Documentation

Documentation is extremely important throughout the life-cycle of any factory, and for all plant.

Documentation includes, but is not limited to:

• Original Specification

• Original Design Drawings

• Process and Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs)

• As-built drawings

  • Site plans, layouts,

  • dimensional drawings,

  • electrical schematics,

  • wiring diagrams,

  • terminal schedules, and 

  • switchboard schedules

• Commissioning documents

• Operation and Maintenance Manuals

• Servicing records

• Modification records

Up-to-date documentation , it is easy to operate and maintain a plant optimally.

Accurate P&IDs makes it much easier to introduce new operators to the workings of any plant. It also allows meaningful discussions around plant optimisation, and possible modifications.

As-built drawings make it faster to diagnose and repair any fault. It also safeguards the organisation against the dependencies on specific service providers. (Tacit and embedded knowledge could be temporarily or permanently inaccessible when a particular employee is on leave, resigns or dies. (As has happened to a local organisation.)

Commissioning documents can be used as guidance to repeat acceptance test procedures in order to validate that the plant is still functioning in line with the design criteria.

Operation and Maintenance Manuals are important guidance documents for the operators and maintainers of the plant in factories. It is also a requirement to provide formal direction to workers using equipment and machines, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, as one of the basic duties of the PCBU.

With different people, from within the company and external service providers, working on a machine it is imperative to record all adjustments, maintenance work and modifications that have been performed to ensure the optimal functionality and safety of the system being worked on.

Modifications to plant, changes to processes and factory layouts are inevitable in the life cycle of any factory or plant. To ensure that everyone who works on such installations is up-to-date with the specific configuration every PCBU must keep accurate modification records, with proof that the modifications are safe and do not negatively affect any of the existing installations.

A well-thought-out reference designation system (RDS) goes a long way to simplify the generation of all the types of documentation noted above. We strongly recommended the use of the ISO 81346 Reference Designation System range of standards for designing a suitable RDS for a factory or plant. One, of the many, attractive attributes of the ISO 81346 is that it allows the implementation of the standard on an existing factory or plant. It is always expandable and you will never be painted into a corner.