What is an asset register? What to record and why
An asset register is the list of equipment you are responsible for, with enough detail to identify each item and show its inspections are current. The fields worth recording, a sample register, how it ties to LOLER, PUWER and PSSR record-keeping, and the mistakes that make a register useless at audit.
By Hovermarks team
Quick answer. An asset register is a list of the equipment you are responsible for, one entry per item. Record a unique ID, what the item is, where it is, its make, model and serial number, its status, the inspection regime that applies, and its last and next inspection dates. In the UK it is how you meet the record-keeping duties in LOLER, PUWER and PSSR, because those duties attach to individual items of equipment.
A register answers three questions about every item you own or control: what is it, where is it, and is it safe to use today. A spreadsheet can answer the first two. The third needs the register to be linked to inspection records and to carry a next-due date, which is where most registers fall short.
Equipment register or fixed asset register?
The phrase "asset register" means two different things.
- A fixed asset register is a finance record. It holds cost, depreciation, book value and disposal. Accountants own it.
- An equipment or compliance register is an operational record. It holds identity, location, condition and inspection status. Whoever is responsible for safety or maintenance owns it.
This guide is about the second kind. If you keep both, give each item the same ID in both, so the finance team and the maintenance team are talking about the same thing.
What to record
HSE's guidance on PUWER lists the information it expects in an inspection record: the type and model of equipment, any identification mark or number, its normal location, the date of the inspection, who carried it out, any faults, the action taken, who the faults were reported to, and the date repairs were carried out (HSE L22, paragraph 103). The first three of those belong in the register. The rest belong in the inspection records that hang off it.
| Field | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Unique ID | Ties every record to one item, never reused | ACM-LE-001 |
| Description | What the item is, in plain words | 1 t manual chain hoist |
| Category | Groups items that share an inspection regime | Lifting equipment |
| Make, model, serial | Identifies the item if the label is lost | Maker, model, serial 4471-22 |
| Site and location | Where to find it; kept separate from the ID | Unit 3, bay 2 |
| Status | In service, out of service, or retired | In service |
| Safe working load | Required on reports for lifting equipment | 1,000 kg |
| Regime and interval | Which law applies, and how often | LOLER, 12 months |
| Basis for the interval | Where the figure came from | Regulation 9(3)(a)(ii) |
| Last inspection | Date of the most recent examination or inspection | 14 Mar 2026 |
| Next due | The date the current record stops being current | 14 Mar 2027 |
| Linked records | Reports, defects, manuals, written schemes | Report R-2026-0381 |
The "basis for the interval" field is the one most registers leave out. It is also the one an inspector is most likely to ask about, because some intervals are set by law and others are your own judgement.
A sample register
Four items from a small workshop, each under a different regime:
| ID | Item | Location | Regime | Interval and basis | Last | Next due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACM-LE-001 | 1 t chain hoist | Bay 2 | LOLER thorough examination | 12 months, reg 9(3)(a)(ii) | 14 Mar 2026 | 14 Mar 2027 | In service |
| ACM-LA-004 | 2 t web sling | Store | LOLER thorough examination | 6 months, reg 9(3)(a)(i) | 02 Jun 2026 | 02 Dec 2026 | In service |
| ACM-WE-012 | Pedestal drill | Bay 1 | PUWER regulation 6 inspection | 6 months, own risk assessment | 20 Jul 2026 | 20 Jan 2027 | In service |
| ACM-PS-002 | Air receiver | Compressor room | PSSR examination | Per written scheme | 05 Feb 2026 | Per scheme | Out of service |
The sling is on six months because LOLER sets that maximum for lifting accessories. The drill is on six months because the employer decided so; PUWER sets no figure. The register should make that difference visible.
How the register ties to statutory duties
None of the UK regulations says "keep an asset register". They impose duties on items of equipment, and the register is how you know which items carry which duties.
- LOLER 1998, regulation 9(3). Lifting equipment exposed to deterioration must be thoroughly examined at least every 6 months if it lifts people or is a lifting accessory, at least every 12 months otherwise, or in line with an examination scheme (legislation.gov.uk).
- LOLER 1998, regulation 11. A report of a periodic thorough examination is kept until the next report is made or for two years, whichever is later (legislation.gov.uk).
- PUWER 1998, regulation 6(3). The result of an inspection is recorded and kept until the next inspection under the regulation is recorded (legislation.gov.uk).
- PSSR 2000, regulation 14. The user of an installed system keeps the last report of examination, and earlier reports where they help assess safety or repairs, at the premises where the system is installed (legislation.gov.uk).
Both LOLER (regulation 9(4)) and PUWER (regulation 6(4)) also say equipment must not leave your undertaking, or be used if it arrives from someone else's, without physical evidence that the last examination or inspection was carried out. HSE's PUWER guidance says that for smaller items a tag, colour code or label can be that evidence, as long as the user can link it back to the record (L22, paragraph 105). That is a register entry and a label working together.
The retention rules share a feature. They are all framed as "until the next one". You can only apply them if each item carries a next-due date, so you can tell a current record from a superseded one.
Common mistakes
- IDs that describe a location. "Bay 2 hoist" is wrong the day the hoist moves. Keep location as its own field.
- One row for a set of items. "6 x 2 t slings" cannot carry six examination dates. Each sling needs its own entry and its own mark.
- No next-due date. A register with last dates only tells you what happened, not whether you are covered now.
- Intervals copied from a template. If nobody can say where a figure came from, it will not survive a question from an inspector.
- Deleting scrapped items. Mark them retired with a date and reason, and never reissue the ID. Old reports must still point at the right item.
- A register separate from the records. If the register lives in one spreadsheet and the reports live in an email inbox, they drift apart. Each entry should link to its reports.
How Hovermarks keeps the register
In Hovermarks each asset has a short code generated from your organisation and category prefixes, such as ACM-LE-001. Codes are unique within your organisation and are never reissued, even after an asset is deleted. The record holds the fields above, including serial number, manufacturer, model, safe working load, site, location and per-category custom fields. Status is Active, Out of service or Retired, and a retired asset keeps its full history.
Every inspection is stored against the asset and moves its next-due date. On a UK organisation, the LOLER, PUWER and PSSR reports are produced from the same record. You can import an existing register from CSV and export the register and inspection history as CSV at any time while your trial or subscription is active.