CSStewardship
Writing condition reports others can reuse
A practical guide to writing condition reports that stay readable and useful years later, with consistent vocabulary and structure.
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Why does a condition report need to outlive its author?
A condition report is a permanent record of an object's state at a moment in time. It may be read by a future conservator, registrar, curator, or borrower who never met you and has no memory of the examination. The report must therefore stand alone. The U.S. National Park Service Museum Handbook provides guidance and standards on managing, preserving, protecting, documenting, and accessing museum collections, and the NPS Museum Program treats documentation as essential to that work (https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/mhi/mhibe.pdf). If your notes rely on personal shorthand or context that lives only in your head, they become unusable the moment you leave the room.
What vocabulary makes a report reusable?
Use plain, consistent, non-emotional language. Avoid words like "beautiful," "ugly," or "bad." Instead, describe what you see and where. Terms such as "stable," "active," "inactive," "existing," "new," and "localized" carry clear meaning without implying judgment. For damage, use standard categories: scratch, abrasion, tear, loss, stain, discoloration, craquelure, flaking, corrosion, dent, and deformation. Always pair a term with a location and a size. "Scratch, 2 cm, upper right quadrant, over paint layer" is reusable. "Small mark on right side" is not.
Be careful with "good" and "fair." These are summary judgments, not descriptions. If you use them, define them in a key at the top of the report or in your institution's manual. The NPS Museum Handbook provides guidance on managing and documenting collections, and it emphasizes standardized approaches (https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/mhi/mhibe.pdf). A controlled vocabulary list, kept with your report template, prevents drift over time. Our guide on choosing minimum record fields for a collection can help you decide which of these fields belong in every record.
How should a condition report be structured?
A reusable report has fixed sections in a fixed order. This lets a reader find information quickly without reading every word. A typical structure includes:
- Object identification: accession number, title, artist or maker, date, medium, dimensions.
- Examination details: date, examiner name, location, lighting conditions, purpose (loan, acquisition, routine).
- Overall condition summary: one or two sentences, using defined terms.
- Detailed condition by area: front, back, frame, mount, base, interior, edges.
- Previous damage or repairs: existing and stable, with dates if known.
- Recommendations: no action, monitor, treat, consult a conservator.
- Attachments: diagrams, photographs with scale and color target, treatment proposals.
Number every page and include the object number on each page. If a page is lost, it should be obvious which report it belonged to.
What should be described, and in what order?
Describe condition in a consistent order, usually from the most stable to the most fragile, or from the overall object to its parts. For a framed work, start with the frame, then glazing, then the surface, then the backing. For a three-dimensional object, start with the base, then the body, then attachments. Always note whether damage is active or inactive. Active damage is changing; inactive damage is stable. This distinction guides decisions about loans and treatment.
Use measurements in metric, with centimeters or millimeters. Note the lighting under which you examined the object. Raking light reveals surface deformation; transmitted light reveals tears in paper. If you used these, say so. A future reader may need to reproduce your conditions.
How to write so a future reader can act?
Write in complete sentences for summaries, and in short noun phrases for detailed lists. Avoid pronouns that could refer to more than one thing. Instead of "it is lifting near the edge," write "the paint layer is lifting along the top edge." Avoid comparative language that depends on memory: "worse than last time" is useless unless you cite the previous report and date. Instead, write "compared with the report of 12 May 2019, the loss at the lower left has increased." If you have no previous report, say so.
Keep the report focused on condition. Do not mix in acquisition notes, exhibition history, or treatment proposals unless they belong in a clearly labeled section. This separation makes the report easier to reuse for different purposes.
What common mistakes undermine reuse?
The most common mistake is vagueness. Words like "some," "a few," "minor," and "major" mean different things to different people. Replace them with counts, sizes, and locations. Another mistake is inconsistency: describing the same feature as "crack" in one report and "split" in another. A controlled vocabulary solves this. A third mistake is missing context: not noting that the object was examined under low light, or that a previous repair was already present. A fourth is illegible handwriting or scanned images with poor resolution. If you write by hand, print clearly and use black ink. If you scan, ensure the text is searchable if possible.
Comparison table: weak versus reusable phrasing
| Weak phrasing | Why it fails | Reusable phrasing |
|---|---|---|
| "Small scratch on right" | No size, no unit, no exact location | "Scratch, 1.5 cm long, 2 cm from right edge, in paint layer" |
| "Corner is damaged" | No description of damage type | "Loss, 0.5 cm by 0.3 cm, upper left corner of frame, exposing wood" |
| "Looks worse than before" | Depends on memory, no reference | "Loss at lower left has increased by 1 cm since report dated 10 June 2020" |
| "Good condition" | Subjective, no detail | "Stable, no active damage; minor surface grime overall" |
| "Needs treatment" | No specific recommendation | "Recommend consolidation of flaking paint along top edge; consult conservator" |
Decision checklist before you finalize
- Is the object number on every page?
- Did you use only defined terms from your controlled vocabulary?
- Is every damage described with type, location, and size?
- Did you note active versus inactive damage?
- Did you record lighting conditions and examination purpose?
- Did you attach diagrams or photographs with scale?
- Did you sign and date the report?
- Did you avoid words that depend on personal memory or judgment?
How does this connect to other collection records?
A good condition report does not exist in isolation. It links to inventory and catalogue records, loan documentation, and exhibition planning. For example, when preparing an incoming loan, the condition report is the baseline for comparison at return, so it must be precise and complete; see our incoming loan checklist before objects arrive at /collection-stewardship/loans-incoming-checklist/. If you are drafting an exhibition brief or selecting objects, condition reports inform decisions about lighting and handling. For more on these connections, see our guides on inventory versus catalogue records at /collection-stewardship/inventory-vs-catalogue-records/ and preparing collection data for a system migration at /collection-stewardship/digital-catalogue-migration/.
When should you consult official guidance?
Condition reporting practices vary by institution and object type. The sources cited here provide general frameworks, but your institution may have specific requirements. For legal or ethical questions about treatment or loan, consult a qualified conservator and your institution's policies. The NPS Museum Handbook and the NPS Conserve O Grams are starting points, not substitutes for professional advice.
Conclusion
The goal of a condition report is not to showcase your expertise but to transfer observations reliably. Use plain vocabulary, a fixed structure, measurements, and clear references to previous reports. Test your report by asking whether a colleague who has never seen the object could understand it a decade from now. If the answer is yes, you have written something others can reuse.
