Tool and Equipment Inventory

What this sheet is for

Get every tool you own onto one register with its serial number, so a theft, a fire or a claim starts from a list instead of from memory.

Who it is for

Workshops, tradespeople, smallholdings, makerspaces, clubs and anyone with a garage full of tools they could not describe accurately under pressure.

How to use it

1. Work round one bench, van or store at a time rather than trying to do the lot.
2. Photograph every rating plate as you go — serial numbers fade long before the tool wears out.
3. Number the sheet's lines and mark the same number on the tool itself.
4. Keep a filled-in copy somewhere other than the building it describes, and update it whenever something is bought, sold or scrapped.

What is on the sheet

The layout is fixed at a size that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the A4 and Letter files are visually identical and print at full size on either. Rows are set at a height that an adult can actually write a date and a few words into with a pen — most printable tables are built in a word processor and never tested with one.

Questions

Where is the serial number on a power tool?

Usually on a printed label on the motor housing or the base, and on cordless tools sometimes under the battery. Cast or laser-etched numbers survive; printed labels do not, which is why photographing them is worth the time.

Should I record what I paid or what it would cost to replace?

Record what you paid, with the date, because that is the figure you can evidence. Replacement cost changes, and how a particular policy settles a claim is a matter for the policy — read yours.