery?**

Yes, and it is advisable: you will be asked for its documentation even though it is not yours.

## Ejemplos

**A plant files maintenance by contractor and then changes maintenance company.**

- Reorganises by equipment, using the identifier people actually use
- Links due dates and authorised operators

→ Each machine's history stays whole and inspections stop lapsing unnoticed.

**A machine has been on the plant floor for fifteen years and its documentation sits in three drawers and an email.**

- Gathers manual, certificates and inspections into one file
- Records the inspections due by calendar
- Notes which components have been replaced and when

→ Faced with a breakdown or an inspection, the machine's history reads in one place.

**A unit still under warranty is repaired.**

- Records which warranties are live

→ The avoidable cost is avoided.

**A component is replaced and the documentation still describes the old one.**

- Updates the file with every change

→ The paper describes what is installed.

**The machine is sold and its documentation stays behind.**

- Hands over the file with the machine

→ The buyer receives what covers it.

**Inspections are remembered from memory.**

- Records each due date with a warning

→ The calendar stops depending on remembering.