Documentation check

The main reason why most technical product manufacturers supply an operating manual with their products is to provide legal coverage with regard to product liability and equipment safety.
 The law requires that both the equipment and the associated operating manual must be designed according to the state of the art, which in turn is reflected in the current valid international, European and German standards:

• Product Liability Act 
• Equipment and Product Safety Act 
• EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC 
• Low Voltage Directive 2006/95/EC
• Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC
• Equipment in Explosive Areas (ATEX) 94/9/EC 
• The tekom Guidelines for Safety Instructions in Operating Manuals
• Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG)
• ISO/IEC GUIDE 37 Instructions for Use of Products of Consumer Interest 
• DIN EN 15038 Translation Services
• DIN EN 62079 Preparation of Instructions - Structuring, Content, Presentation
• DIN EN ISO 12100-1/-2 Safety of Machinery – Basic Concepts, General Principles of Design
• VDI 4500-1 Technical Documentation – User Information
• DIN Technical Report 146 Technical Product Documentation – Operating Manuals for Plants – Guideline for Summarizing Information from Component Operating Manuals
•  … and other special norms

Entrust us with the job of testing the legal security of your operating manual

We deal with these standards and special issues relating to legal viability on a daily basis. This is why we developed the documentation check service to provide you with a clear understanding of the situation with standards and to guide you in their application.

The documentation check includes the following:

• An analysis of your operating manual based on all relevant standards
• A detailed report on documentation deficiencies with suggestions for optimization 
• A discussion of the results at your location

We use the documentation check to show you potential deviations from the normative guidelines in your operating manual. This provides a basis for you to make targeted improvements to give your company greater legal security.

Coverage for US product liability too

Our proven documentation check service is now available with an extra option: We now also check your manual for use in the USA.

Special conditions prevail on the US market with regard to product liability. In contrast to Europe, there are very few standards or directives addressing technical documentation. At the same time, there is a potential for very high penalties in product liability cases, especially in cases where there are shortcomings in the instructions given. In the documentation check, we review the manual according to criteria which we have developed together with US attorneys. In addition to this, we check the manual according to the guidelines of the new standard which was published in November 2006, ANSI Z535.6 "American National Standard For Product Safety Information in Product Manuals, Instructions, and Other Collateral Materials".

In order for us to carry out checks regarding US product liability, your manual must be in American English. A preliminary check of the German manual can also be performed if desired.

Documentation check follow-up review

We now offer a cost-effective follow-up review for clients who have already had their manual reviewed by us as part of a documentation check.

We have provided the documentation check service since 2005 to prime the process of improvement for technical documentation. Some clients use the check as an internal requirements specification for improving their manuals and implement our suggestions themselves. In other cases we produce a master manual first, which clients use as the basis for further work.
Both procedures have the disadvantage that Kothes! is involved only once as a source of expertise for technical documentation.

In the past, we often observed with some that the standards once envisioned became increasingly muddled in the course of in-house editing of the documents and the result increasingly distant from what we consider correct. Furthermore, rules and standards are subject to cycles of change which can also lead to changes in requirements over time. Thus as time passes, manuals becomes less compliant with standards and directives.

The follow-up review is intended to give you an update to confirm that your documents remain compliant or to indicate where improvements are needed.

Give us a call!