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Maintenance log template

A maintenance log is the running record of every piece of work done on a machine: the date, what was found and done, who did it, how long it took, what it cost and how long the machine was down. It is the history you use to see which machines keep failing and what they cost. This template has a log page, a page on what to write, and an Excel log that adds up the cost, splits planned from unplanned work and flags a machine that broke down twice.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the maintenance logFields for equipment ID, equipment, location, make and model and meter unit, above a table of thirteen blank rows with date, meter, type of work, work done, parts used, technician, labor hours, parts cost, downtime hours and next due.
Date and meterType of workWork doneParts usedLabor and downtime hoursTotal costPlanned or unplannedSummary by equipmentRepeat flag
Filled-in Maintenance log template: fourteen entries on four machines, one repeat breakdown
The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 3 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use a maintenance log template

  • When maintenance work is written in several places, on tags, in notebooks and in people's heads, and nobody can say what was done to a machine last year.
  • For a small plant, a mobile fleet or a line that does not have a CMMS yet.
  • To see which machines cost the most or lose the most hours before you decide where to spend time.
  • To check that planned work is a growing share of the labor and breakdowns a shrinking one.
  • For the life history of one machine in one place, use the machine history record. This is the running log across machines.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Fill in the header

    Site, and for each machine its ID, name, make and model. In the Excel log the equipment ID is typed on every row, so one file can hold every machine.
  2. 2

    Write an entry every time anyone works on a machine

    Date, the meter reading if you keep one, and who did it. A five minute adjustment goes in too: it is the repeat that shows up later.
  3. 3

    Pick the type of work

    Preventive (PM), Inspection, Planned repair, Breakdown or Improvement. Breakdown is the only type counted as unplanned.
  4. 4

    Write what was found and what was done

    Enough that a technician a year from now can tell. 'Belt off track, found worn idler roller, replaced it and realigned' beats 'fixed'.
  5. 5

    Add labor hours, parts and downtime hours

    Labor hours are the technician's time. Downtime hours are the time the machine could not make good product. They are different numbers, so write both.
  6. 6

    Set your labor rate once

    Type your own cost per labor hour in the labor rate cell at the top. The sheet multiplies it by the hours and adds the parts to give the cost of each entry.
  7. 7

    Read the summary every month

    Cost and downtime by machine, the planned share of labor, and a Repeat flag on any machine with two or more breakdowns. Go to the repeats first.

The five types of work

Which type to pick, and what counts as planned

The Excel log counts Breakdown as unplanned and the other four types as planned. Pick the type that describes why the work was done.

  • Preventive (PM)

    Use it when
    A task from the PM schedule, done on its due date.
    Counts as
    Planned
  • Inspection

    Use it when
    A look, check or test with no repair planned. Write down what you found.
    Counts as
    Planned
  • Planned repair

    Use it when
    A repair found by a PM or inspection and done at a time that suited production.
    Counts as
    Planned
  • Breakdown

    Use it when
    The machine stopped, or stopped making good product, before anyone planned for it.
    Counts as
    Unplanned
  • Improvement

    Use it when
    A change that makes the machine easier to run or keep, not a repair.
    Counts as
    Planned

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example (illustrative): fourteen entries on four machines of a packaging line in October 2026, with a labor rate of $48 an hour and the status read on 10 November 2026. The machines, names and numbers are made up.

  • 14 entries: 5 Breakdown, 5 Preventive (PM), 2 Inspection, 1 Planned repair and 1 Improvement.
  • Labor was 24 hours at $48 an hour, which is $1,152.00, and parts were $488.50. The total cost is $1,640.50.
  • The machines were down for 9.75 hours in total. The line 1 conveyor lost the most, 4 hours, and the line 2 filler cost the most, $446.00.
  • Breakdowns took 10 of the 24 labor hours, so planned work was 14 ÷ 24 = 58.3% of the labor. Counted by entries, 9 of 14 were planned, 64.3%.
  • The line 1 conveyor (L1-CONV-04) had two breakdowns for the same fault, belt off track, 7 days apart (7 and 14 October). It is flagged Repeat. The second time a worn idler roller was found and replaced.
  • Days since is counted from the last breakdown to the read date: 27 days for the conveyor, 32 for the filler, 20 for the labeller and 25 for the forklift.

The repeat on the line 1 conveyor is the first thing to look at: ask why the belt kept going off track, and check that the monthly PM on 23 October looked at the rollers.

Common mistakes

  • 'Fixed it' and nothing else

    An entry that does not say what was found cannot be used later. Write the fault, the cause if you know it, and what you did.

  • Logging only the breakdowns

    If PMs and inspections are missing, planned work looks smaller than it is and nobody can see what was checked before a failure.

  • Leaving out downtime hours

    Labor hours do not tell you what the stop cost the line. Write how long the machine could not make good product, even if it is a guess to the nearest quarter hour.

  • Mixing up labor hours and downtime hours

    A two hour repair by one technician on a machine that was stopped for one hour is 2 labor hours and 1 downtime hour. Keep them in separate columns.

  • A log that nobody reads

    Look at the summary once a month. If a machine has two breakdowns for the same fault, find the cause before the third.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite a professional maintenance tag becomes a work order with photos, location and equipment ID attached, rules route it to the right technician and set its due date by priority, and the technician records the fix and the parts used when closing it.

See it in a 45-minute demo

FAQ

Maintenance log template: common questions

  1. A running record of the work done on equipment: the date, what was found and done, who did it, the time and parts it took and how long the machine was down. It is the evidence you use to see what keeps failing and what it costs.

  2. The date, the equipment ID, the type of work, a description of what was found and done, the technician, labor hours, parts used and their cost, and downtime hours. A meter reading helps for machines that wear by use.

  3. A machine history record is the file for one machine across its life, with its details, spares and past repairs. A maintenance log is the running list of entries, here for any number of machines, with a summary that adds them up.

  4. Planned work is scheduled ahead: PMs, inspections and repairs done at a time that suited production. Unplanned work is a breakdown, where the machine stopped or stopped making good product before anyone planned for it. This log counts Breakdown as the unplanned type.

  5. Add the labor cost, which is labor hours times your labor rate, and the parts cost for every entry on that machine. The Excel summary does this for each equipment ID. It does not include the cost of lost production, which you can work out from the downtime hours.

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