Documenting a repair

Documenting a repair is a field-note format. It makes a result easier to reproduce and easier to correct.

Record

• Item: maker, model, hardware revision, firmware/software version, and a date. Remove serial numbers and customer information.
• Symptom: observable behavior and conditions, including what still works.
• Diagnosis: measurements, tools, test setup, and alternative causes considered.
• Intervention: parts and changes, with provenance and compatibility limits. For safety-critical or access-control equipment, route operational details through disclosure and qualified review first.
• Result: before/after readings, duration, repeats, adverse effects, and unresolved problems.
• Evidence status: field observed, independently reproduced, prototype, or released, as supported by records.
• Counterargument: a plausible other explanation and a discriminating test.

Example of careful wording

“On one identified revision, a named observer recorded a change under these test conditions; no independent reproduction is documented.” This is narrower and more useful than “the device is fixed.”

Link source files or measurements only when public and authorized. See Repair Commons, Aletheia:Article standards, and Aletheia:Suggest a claim or correction.