What is a master document register?

A master document register, or MDR, is the controlled list of every document a project or asset must produce and hold, recording each document's number, title, discipline, type, responsible party, revision, status, planned issue date, and actual issue date in one place. Because it carries planned deliverables as well as documents already received, it answers what is owed, what is late, and what has been accepted. This template gives you that register in Excel, with a CSV copy for any other tool.

What does MDR stand for in engineering?

MDR stands for master document register. On an engineering, procurement, and construction project it is both the index of the document record and the deliverables list agreed with each contractor, so a row exists for a specification nobody has written yet. Some organisations call the same artefact a master deliverables register or a supplier document requirements list, and use it to track progress against the programme rather than only to file what has arrived.

What is the difference between a master document register and a document register?

A document register records what you hold. A master document register records what you are still owed as well, so every planned deliverable has a row from the day the contract is signed, with a planned issue date against it and a status of Planned until it arrives. That is the difference between an index of the record and a list of deliverables. On most projects the drawing register and the document register are filtered views of the MDR rather than separate lists kept alongside it.

What columns does a master document register need?

At a minimum, an MDR needs the document number, title, discipline, document type, responsible party, revision, status, planned issue date, and actual issue date. A register that is worked rather than filed also carries the contract or package the deliverable sits under, the milestone it is due at, the review code the reviewer returned, and the transmittal it was issued under. This template ships sixteen columns, including a file location and a notes column.

Who keeps the master document register?

The document controller keeps it, with the project manager and the discipline leads agreeing the deliverables list that seeds it and the planned dates that drive it. On an EPC job the contractor maintains its own register and reports against the owner's. The register only stays reliable while one clear owner books documents in, updates the status, and keeps the planned dates aligned with the programme, rather than several people editing copies of the file.

How do you track late deliverables in an MDR?

Keep the planned issue date and the actual issue date in separate columns and never overwrite the planned one. Sort on the planned date, filter the status to anything other than Accepted, and what is left is the late list, with the responsible party named on each row. Reforecasting by editing the planned date hides the slippage the register exists to show, so record the new date in the notes and leave the original in place.

Is the master document register template free to download?

Yes. Both files download straight from this page, with no email address, no sign-up, and no form in front of them. Take the .xlsx for Excel or the .csv for anything else, delete the six example deliverables, and start listing your own.

Does the template work in Excel and Google Sheets?

Yes. The .xlsx file opens in Excel with the header styling, the header row frozen, and the Discipline, Document type, Milestone, Status, and Review code dropdowns in place. The .csv copy opens anywhere, including Google Sheets and any other spreadsheet tool, and holds the same columns and example rows without the formatting.

fig. 01 · master document register template

Free master document register template for Excel.

A ready-to-use master document register template for Excel that tracks every deliverable a project owes, from the ones already accepted to the ones nobody has started, by number, discipline, revision, status, and planned and actual dates. Download it, fill in your own deliverables over the example set, and you have a working register in minutes. Free, no email, no form.

Download for Excel (.xlsx)Download the CSV

.xlsx and .csv · 16 columns · Dropdowns for discipline, type, milestone, status, and review code · Example project included · No email required

fig. 02 · what is inside

Every column a master document register needs.

The template starts from document-control practice rather than a blank grid. Sixteen columns cover the deliverable, the party who owes it, the milestone it is due at, the planned and actual dates, and the code the reviewer returned.

The Discipline, Document type, Milestone, Status, and Review code columns carry dropdowns, the header row is frozen, and a second sheet explains how to fill each column.

Read what a master document register is

Column16 fields

01
Document number
The controlled number that identifies the document for the life of the asset. Reserve the number when the deliverable is planned, long before the document arrives.
02
Title
What the document covers, written the way it reads on the document itself.
03
Project or asset
The project, site, or asset the deliverable belongs to.
04
Discipline
The discipline that owns it, picked from a dropdown of Architectural, Structural, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Hydraulic, Fire, Process, Instrumentation, Survey, Geotechnical, Quality, Safety, or General.
05
Document type
Drawing, specification, calculation, datasheet, report, manual, procedure, certificate, schedule, model, or plan, picked from a dropdown.
06
Responsible party
The contractor, consultant, or discipline lead who owes the document. A deliverable with no named party is a deliverable nobody chases.
07
Contract or package
The contract, package, or work order the deliverable is called up under, so the register can be filtered to one contractor's obligations.
08
Milestone
The project milestone the document is due at, picked from a dropdown of Concept design, Detailed design, Issued for construction, Commissioning, Handover, or Operations.
09
Revision
The revision this row records, for example A, B, C, or 0. It stays blank while the deliverable is still planned.
10
Status
Where the deliverable sits, picked from a dropdown of Planned, In progress, Issued for review, Commented, Revised and reissued, Accepted, Superseded, or Cancelled.
11
Planned issue date
The date the contract or the programme says the document is due. This column is what makes the register a deliverables list.
12
Actual issue date
The date it was really issued. The gap between planned and actual is the slippage, read straight off the row.
13
Review code
What the reviewer returned, picked from a dropdown of Not reviewed, 1 Approved, 2 Approved with comments, 3 Revise and resubmit, or 4 For information.
14
Transmittal reference
The transmittal the document was issued under, so every issue is traceable.
15
File location
Where the file lives once it arrives.
16
Notes
Anything else worth recording against the row.

fig. 03 · how to use it

Fill the register from the deliverables list, not the inbox.

Six steps keep the register reliable. Work down them as the contract is signed and the documents come in, and the register stays a true picture of what is owed, what is late, and what has been accepted.

Open a row for every deliverable, before any of them arrive

Work through the contract, the scope of work, and the deliverables schedule, and give each document a row while its status is still Planned. A register that lists only what you hold cannot tell you what is late.

Reserve the number when you plan the document

Build every number to the same numbering scheme and issue it at planning time, so the number on the register is the number the document arrives with, and the register sorts and filters cleanly from day one.

Name the party who owes each document

Fill the responsible party and the contract or package it is called up under. Filter on those two columns and the register becomes a list of what each contractor still owes you.

Take the planned issue date from the programme

Fill the planned issue date and the milestone from the programme rather than the calendar. Sort on the planned date and the register becomes the chase list for the next month of deliverables.

Record the actual issue date and the transmittal

On the day a document is issued, fill the actual issue date and the transmittal it went out under. The two date columns sit side by side, so the slippage on every deliverable reads off the row.

Record the review code and reissue what is coded 3

Write the code the reviewer returned against the row. Anything coded 3 needs a new revision, so raise it, reissue it, and set the earlier row to Superseded. Keep the old row, so the review history stays on the record.

fig. 04 · a worked example

What a filled-in master document register looks like.

The Excel template ships with six deliverables already on it, from one worked project: a ferry terminal and wharf called Aurora Wharf. Three of them show the three states only a master document register carries, namely delivered and accepted, returned for revision, and owed with nothing received.

AWF-ARC-2001Row 01
Terminal Building Ground Floor Plan, delivered late and accepted
Discipline
Architectural
Document type
Drawing
Responsible party
Harbourline Architects
Contract or package
AWF-C02 Design services
Milestone
Issued for construction
Revision
C
Planned issue date
2026-03-06
Actual issue date
2026-03-14
Review code
1 Approved
Two date columns rather than one is the whole point of an MDR. Revision C was owed on 6 March and arrived on 14 March, so the notes record that it landed eight days late against the programme. The reviewer returned code 1 Approved and the status is Accepted, so the deliverable is done. The slip is still on the record, which is what you need when the same consultant is late on the next package.
AWF-CIV-CAL-0450Row 02
Ferry Berth Pavement Design Calculation, returned for revision
Discipline
Civil
Document type
Calculation
Responsible party
Coastworks Civil
Milestone
Detailed design
Revision
A
Status
Commented
Planned issue date
2026-01-16
Actual issue date
2026-01-18
Review code
3 Revise and resubmit
Revision A was issued and came back with code 3 Revise and resubmit, so the deliverable is not finished no matter that a document exists. The status reads Commented and the notes carry the date Revision B is due, 20 February. Without the review code the register would show a document delivered against this line and the resubmission would go unchased.
AWF-MEC-MAN-0700Row 03
Berth Fender System Operation and Maintenance Manual, owed
Discipline
Mechanical
Document type
Manual
Responsible party
Southerly Building Services
Contract or package
AWF-C05 Building services
Milestone
Handover
Revision
Blank
Status
Planned
Planned issue date
2026-09-30
File location
Blank
This row is the reason the register is called master. No revision, no actual issue date, no file location, because nothing has been received: the manual is owed at handover on 30 September and that is all anyone knows. A document register cannot hold a line like this, because it lists what exists. The MDR lists what the contract asks for, so the gap is visible months before handover rather than on the day.

The same Aurora Wharf project runs through all six templates, using the same document numbers, so the registers line up if you take more than one.

fig. 05 · when the spreadsheet stops keeping up

A spreadsheet MDR works, until it does not.

A register like this is quick to start, everyone can read it, and it holds the whole deliverables list on one page. It keeps working until two things happen: the planned dates stop being maintained, and the revision on a row is no longer the revision in the folder. When the fortnightly progress report takes a morning of manual comparison, that is the sign to move the record into document control software.

The deliverable and the file are one record

A planned row becomes the document when it arrives, so the register never points at a number that no file matches.

Review workflow sets the code

Run each document from draft to review to approved through a configurable workflow, with reviewers set per stage, so the review code is the outcome of the workflow rather than a typed letter.

Late deliverables surface themselves

Planned and actual dates sit on the record, so what is overdue and who owes it is a view rather than a fortnightly manual comparison.

The package is checked against the register

Build a handover package and validate it against the manifest, so a deliverable the register says is owed and never arrived is caught on upload.

Lunr is document control software built for the record. It numbers documents on the way in, runs each one through the review workflow that sets its code, and keeps every deliverable under one controlled register, so the register can never drift from the file.

Book a demo See document control software Explore the features

fig. 06 · questions

Questions about master document registers.

What an MDR is, what the letters stand for, how it differs from a document register, the columns it needs, and how to read the late list off it.

What is a master document register?: A master document register, or MDR, is the controlled list of every document a project or asset must produce and hold, recording each document's number, title, discipline, type, responsible party, revision, status, planned issue date, and actual issue date in one place. Because it carries planned deliverables as well as documents already received, it answers what is owed, what is late, and what has been accepted. This template gives you that register in Excel, with a CSV copy for any other tool.
What does MDR stand for in engineering?: MDR stands for master document register. On an engineering, procurement, and construction project it is both the index of the document record and the deliverables list agreed with each contractor, so a row exists for a specification nobody has written yet. Some organisations call the same artefact a master deliverables register or a supplier document requirements list, and use it to track progress against the programme rather than only to file what has arrived.
What is the difference between a master document register and a document register?: A document register records what you hold. A master document register records what you are still owed as well, so every planned deliverable has a row from the day the contract is signed, with a planned issue date against it and a status of Planned until it arrives. That is the difference between an index of the record and a list of deliverables. On most projects the drawing register and the document register are filtered views of the MDR rather than separate lists kept alongside it.
What columns does a master document register need?: At a minimum, an MDR needs the document number, title, discipline, document type, responsible party, revision, status, planned issue date, and actual issue date. A register that is worked rather than filed also carries the contract or package the deliverable sits under, the milestone it is due at, the review code the reviewer returned, and the transmittal it was issued under. This template ships sixteen columns, including a file location and a notes column.
Who keeps the master document register?: The document controller keeps it, with the project manager and the discipline leads agreeing the deliverables list that seeds it and the planned dates that drive it. On an EPC job the contractor maintains its own register and reports against the owner's. The register only stays reliable while one clear owner books documents in, updates the status, and keeps the planned dates aligned with the programme, rather than several people editing copies of the file.
How do you track late deliverables in an MDR?: Keep the planned issue date and the actual issue date in separate columns and never overwrite the planned one. Sort on the planned date, filter the status to anything other than Accepted, and what is left is the late list, with the responsible party named on each row. Reforecasting by editing the planned date hides the slippage the register exists to show, so record the new date in the notes and leave the original in place.
Is the master document register template free to download?: Yes. Both files download straight from this page, with no email address, no sign-up, and no form in front of them. Take the .xlsx for Excel or the .csv for anything else, delete the six example deliverables, and start listing your own.
Does the template work in Excel and Google Sheets?: Yes. The .xlsx file opens in Excel with the header styling, the header row frozen, and the Discipline, Document type, Milestone, Status, and Review code dropdowns in place. The .csv copy opens anywhere, including Google Sheets and any other spreadsheet tool, and holds the same columns and example rows without the formatting.

fig. 07 · the other templates

Five more registers, free to download.

Each one ships as an Excel file with dropdowns, a frozen header row, example rows over the same worked project, and a second sheet explaining every column, plus a CSV copy for Google Sheets. No email, no form.

01
Drawing register template
Every drawing on the job, one row per revision, with the status it carries and the transmittal that issued it.
Drawings · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
02
Document register template
Every controlled document the job produces, from drawings and specifications to calculations, reports, and manuals, at its current revision.
Controlled documents · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
03
Transmittal register template
Every package that left the office, with the recipient, the purpose of issue, and each document at the revision that was sent.
Issues · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
04
RFI register template
Every request for information raised on the job, with who owes the answer, the documents it concerns at their revision, and the date a response is due.
Questions · 15 columns · .xlsx and .csv
05
Document control register template
The procedures, work instructions, forms, and plans that govern the work, with an owner, an approver, a review date, and a distribution list against each.
Procedures and forms · 16 columns · .xlsx and .csv

See how the six registers sit against each other on one job on the document control templates hub.

fig. 08 · get started

Outgrown the spreadsheet MDR?

Book a walkthrough with someone who knows what a transmittal and an as-constructed drawing are, and watch Lunr run a deliverable from planned to accepted on one record.

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