---
id: KB-IU-004
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/manufacturing/selling-machinery-and-the-documents-inside
idioma: en
categoria: sector-industria
subcategoria: maquinaria
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-IU-001, KB-CS-010]
citadoPor: [KB-NO-015, KB-IU-019]
---

# Selling machinery: the documentation that goes with it

_What you hand over with the machine stays with you for its whole working life._

**Responde a:** documentation delivered with a machine · manual and declaration of conformity handover · what papers accompany industrial equipment · machinery aftersales documentation

When you hand over a machine you also hand over a documentary package that outlives the sale: the customer will need it at every inspection, every change of operator and every resale. And when they cannot find it, they will call you — five, eight or twelve years later.

## What goes with the machine

| Document | What the customer uses it for | When they will ask you |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Declaration of conformity | Justifying they may use it | At their first inspection |
| Instruction manual | Training whoever operates it | Every time the operator changes |
| Maintenance documentation | Complying with inspections | Every year |
| Critical component certificates | Facing an incident | At the worst moment |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Handing it over with a signed receipt is what prevents the problem five years out. Without one, the conversation is "I never received that" and there is no way to close it — with one you resend and it is over.

## What is worth keeping on your side

**En corto**

- Which exact manual version went with which serial number.
- The component certificates for that particular unit.
- And who it was handed to, with the date.

The first row is the most neglected. If the manual changes between units and there is no record of which one each carried, answering an aftersales query becomes guesswork.

> [!WARNING]
> If you modify a machine already delivered, the earlier documentation may have stopped describing what is installed. That is where a resale or an incident exposes a discrepancy nobody knew existed.

> [!NOTE]
> Handing over documentation digitally with a signed receipt also solves the resale case: the second buyer asks for it, and you can say exactly what was delivered and to whom.

**Can I deliver it digitally only?**

It depends what your product's regulation requires; check.

**What if the customer loses the manual?**

With the delivery record you know which version they had and resend it.

**How long do I keep this documentation?**

Machine working lives tend to be long; confirm with your adviser.

## Ejemplos

**A manufacturer gets a query about a machine sold nine years ago and does not know which manual it carried.**

- Links manual and certificates to the serial number on each delivery
- Hands over with a signed receipt

→ Aftersales queries are answered in minutes, even for resold machines.

**The machine is delivered and the documentation follows later.**

- Delivers the file with the machine

→ The customer receives what covers it.

**The customer asks for the manual years later.**

- Keeps the file by serial number

→ It is provided without reconstructing.

**Each machine carries a different configuration.**

- Stores which configuration went out on each

→ You answer per unit.

**A component is replaced and the documentation stays the same.**

- Updates the file with every change

→ The paper describes what was delivered.

**A customer complains and nobody knows which version they had.**

- Checks that unit's file

→ The complaint is resolved with data.