Collection of all documents and data for an asset: master data, contracts, reports, invoices, manuals, history.
The asset file (Anlagenakte) is the collection of all documents and data on an asset: master data, instructions for use, declaration of conformity, drawings, contracts, reports, invoices, modifications, and the history of defects and repairs. No general duty to keep an asset file exists, but many individual duties point that way. The risk assessment must be documented before first use (§ 3(8) BetrSichV), inspection results must be recorded and kept (§§ 14 and 17), operators of refrigeration systems keep records per piece of equipment for at least five years (Article 7 of the F-gas Regulation), and medical devices need a device log and an inventory register.
Retention periods differ. Inspection records for work equipment are kept at least until the next inspection, those for installations subject to monitoring throughout the entire period of use. The medical device log must be kept for five years after the device is taken out of service (§ 13(3) MPBetreibV). Manufacturers must keep technical documentation and the declaration of conformity for at least ten years under the Machinery Regulation (Art. 10(3)) and the Cyber Resilience Act (Art. 13(13)). The simplest rule for you: whatever belongs to the asset stays in the file until the asset is out of service, and afterward as long as a duty or a possible dispute requires.
For cost, liability and deadlines, the file is the lever for everything else. Whoever can show which work was done on which asset checks invoices faster, spots recurring faults and can justify replacement investments. When the operator changes, the asset is sold or the service company is replaced, the file goes along. If it is scattered across mailboxes and folders, the one document you need is missing at the worst moment, in an authority inquiry or after an incident. What matters is a clear assignment, ideally by serial number, and a version status that shows whether a document is current.
What matters
- Set up a file for each asset and use the serial number as the key.
- Keep instructions for use, declaration of conformity, risk assessment, contracts and reports in one place.
- After every visit, add the service report, invoice and findings.
- Record modifications and software changes with the date and who made them.
- Hand over the file in full when the asset is sold or the operator changes.
Suppose an authority asks at one site for the inspection certificates of an elevator. The operator has certificates, service records and the declaration of conformity in the file and can produce them at once. At another site, the declaration of conformity is missing. He requests it from the manufacturer and completes the file before the next inspection.
In the original wording
“The employer must document the result of the risk assessment before the work equipment is used for the first time.”
Unofficial translation
“After the device has been taken out of service, the medical device log must be kept for five years.”
Unofficial translation
Related regulations
In vi
- Asset file: One asset, one file
- Service chat: Questions for all documents, answers with sources