How to document a repair, step by step

See what a Repair Passport records

The eight steps

1. Repair date

   Write the day the repair was completed as day / month / year, for example 07/11/2025. If the product was away for several days, the completion date on the invoice is the clearest choice.

2. Reported problem

   Describe the fault in your own words: what you noticed, when it started and when it happens (“screen flickers when the phone is warm, since early October”). Avoid diagnosing it yourself unless you know.

3. Work performed

   Copy what the repairer says they did from the invoice or job sheet. If you were only told verbally, note that the description is “as told by the repairer”.

4. Parts

   List parts that were replaced. If you were told whether they are original or compatible parts, write that down. If you were not told, write “not stated” rather than guessing.

5. Repairer

   Write the business or person exactly as it appears on the invoice, so the record can be matched to the document.

6. Evidence

   Keep the invoice, job sheet, photos of the fault, and any emails. Store copies somewhere you will still have in a few years. Note in the record which documents exist.

7. Warranty, where relevant

   Note whether the repair was done under a commercial warranty or the legal guarantee, and whether the repair itself comes with a warranty and for how long. The guide to warranty vs legal guarantee under EU rules explains the difference.

8. Check, and mark what is unknown

   Read the record once against the documents. Anything you do not know — cost, part type, who did an earlier repair — should say unknown.

What makes a record more reliable — and what does not

It helps to keep three questions apart: what is claimed, what evidence exists, and whether anyone has checked it.

• A repairer's name alone does not verify a repair. Anyone can type a business name into a record. It tells a reader who is said to have done the work, not that the work happened.
• Evidence being present does not verify a repair. An attached invoice supports the claim and is worth keeping, but attaching a file is not the same as someone checking that it is genuine and matches the record.
• Verification is a separate step carried out by someone other than the owner. Until that happens, the record is the owner's claim, with or without evidence.

Three trust concepts

OWNER REPORTED

The owner recorded the repair. Nobody else has checked it.

DOCUMENT SUPPORTED

In the concept: the claim is supported by documentation, not only the owner's word.

REPAIRER VERIFIED

In the concept: the repairer who did the work has confirmed the record.

These are different trust concepts, and each one describes a single record — never the whole product. In the current Repair Passport prototype, DOCUMENT SUPPORTED and REPAIRER VERIFIED are simulated for testing only: no document is checked and no repairer confirms anything. None of these states is a certification or a safety guarantee.

How Repair Passport keeps claims, evidence and verification apart

An example record (fictional)