Shutdown audit
Shutdown Audit: Checklist, Findings and Inspections
A shutdown audit checks whether the plan, the controls or the results of a stop meet a set standard. It comes in three kinds: a readiness audit before the stop, a compliance audit on a cycle and a performance review after restart. This guide gives a pre-shutdown checklist and the inspection regimes it touches.
How MaintWiz helps: Audits are faster when records, waivers and approvals are in one place. The MaintWiz shutdown module keeps handover notes, lessons learnt and deferred items with an archive of past shutdowns. See the module · Get the lessons register
By Jai Balachandran · Published · Last reviewed
What MaintWiz adds:Handover notesLessons learntDeferred itemsArchive of past shutdowns
Types
What does a shutdown audit cover?
A shutdown audit checks whether the plan, the controls and the results meet a set standard, and it comes in three kinds: a readiness audit before the stop, a compliance audit on a fixed cycle and a performance review after restart.
Update for India: the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025 and subsumes the Factories Act, 1948. The Act sections quoted on this page now have corresponding duties in the Code, and the Centre and the states are still issuing rules under it, so confirm the current rule for your state before you plan work. 9,10
| Audit | When | Question it answers | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Readiness audit | Before the stop, after the scope freeze | Is the plan complete and are we ready to start safely? | Findings against the readiness tests; a go or no-go input |
| Compliance audit | On a fixed cycle, independent of the stop | Are the required procedures and practices adequate and followed? | Written report; documented response to each finding |
| Performance review | After restart | How did the stop perform against plan, and why? | Planned versus actual measures; lessons and actions |
Each kind answers a different question. The readiness audit sits beside the readiness review in the 40-step checklist (step 23). The performance review feeds lessons learned and uses the measures in the KPI guide.
Checklist
What should a pre-shutdown audit check?
A pre-shutdown audit asks nine questions about scope, schedule, work packages, materials, people, isolation and permits, risk, emergency arrangements and restart, and for each it looks at the evidence, not the assurance.
The restart readiness and 40-step checklist workbooks are in the shutdown planning templates. For UK written schemes of examination see PSSR pressure systems safety regulations in the UK. A free Excel version is available: Audit checklist and findings log (.xlsx).
| Area | Audit question | Evidence to see |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Is the scope frozen, with changes approved in writing? | Baseline scope and a change log |
| Schedule | Is the schedule logic-linked, with the critical path and float known? | Baseline schedule; critical-path list |
| Work packages | Is each package complete: steps, parts, tools, permits, acceptance? | Packages sampled against the contents list |
| Materials | Are critical parts physically on site? | Material readiness report; bin checks |
| People | Are crews, inspectors and contractors confirmed and inducted? | Resource-loaded plan; induction records |
| Isolation and permits | Is the isolation approach set and the permit matrix ready? | Isolation plan; permit matrix; lockout procedures |
| Risk | Is there a register with owners, triggers and contingencies? | Risk register reviewed in the last cycle |
| Emergency and communication | Do people know the emergency arrangements and the daily rhythm? | Emergency plan; meeting schedule |
| Restart | Are the completion, testing and restart steps planned? | Commissioning plan; pre-startup review plan |
Sample the evidence rather than ask for statements. Open three work packages, two permits and the isolation plan and see whether they match. See also the work package guide, risk assessment guide and permit to work guide.
Software
Can software support shutdown audits?
Software helps an auditor see evidence quickly: gate results, waivers with reasons, readings and photos, and baseline changes sit in one record, with the name and time of every approval.
About MaintWiz. MaintWiz is an industrial AI platform with IoT, SAP integration and predictive maintenance (PdM) capabilities. Its shutdown and turnaround module helps plants plan, schedule, execute and close out shutdown work.
Also see the shutdown safety plan.
What the shutdown module covers
As described on the MaintWiz shutdown maintenance product page.
- Readiness gates with waivers and sign-offs recorded with a reason, the name and the date
- Baselines that show what moved against the plan
- Work package tasks with readings, photos and out-of-spec flags
- Handover note and as-left summary on each work order
- Close-out, reports and archive of past shutdowns
- Approvals recorded against the signed-in user with the name and the time
Proof
What MaintWiz customers report
Figures as published in MaintWiz case studies on maintwiz.com. They come from maintenance management projects, not shutdowns.
Findings
How do you act on shutdown audit findings?
Report every finding in writing, rate it, give it an owner and a date, and record how it was resolved; for US covered processes OSHA requires a documented response to each compliance audit finding and a record that deficiencies were corrected. 1
| Rating | Meaning | Required response |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Immediate threat to people or to a safe restart | Stop the affected work or start; fix before it continues; report to the shutdown manager at once |
| Major | A required control is missing or not followed | Owner and date; fix before the work it affects; verify |
| Minor | A gap that does not weaken a control now | Owner and date; fix in the normal cycle |
| Observation | A good practice or an improvement idea | Record; feed into lessons learned |
Close findings with evidence, as with checklist steps: a sign-off, a test or a photo. Track open findings in the daily meeting during the stop.
Statutory inspection
Which statutory inspection regimes does a shutdown audit touch?
A shutdown audit should check that statutory and code inspections due in the stop are in scope, including OSHA compliance audits, UK written schemes of examination, API inspection codes and Indian boiler and pressure plant rules. 1,2,3
The Indian rows are expanded in annual shutdown planning in India and annual boiler shutdown in India. US permit conditions for treatment plants are in water and wastewater plant outages. For GMP requalification see pharmaceutical plant shutdowns.
| Regime | Where | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compliance audits, OSHA 1910.119(o) | US, covered processes | The employer certifies that compliance has been evaluated at least every three years; a person knowledgeable in the process conducts the audit; a report is developed; findings get a documented response; the two most recent reports are kept | OSHA 1910.119 |
| Written scheme of examination, PSSR 2000 | UK, pressure systems | A suitable written scheme of examination must be in place before the system is operated, and the system must be examined in line with it | HSE INDG178 |
| API 510, in-service pressure vessels | US and many other countries, as adopted | Covers in-service inspection, repair, alteration and rerating of pressure vessels; the edition that applies depends on what the owner or jurisdiction has adopted | API 510 summary |
| API 570, in-service piping | As adopted | Covers in-service piping inspection; check the current edition | API 570 |
| API 653, aboveground storage tanks | As adopted | Covers steel storage tanks built to API 650 or API 12C; check the current edition | API 653 summary |
| Factories Act 1948, section 31 | India, factories | Requires effective measures to keep pressure plant within its safe working pressure; state rules govern examination and testing and vary by state | Factories Act 1948 |
| Boilers Act 2025, section 12(6) | India, boilers | A boiler certificate authorizes use for a period not exceeding twelve months in the main case; the Act applies from a date the Central Government notifies, and commencement was not confirmed when this page was written | Boilers Act 2025 |
The table lists regimes by country. It is not complete, and the list for your plant depends on your equipment, your jurisdiction and your insurer. Ask your inspection authority which examinations are due in each stop.
Visuals
Save the audit charts
Two charts to share with the audit team. Click either for the full-size image.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a shutdown audit?
A check that the plan, the controls or the results of a shutdown meet a set standard. It comes as a readiness audit before the stop, a compliance audit on a cycle and a performance review after restart.
How often is a compliance audit required?
For US covered processes OSHA 1910.119 requires a compliance evaluation at least every three years. 1 Other regimes set their own cycles.
Who should audit a shutdown?
Someone independent of the stop and knowledgeable in the process. For OSHA process safety compliance audits at least one person knowledgeable in the process must conduct the audit. 1
What should a pre-shutdown audit check?
Scope, schedule, work packages, materials, people, isolation and permits, risk, emergency arrangements and restart readiness, by looking at evidence. See the 40-step checklist.
What statutory inspections fall in a shutdown?
It depends on the equipment and the country: for example pressure vessels, piping and tanks under inspection codes, boilers and pressure systems under national law. 2,3,6 Ask your inspection authority.
What is a written scheme of examination?
A UK requirement for pressure systems: a suitable written scheme must be in place before the system is operated, and the system must be examined in line with it. 2
How do you close an audit finding?
With evidence: a sign-off, a test result or a photo, recorded against a named owner and a date. For OSHA covered processes the employer documents that deficiencies were corrected. 1
How is an audit different from lessons learned?
An audit tests against a standard; lessons learned look for what to change. Findings from an audit can become lessons. See shutdown lessons learned.
Sources
Sources
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.119, Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals
- UK Health and Safety Executive, Written schemes of examination (INDG178, rev 2, 2012)
- American Petroleum Institute, API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspection Code: in-service inspection, rating, repair and alteration (edition summary)
- American Petroleum Institute, API 570 Piping Inspection Code (standard announcement page)
- American Petroleum Institute, API 653 Tank Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Reconstruction (edition summary)
- Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment, The Factories Act, 1948
- Government of India, The Boilers Act, 2025 (Act No. 12 of 2025), Gazette text as published by PRS India
- US Government Accountability Office, GAO Schedule Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Project Schedules (GAO-16-89G, December 2015)
- PRS Legislative Research, The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
- DLA Piper, Government of India notifies the Labour Codes (November 2025)
Turn this shutdown into the next one's plan
Book a demo and bring your last close-out report. We will show how the module keeps lessons and deferred items.