Handing over a half-finished hardware project: the checklist
The files, notes and hardware to collect before a new engineer or lab takes over your electronics project.
When a hardware project changes hands, the most expensive loss is not the files. It is the context: why a part was chosen, what was tried and failed, what the previous engineer knew was wrong but never wrote down. Use this list to collect as much as possible before the handover.
Design files
- Native project files of the EDA tool (schematic, layout, libraries), not only PDFs.
- The exact revision that was manufactured, if it differs from the latest files.
- Manufacturing outputs sent to the factory: Gerbers, drill, pick-and-place, BOM, assembly drawings.
- Mechanical files: board outline, enclosure STEP files, connector positions.
Firmware and software
- Source repository with history, not a zip of the latest version.
- Toolchain and SDK versions, build instructions, and how the board is programmed.
- Any production test or calibration software.
Knowledge
- Requirements or specification, however informal.
- Known issues, bodges and workarounds on existing boards, with photos.
- Test results and measurements, including failed ones.
- E-mails or chat threads with the previous designer and the manufacturer.
Hardware
- At least two assembled boards, ideally three: one to keep intact, one to measure, one that can be modified.
- Any spare bare PCBs and leftover components.
- Cables, programmers, fixtures and power supplies used for testing.
Commercial
- Confirmation that you own the design and can share it with a new engineer.
- Supplier contacts, quotes and lead times for critical parts.
- Target cost, quantities and dates.
If some of this is missing, do not wait to collect all of it. A new engineer can work from partial information and reconstruct the rest; it simply takes longer. Tell them what is missing up front.
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