Glossary · Document and evidence governance
External technical documentation
Also known as: External documentation (manufacturer), User documentation
German: externe Technische Dokumentation
In technical documentation following VDI 4500 Blatt 1, external technical documentation is the product-related documentation that leaves the manufacturer and goes to operators and users — instructions for use, maintenance and service manuals, spare parts lists and handover documentation.
- Technical documentation
- Compliance
- Standards
- German source term
In one sentence
External technical documentation leaves the manufacturer for operators and users: instructions, maintenance and service manuals, handover documents.
Example
A crane manufacturer delivers the operating manual, the maintenance manual, the spare parts catalog and the test certificates to the operator; the service manual for authorized partners is external too, but it is not published.
How it applies
- Scope: External documentation is what reaches people outside the manufacturer: the information for use, including the instructions for use, maintenance and service documentation, and the documents handed over with a plant.
- Requirements: Much of it is required by product law and shaped by standards for information for use; it addresses target audiences with different tasks and qualifications.
- Link to internal documentation: It draws on the manufacturer's internal documentation, and a copy of it is kept there. Together they form the technical documentation.
External vs. public
In practice "external" is used in three senses: handed over to a customer or operator; available to a restricted group such as service partners; and publicly accessible. External documentation in the sense of VDI 4500 means only the first — it leaves the manufacturer. Whether it is also published is a separate decision: a service manual for authorized technicians is external but not public. Reading "external" as "public" leads to wrong decisions about access, confidentiality and online publication.