Parts lists in maintenance manuals

["Richard J. Collins" <writejob -at- DNAI -dot- COM>]

Hello to hardware writers,

What is your current practice regarding parts lists. If you are writing an
organizational level maintenance manual, do you include just the parts that
appear on the top level of the BOM? For example, PCBs, power supplies, and
complete functional modules such as oscillators or frequency standards and
the like. This question applies to both commercial manuals and manuals done
for military organizations. If you do both -- detailed parts lists and upper
level component parts lists, what percentage of each would you say you do?

We have a discussion going now at work. One camp says limit the parts list
to what the organization is authorized to remove and replace in the field.
The other side says, what the hey, give them a listing of every bit and
piece part in the device.

This assumes that the using organization has not stipulated either choice
and the job is not bid to write removal and replacement procedures for all
the bit and piece parts nor do the troubleshooting procedures go to this
level. The theory write-up is only down to the functional block level and
circuit theory is not discussed.

I'm interested in what the current practice is at this point.

Cheers,

Rich Collins