A refrigeration temperature log that matches clause 3.11.1, free to print
NAFD members must have a temperature monitoring routine for every fridge and cold room on site, and document the results. This sheet records that routine in a form an inspector can read at a glance. Download it, print it, pin it to the unit.
Free download, four pages, A4
Get the refrigeration log sheet
A one-page guide, a monthly morning-and-evening temperature log per unit, an out-of-range and corrective action record, and a unit register for the annual capacity and SLA review. PDF, prints in black and white.
What the code says
The NAFD UK Funeral Director Code (version 3, October 2025) has two parts. The core code is word for word the Scottish statutory code, which NAFD members elsewhere treat as recommended practice. Part two sets mandatory enhanced requirements that all NAFD members must follow. Refrigeration appears in both.
"A temperature monitoring routine must be in place for all on site refrigeration, and the results must be documented."
Part two, mandatory enhanced requirements, clause 3.11.1
"Refrigeration units and cold rooms must be kept between 4 – 7 degrees Celsius."
Core code, clause 3.14.3
Around those two sentences sit the records an inspector may ask to see on the same visit:
- 3.14.4: review your refrigeration capacity at least once a year.
- 3.14.2: where a third party provides refrigeration, a service level agreement reviewed at least once a year.
- 3.14.5: each person stored individually in a separate compartment.
- 3.9: a comprehensive record of every person in your care, kept for at least five years.
- Enhanced 3.6: systems so that any inspector can identify every person in your care without help from staff.
- Enhanced 12.4: regular announced and unannounced inspections.
- Enhanced 13.1.4.2: documented evidence of regular internal audits.
Read the code itself at nafd.org.uk. This page quotes it; it is not published or endorsed by the NAFD. SAIF members: the core code is the shared NAFD and SAIF foundation, but SAIF's own addendum is separate, so check your own code for the refrigeration wording.
What "documented" looks like in practice
The code sets no reading frequency; the routine is yours to decide and write down. The sheet gives you a morning and an evening column per unit per day, which is the usual choice for a cold room. If your routine is one reading a day, use one column and say so in the guide box. Each reading needs the time, the temperature, initials, and a tick that it sat inside 4 to 7 degrees. Anything outside the range goes on the corrective action page: what you found, what you did, when it came back into range, and who you told.
Keep the completed sheets with the unit's service records. The five-year retention in clause 3.9 is for the record of each person in your care; a sensible habit is to keep temperature logs for the same period, since they are the evidence that the person was cared for correctly.
In development
Mortuary Log, the digital version
The sheet works. The app does the same job without the clipboard, and it is being built now for firms with one to three branches:
- A QR code on each fridge and compartment. Scan, type the reading, done. Twice a day takes under a minute.
- Out-of-range readings prompt for the action taken and who was told, so the corrective record writes itself.
- An occupant register per compartment: tag, name, arrival, departure. Any inspector can see who is where without asking.
- Flags identical or similar names (enhanced requirement 13.1.3.1).
- An inspector view and a one-tap PDF of any date range, kept for five years.
- Works on the phone you already carry. Manual readings first; data-logger import later.
£290 for the first year per branch, founding price. £39 a month after that.
Reserve a founding place and we will email you a payment link when the first version is ready to use. Nothing is charged today. The first year is refundable in full at any point before you first use it, and in full within 60 days of first use if it is not what you need.
Who is behind this
Tom Murton, who runs We Evolve, a small UK studio that makes record-keeping apps for trades and small firms: PAT Book for electricians' test records, TachoClear for drivers' hours, CutRoof for roof cutting. Mortuary Log is the next one. Questions or corrections to the code reading: tom@weevolve.app.
Questions
Is this endorsed by the NAFD or SAIF?
No. It is an independent sheet that quotes the published code so you can check it against the source. If the NAFD or SAIF publish their own template, use theirs.
We are in Scotland. Does the core code apply as law?
The core code is the statutory Scottish Funeral Director Code of Practice, in force since 1 March 2025. The 4 to 7 degree range and the five-year record are statutory there. The documented temperature routine in 3.11.1 is an NAFD membership requirement.
Can we use the sheet without giving an email?
Yes. The direct link is mortuarylog.weevolve.app/sheet. The email is so we can send you a corrected sheet if the code wording changes.
What happens to the details we give you?
They are stored to send you the sheet, and the app news if you ticked the box, and nothing else. See the privacy page.
Our fridge has a data logger. Do we still need a written routine?
The clause asks for a routine and documented results. A logger that stores readings may satisfy it if someone checks and records that it is working and in range; many firms keep a written reading alongside it. The app will accept logger exports so the two are in one place.