Documents and Records: What Is the Difference?

Two kinds of information

Every organisation runs on written information. Some of it tells people what to do. Some of it shows what was done. The first kind is a document. The second kind is a record. They are managed in different ways, so it is important to tell them apart.

• A document gives instructions or requirements: a procedure, a drawing, a policy, a blank form. It can be revised when the work changes.
• A record is evidence of an activity or a result: a completed inspection sheet, a signed permit, a training certificate. It must not be changed after it is made.

Example 1: the blank form and the completed form

A forklift pre-use checklist is a document while it is blank. It is controlled: it has a number and a revision, and the questions on it are approved. When an operator fills it in and signs it on Monday morning, that copy becomes a record. If the checklist questions change next month, the blank form is revised. Monday's completed checklist is never changed.

Example 2: a calibration certificate

A calibration laboratory tests a pressure gauge and issues a certificate showing the results. The certificate is a record: it proves the gauge was checked on a certain date. The laboratory's calibration procedure, which says how to do the test, is a document.