Every machine, every contract, one file.

It depends on the type of equipment. For most machines, the Industrial Safety Ordinance (BetrSichV) sets no fixed intervals. As the employer, you decide in your risk assessment which inspections are needed and how often, and you have them carried out by a person qualified to inspect (a "befähigte Person"). That is someone whose training, experience and recent practical work give them the required knowledge. Manufacturer instructions, operating conditions and earlier findings guide the choice. If an inspection shows that the equipment cannot run safely until the next date, the interval must be set again.

Some groups have fixed rules. Under Annex 3, cranes must be inspected at least once a year by a qualified inspector, and some designs also by a certified inspection expert. For pressure systems, Annex 2 Section 4 uses pressure and volume to decide whether an approved inspection body or a qualified inspector does the work. For pressure vessels that an inspection body tests, the maximum intervals are 2 years for the external inspection, 5 years for the internal inspection and 10 years for the strength test. For some vessels the external inspection is not required.

Electrical installations are inspected by a qualified electrician under DGUV Regulation 3. vi reads the intervals from the inspection reports and puts them into a calendar for each asset.

First, a practical problem: the equipment must not run in the meantime. Work equipment that requires an inspection may only be used if the inspection has been carried out and documented. Anyone who keeps running it commits an administrative offense.

The room for delay is smaller than many people think. The due date is stated as month and year. For elevators, equipment in explosive atmospheres, pressure systems and the equipment listed in Annex 3, such as cranes, an inspection still counts as on time if it takes place no later than two months after the due date. Other machines get no such grace period. If the equipment was out of service on the due date, it may only restart after the inspection.

The fine depends on the type of equipment. Missing the inspection of ordinary work equipment can lead to a fine of up to EUR 5,000 under § 22(1) BetrSichV in connection with § 25 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. For installations subject to monitoring, such as pressure vessels and elevators, § 22(2) points to the Act on Installations Subject to Monitoring (ÜAnlG), where the range goes up to EUR 100,000. Anyone who persistently omits the inspection or endangers lives can be criminally liable. vi reminds you before every due date.

First, rate how serious the defect is. For installations subject to monitoring, the law has three levels. With a dangerous defect, the installation must not be operated, it must be marked, and it may only restart after a re-inspection. With a defect relevant to safety, the inspection body sets a deadline by which you must order the re-inspection. If you do not, the inspection body informs the authority. Minor defects must be fixed within a reasonable time, at the latest within one year.

For all other work equipment, § 5(2) BetrSichV applies: equipment with defects that impair safe use must not stay in service. The technical rule TRBS 1201 covers the case in between. If the equipment is safe today but will not stay safe until the next inspection, you note that in the inspection record and take measures within a reasonable period, for example fixing the defect, shortening the inspection interval or reducing the operating limits.

In practice, every defect needs three things: a responsible person, a date and proof that it was fixed, such as the service report or the re-inspection certificate. Order the repair in writing and quote the inspection report. vi turns each defect into a ticket with a deadline and closes it only when the proof has been read in.

A service contract should settle five points.

First, the scope of work. It follows the manufacturer's instructions, which § 10 BetrSichV already requires you to take into account. Intervals, inspection points and wear parts belong in there by name or by effort. Second, the exclusions. Repairs, wear parts, travel and emergency calls should be named explicitly, otherwise you get disputes and double invoices. Third, the times. Response time, time to restore operation and working time on site are three different values. Fourth, the personnel. The law requires competent employees or suitable contractors with comparable qualifications, so ask for those qualifications. Fifth, the documentation. Every visit needs a report with the date, the work done, the parts replaced, the operating hours and the defects, and a note on whether the work affects the safety of the equipment. If it does, it may count as a change that requires inspection, and the equipment must be inspected before its next use.

Then come the commercial points: term, renewal, notice period, price adjustment with a traceable index, hourly rates and travel flat rates. List statutory inspections separately from maintenance. vi reads these points from all contracts and lines them up side by side.

The period depends on the equipment. For inspections under § 14 BetrSichV, the result must be recorded and kept at least until the next inspection. For installations subject to monitoring, inspection records and certificates must be kept at the place of operation for the entire period of use, and the same applies to cranes. In practice that means inspection reports stay in the file for as long as the equipment is in the building.

A record must show at least the type of inspection, its scope, the result, and the name and signature of the qualified inspector, or the electronic signature for purely electronic documents. If an item is missing, the record is incomplete, and that is also an administrative offense. If equipment is used at changing locations, proof of the last inspection must be available at the place of use. Keeping records electronically is permitted.

The asset file should also hold the risk assessment with the type, scope and intervals of inspections, the manufacturer's operating instructions and declaration of conformity, the service reports and the proof that defects were fixed. vi assigns every document it reads to the asset, so the file stays complete even when reports arrive from three different mailboxes.

Two yardsticks apply here, the old one and the new one. Under the Industrial Safety Ordinance, any measure that affects the safety of work equipment is a change requiring inspection, and repair work can count as well. A qualified inspector must then inspect the machine before it is used again. You must also assess whether you take on manufacturer obligations with the change. That applies today.

New is the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, which replaces the Machinery Directive in January 2027. It defines the substantial modification explicitly: a physical or digital change that the manufacturer did not foresee or plan, made after the machine was put into service, which creates a new hazard or increases a risk and therefore requires additional guards that mean adapting the safety control system, or additional measures for stability or mechanical strength. Whoever makes it is considered the manufacturer and must reassess conformity. According to the recitals, repair and maintenance that do not affect compliance with the safety requirements are not substantial modifications.

Before a control replacement, a retrofit or a software update to a safety function, ask the manufacturer, assess the change in writing and update the risk assessment. vi flags quotes and reports that mention such conversions.

Three EU regulations now affect every connected asset. The Data Act has applied since September 12, 2025. As a user, it gives you the right to the data of your connected products if you cannot access it directly, and the right to have it passed on to third parties, for example an independent service company. The duty to make data accessible by design, however, applies only to products placed on the market after September 12, 2026. For older equipment, the contract is what helps. Check purchase, service and remote maintenance contracts for data clauses.

The Cyber Resilience Act addresses manufacturers. Since September 11, 2026, they must report actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents, and all remaining obligations apply from December 11, 2027. For you as an operator, this means work to do. At purchase, put the support period and update commitments in writing, record remote access points and connected components for each asset, and have updates documented in the service report. Whoever installs an update should write down which version ran before and after, and who approved it.

vi finds data clauses and update commitments in your contracts and lists the connected components for each asset.

First the boundary: the new Product Liability Directive (EU) 2024/2853 applies to products placed on the market from December 9, 2026. For older products, the previous Directive 85/374/EEC remains in force. Among other things, software now counts as a product, and updates and missing updates can matter when they are within the manufacturer's control.

One rule matters most for operators. Anyone who substantially modifies a product outside the manufacturer's control and then puts it into service is treated as its manufacturer. The right to compensation belongs to natural persons who are injured by the defective product. For property used exclusively for professional purposes, the Directive gives no compensation. A claim expires after ten years, and for a substantially modified product the period runs from the time it was put into service again after the modification.

For practice, this means: document every conversion and every safety-relevant update with date, scope, the company that carried it out and the approval, and keep these records at least as long as claims are possible. Coordinate any intervention in safety functions with the manufacturer.