Free equipment breakdown report
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Free equipment breakdown report (PDF). Record the failure: downtime window, symptoms, root cause, repair, parts and cost. Download free.
Commercial Director
Key takeaways
- An equipment breakdown report documents one unplanned failure after the event: the downtime window, what failed, the root cause and the repair done.
- Record the time stopped and the time returned to service so downtime hours, lost production and the true cost of the breakdown are captured.
- It is the post-failure record, not the operator defect raise; one breakdown report should feed a formal root cause analysis where the failure repeats.
- WHS Regulations 2011 require records of plant maintenance; a completed breakdown report is the evidence that the failure was investigated and rectified.
Updated 4 June 2026
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Used by construction, mining and field service teams
What is a equipment breakdown report?
An equipment breakdown report is a document used to record a single unplanned equipment failure after it has happened, from the moment the asset stopped to the moment it was returned to service. For each breakdown it captures the asset details, the downtime window, the symptoms reported, the findings on inspection, the root cause, the repair carried out, the parts and labour consumed and the total cost. Unlike an operator fault report, which raises a defect at the point it is first noticed, a breakdown report is completed once the job is closed and tells the full story of the failure and its impact.
Maintenance supervisors, reliability engineers and workshop teams use the breakdown report across mining, construction, manufacturing and facilities to learn from failures rather than just fix them. Without a consistent record, the same machine fails the same way and nobody connects the dots, so downtime and parts spend creep up unnoticed. In MapTrack, each breakdown is logged against the asset alongside its work orders, meter readings and service history, so repeat failures and their cost surface in reporting instead of living in a drawer. The record-keeping duties in the WHS Regulations 2011 for plant maintenance, and the failure data that ISO 55001 expects an asset management system to capture, both rely on this kind of closed-out report.
Learn more about maintenance and work orders in MapTrack.
Benefits of using this equipment breakdown report
- Honest downtime data: recording the time stopped and time restored gives the real downtime hours behind every unplanned failure.
- Root cause focus: a dedicated findings and cause section pushes the team past the symptom to why the equipment actually failed.
- Repeat-failure visibility: consistent breakdown records expose the same machine failing the same way so it can be fixed for good.
- True cost of failure: parts, labour and lost-production fields turn a breakdown into a dollar figure that justifies preventive work.
- RCA trigger: a completed report flags which failures are serious or frequent enough to warrant a formal root cause analysis.
- Maintenance evidence: a signed breakdown record demonstrates to auditors and regulators that plant failures were investigated and rectified.
- Better planning: failure modes captured over time feed the preventive schedule, critical spares list and replacement decisions.
Benefits of digitising forms in MapTrack
When you move your reports from paper to MapTrack, you get:
- Field users can easily scan a QR code to complete a form on mobile. Unlimited users.
- Automatically get alerts when faults are identified.
- Link every form digitally as a PDF to the relevant asset, location or person.
- Receive a digital PDF copy with every submission to your email.
- Ability to share forms digitally.
- Build conditional logic (show or hide questions based on answers).
- Take pictures or attach photos. Not possible with a paper-based form.
- Electronic signatures.
- Edit forms later without reprinting.
- Restrict permissions (who can view, complete or approve).
- Build forms with AI (describe what you need and MapTrack suggests the form).
- Trigger work orders automatically when a fault is logged during an inspection.
- Track service intervals by hours, kilometres or calendar date in one place.
- Attach supplier invoices and parts receipts to each maintenance record.
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What to include in a equipment breakdown report
This equipment breakdown report covers 11 key areas:
- Report details: asset ID, description, make and model, location, reported by and report date.
- Breakdown window: date and time the equipment stopped, and the date and time it was returned to service.
- Downtime: total hours out of service, and whether the failure stopped production or a downstream task.
- Symptoms reported: what the operator or process saw, heard or measured before and when the equipment failed.
- Findings on inspection: the condition found by the technician once the machine was opened up or tested.
- Root cause: the underlying reason the failure occurred, not just the part that broke.
- Repair carried out: the work done to restore the equipment, including any temporary fix versus permanent repair.
- Parts used: part numbers, descriptions and quantities consumed in the repair.
- Labour and cost: technician hours, parts cost and any external or hire cost, with a total cost of the breakdown.
- Prevention and follow-up: actions to stop a recurrence and whether a formal root cause analysis is required.
- Sign-off: technician who completed the repair and supervisor who verified return to service.
How to use this equipment breakdown report
- Record the asset and the breakdown window as soon as the equipment goes down.: Capture the asset ID, make, model and location, then log the exact date and time the equipment stopped. Recording the stop time straight away is what makes the downtime figure accurate later, because times reconstructed from memory at the end of the job are rarely reliable.
- Capture the symptoms and what was happening when the failure occurred.: Note what the operator or process observed before and at the point of failure: abnormal noise, vibration, smoke, alarms, error codes, loss of power or pressure. Record the load and conditions at the time, because the operating context often points the investigation toward the real cause.
- Inspect the equipment and record the findings, then determine the root cause.: Document the condition found on inspection, the component that failed and why it failed, distinguishing the immediate part from the underlying cause such as wear, contamination, overload, missed servicing or installation error. Stopping at the broken part guarantees the failure returns.
- Record the repair, the parts used and the time the equipment returned to service.: Describe the work carried out and whether it is a permanent repair or a temporary fix pending a proper one. List every part number and quantity consumed, then log the date and time the equipment was handed back so the full downtime window is closed off accurately.
- Calculate the cost and total downtime of the breakdown.: Add the technician labour hours, parts cost and any external repair or equipment hire cost to reach a total cost of the failure. Combine the stop and restart times into total downtime hours, and note any lost production so the breakdown can be ranked against others by impact.
- Decide on prevention actions and whether a formal root cause analysis is needed.: Record the actions that will stop the failure recurring, such as a schedule change, a spare held in stock or an operator briefing. Flag serious, costly or repeat failures for a structured root cause analysis, then have the technician and supervisor sign the report to confirm return to service.
In MapTrack, you can schedule and track maintenance digitally. Each submission is stored as a timestamped PDF against the asset record.
Get the free templateEnter your email above to download the full equipment breakdown report as a PDF.Back to download formHow often should you complete this report?
Complete a breakdown report every time an asset suffers an unplanned failure that stops it from running, however quickly the repair is done. There is no fixed schedule; the trigger is the event itself. Review the reports as a set monthly to spot equipment that fails repeatedly and to total the downtime and cost of unplanned failures against your preventive work. In MapTrack, each breakdown is logged against the asset alongside its work orders and meter history, so repeat failures and their cost surface automatically rather than waiting for a manual review.
Frequently asked questions
Applicable regulatory standards
This template aligns with the following regulations and standards:
- WHS Regulations 2011, Chapter 5 - Plant and Structures (records of inspection, maintenance and repair of plant)
- ISO 55001 - Asset Management Systems (capturing asset failure and performance data to inform decisions)
- ISO 14224 - Collection and exchange of reliability and maintenance data for equipment (failure and maintenance record structure)
Need to schedule and track maintenance digitally?
Register every asset in MapTrack, attach digital forms, and get a complete history of every inspection, service and compliance record.
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