In this article
- What Is a Hot Work Permit?
- What a Hot Work Permit Must Contain
- What a Confined Space Permit Must Contain
- Download the Free Hot Work Permit and Confined Space Permit Templates
- How the Permit Sign-Off Works, From Issue to Close-Out
- Why Paper Permit Systems Fail
- What Electronic Permit to Work Software Adds
- How Permits Work in Asset Infinity
- What It Costs
- Frequently Asked Questions
A hot work permit is the written authorization a site issues before anyone welds, cuts, brazes, grinds or uses an open flame where a fire could start. It names the work, the place and the time window, lists the fire precautions confirmed before work begins, names the fire watch, and carries two signatures: the person who inspected the area and issued it, and the person in charge of the work who accepted it.
A confined space permit does the same job for entry into a tank, vessel, pit or vault. Both belong to the wider practice that safety teams call a permit to work system. This guide covers what each permit must contain, how a permit moves from issue to close-out, where paper permits break down, and what electronic permits add. It includes two free printable templates: a hot work permit and a confined space entry permit.
What Is a Hot Work Permit?
A hot work permit is a time-limited written authorization for work that produces sparks, heat or flame. It records where the work is, what has been done to stop a fire (combustibles moved, floors swept, openings covered, the atmosphere tested), who is doing the work, who is watching for fire, and who signed. It expires at the end of the window it names.
In the US, the requirement comes from OSHA 29 CFR 1910.252. Before cutting or welding is allowed, the person responsible for authorizing it must inspect the area and set the precautions, “preferably in the form of a written permit.” Treat it as required: the written permit is the record an incident investigation asks for first, and a missing or incomplete one is a finding on its own.
What a Hot Work Permit Must Contain
Every site adapts its form, but a permit that will stand up to an audit or an investigation covers these fields. The free template below follows the same order.
| Field | What it records | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Permit number | A unique number from the site’s own series | It is what the gate asks for and what the safety file is sorted by |
| Location and equipment | The exact area, and the asset being worked on | “Boiler house” is not a location a fire watch can patrol |
| Work and method | Welding, cutting, brazing, grinding or torch work, and what is excluded | A permit for grinding does not cover cutting into a tank |
| Valid from and until | A start and an end, usually within one shift | Permission runs out and has to be asked for again |
| Precautions | Each one ticked, with a reading where one was taken | A tick with no reading is a claim; “4% LEL at 09:10” is evidence |
| Fire watch | The named person, trained on the extinguisher | OSHA requires one where combustibles are within 35 feet |
| Issued by | The authorized person who inspected the area | The signature that says the area was safe to start |
| Accepted by | The person in charge of the work | The signature that says the crew read it and will keep to it |
| Close-out | When work ended, when the fire watch ended, who checked the area | The half of the permit that is most often left blank |
The precautions that come up on almost every hot work job are the ones OSHA lists: move combustibles at least 35 feet away or shield them, sweep the floor, cover openings in walls and floors, check the far side of walls and ceilings, keep an extinguisher at the work, and keep the fire watch in place for at least half an hour after the work ends to catch smoldering fires.
What a Confined Space Permit Must Contain
A confined space permit (OSHA calls it an entry permit) authorizes people to enter a permit-required confined space. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146 lists exactly what it must identify, which makes it the most prescriptive permit most US sites issue:
- The space to be entered and the purpose of the entry
- The date and the authorized duration, which may not run longer than the job needs
- The authorized entrants, by name or through a roster that shows who is inside
- The attendants and the entry supervisor, by name, with the supervisor’s signature
- The hazards of the space, and the measures used to isolate it and control them (lockout, blanking, purging, ventilating)
- The acceptable entry conditions, and the results of initial and periodic atmospheric tests with the tester’s initials and the time
- The rescue services, how to summon them, and how entrants and the attendant stay in contact
- The equipment provided, from gas monitors to retrieval lines
- Any other permits issued for work in the space, such as one for hot work
The entry supervisor cancels the permit when the work is done or when a condition the permit does not allow arises. Cancelled permits are kept for at least a year and reviewed. A job that is hot work inside a confined space needs both permits, and each one names the other.
Download the Free Hot Work Permit and Confined Space Permit Templates
Both templates are one printable page on US letter paper. Print them, post them at the work, and file them when the job is closed.
- Download the hot work permit template (PDF): the work and its window, ten fire precautions with room for readings, the crew and fire watch, issue and acceptance signatures, and a close-out section that records when the fire watch ended.
- Download the confined space entry permit template (PDF): every field 1910.146(f) asks for, an isolation table with lock and tag numbers, an atmospheric test log, entrant time in and time out, and a cancellation section.
The templates are a starting point. Your site’s own safety program, your insurer’s hot work requirements and your state’s rules come first, so adapt the precautions and add your own fields before you put them into use.
How the Permit Sign-Off Works, From Issue to Close-Out
A permit is a chain of custody. Each step has a different person signing, and the work may only start in one of them.
- Draft. The planner writes up the work, the location, the window, the hazards and the precautions. Nothing is allowed yet.
- Confirm precautions and isolations. Someone other than the crew confirms each precaution (gas tested, fire watch posted, line drained) and applies each isolation, recording the lock or tag number.
- Issue. An authorized person inspects the area and signs the permit out. This is the signature that says the area is ready.
- Accept. The person in charge of the work reads the permit, briefs the crew and signs for it. Work may start only now.
- Suspend if conditions change. An alarm, a failed gas test or a change in weather stops the work. The permit is stood down with a reason, and the isolations stay on.
- Close. The crew hands the area back. Someone goes to look, records the state it was left in, removes the isolations and signs the permit closed.
The gap between steps three and four matters most. A permit that has been issued but not accepted means nobody on the crew has taken responsibility for it.
Why Paper Permit Systems Fail
Paper permits work when one supervisor knows every job on the site. They stop working when there are three shifts, outside contractors and forty open jobs.
The blank form counts as the permit
A planning system shows a job as “permit required: yes” and a hot work form is on file, so the job looks ready. But the form on file is a blank. The permit that matters is the filled-in copy for this job, this crew and this window, and nobody can see from the office whether it exists.
Nobody knows which permits are live
Paper permits run out at the end of a shift, but they do not leave the site when they run out. A supervisor asked “which hot work permits are open right now” has to walk the site. Expired permits that were never handed back are the ones that matter, and they are the hardest to find.
Isolations become “see attached”
A vessel with four isolations has four locks, four tags and four people who have to come back to remove them. On paper this often collapses to one line pointing at another document, and that is the line an incident report quotes.
The closed permit goes missing
OSHA expects cancelled confined space permits to be kept for a year and reviewed. A box of paper in a site office does not support a review, and the permits that recorded a problem are rarely the ones that get filed.
What Electronic Permit to Work Software Adds
Electronic permit to work software keeps the same sign-off chain and makes each step a record that the rest of the maintenance system can read. When you compare tools, these are the capabilities that change what happens on the floor.
| Capability | Why it matters | In Asset Infinity |
|---|---|---|
| The job cannot start without a live permit | Closes the gap between “permit required” and “permit in hand” | A work order that needs a permit cannot be started until one is active and in its window, on the web and in the mobile app |
| Separate issue and accept signatures | Two people answer for the permit, as on paper | Issued by an authorized person, accepted by the person in charge of the work |
| Precautions with readings | A reading is evidence; a tick alone is a claim | A required precaution must be confirmed, with its reading, before the permit can be issued |
| Isolations line by line | Each lock is applied and removed by a named person | Each isolation records its point, method, lock or tag number, and who applied and removed it |
| Named crew, contractors included | The permit covers the people in front of the issuer | Workers and contractors are named with their company and role, such as fire watch or standby |
| Expiry worked out from the window | No expired permit is shown as live | A permit is in force only between its start and end times |
| A print for the gate | The site still needs paper at the work | Each permit prints from its own page |
| Works without signal | Plant rooms and vessels rarely have coverage | Permits are readable offline on the mobile app |
If you are choosing permit to work software, check one thing first: does a work order actually stop when the permit is missing, or does the system only remind you? A reminder is the paper problem with a screen in front of it.
How Permits Work in Asset Infinity
In Asset Infinity, permits are part of the maintenance workflow, so a permit is always tied to a job, and the job knows whether its permit is live.
- The plan says a permit is needed. A preventive maintenance plan or a work order is marked as needing a permit, so every job it raises asks for one.
- The planner raises the permit. They choose one of ten kinds (hot work, confined space, work at height, electrical, lockout, excavation, lifting, chemical, radiation or general), the job or the whole shutdown it covers, the hazards and the window. The permit number comes from the site’s own series.
- Precautions and isolations are confirmed. Each precaution is ticked by a named person with its reading. Each isolation is recorded with its lock or tag number by someone allowed to isolate.
- It is issued and accepted. The issuer signs it out, and the person in charge of the work accepts it. Only then can the technician start the job, on the web or in the mobile app.
- It is suspended or closed. A suspension records its reason and keeps the isolations on. At close-out the isolations come off one by one and the handback notes record the state of the area.
One confined space permit can cover a whole shutdown, so six jobs inside one vessel run under one permit instead of six. The permits register shows which permits are live, which are running out, and which have expired without being handed back. Checks after the work, such as a post-job inspection, run through inspection management. The isolation side is described in full on our lockout tagout software page.
What It Costs
Permits to work is an add-on to Maintenance, which is how most customers buy it: Maintenance covers work orders, preventive maintenance and inspections at $25 per user a month, and the permits add-on is $100 a month for the organization. Build a quote to see your total, or book a demo to walk through a permit on a job like yours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can issue a hot work permit?
The person the site has authorized to approve hot work, usually a supervisor, safety officer or permit issuer who has been trained for it. OSHA requires that this person inspect the area before authorizing the work. The person doing the work should not issue their own permit.
How long is a hot work permit valid?
For the window written on it, which is usually one shift or less. If the work runs past that window, or conditions change, the permit is reissued after the area is inspected again.
How long must a fire watch stay after hot work?
OSHA requires a fire watch for at least half an hour after welding or cutting ends. Many insurers and site programs require longer, so check yours and write the time on the permit.
What is the difference between a hot work permit and a permit to work?
It is one kind of permit to work. “Permit to work” is the umbrella term, more common in the UK and in oil and gas, for every permit a site issues: hot work, confined space, electrical, work at height and others.
Can a hot work permit be electronic?
Yes. An electronic permit carries the same fields and signatures as paper. It adds a record of who signed and when, and with permit software it can stop the job from starting until the permit is live. Most sites still print the permit and post it at the work.