# What language should an oxygen plant's HMI and manuals use?

**Should a tender require the control panel, HMI and manuals of an oxygen plant in the local language, and which documents should be translated?**

WHO's technical specifications for oxygen generator plants (December 2024) ask for the control panel display, on-site training, user instructions and checklists, and all documentation in the preferred language of the destination country and/or English, and UNDP (2025) asks for user and service manuals in English and the end user's official language.

## What WHO asks for (December 2024)

The oxygen generator plant table in WHO's Technical specifications for health facility based medical oxygen systems uses the same wording, preferred language of destination country and/or English, at four points:

- Control panel (line 20): the digital display of the PLC system, in colour and in SI units, with a touchscreen and remote monitoring as options.
- Training (line 38): on-site training covering, among other topics, safety, the operational overview, daily operations with record keeping, periodic testing of setpoints and alarms, planned preventive maintenance procedures, and troubleshooting and corrective maintenance procedures where users can carry them out.
- User care (line 39): instructions and checklists for cleaning, daily operations with record keeping, and planned preventive maintenance.
- Documentation (line 52): hard and soft copies of documents including the company profile, product catalogue, letter of authorization for the distribution agent (if applicable), user manual with start-up and operating protocols, preventive maintenance by operating hours, calibration, troubleshooting, schematics and cleaning, the maintenance or service manual with the spares list, the pre-shipment inspection report, as-built drawings, the lifespan guarantee certificate and the installation, testing and commissioning reports.

## UNDP, UNICEF and World Bank-financed procurement

UNDP's REQ-OXY-001 (effective 1 January 2025) lists user and service manuals in English and the official language of the end user among the documents the supplier provides, asks for official performance test reports on purity, flow and pressure with all pages in English, requires all bid submissions in English and in a language stated in the bidding documents, and its sample commissioning report (Annex III) lists documents including the user and service manuals, service level agreement, training material and installation report, in hard and/or soft copies and in the agreed language. UNICEF's technical requirements for medical devices (October 2023) say instructions for use shall be available at least in English, French and Spanish, and list a user manual in those three languages among the documents submitted with an offer.

For projects financed by the World Bank, the Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers (seventh edition, September 2025) require all procurement documents for international competitive procurement to be in English, French or Spanish, as the borrower chooses; the borrower may also issue translated versions, which should be in the national language, and in case of any discrepancy the English, French or Spanish text prevails.

## Why the language matters

A PATH analysis of PSA plant failures (November 2023) recommends graphic-rich operating and maintenance manuals and spare parts lists in the local language. It reports that some PSA plant suppliers restrict the training and information given to plant operators, such as service manuals and spare part lists in the applicable local languages, and quotes an interview respondent who places the responsibility on the buyer to ask for everything before paying for the plant. WHO's guidance on medical device donations (second edition, July 2024) likewise lists user and maintenance manuals written in local languages among its criteria for evaluating a donation offer. See also [what documents should come with an oxygen plant handover](https://library.ultracontrolo.com/answers/what-documents-come-with-an-oxygen-plant-handover/).

### Is English alone enough for an oxygen plant's manuals?

WHO (2024) asks for the preferred language of the destination country and/or English, UNDP (2025) for English and the official language of the end user, and UNICEF (2023) for instructions for use at least in English, French and Spanish.

### What does the WHO specification say about the control panel language?

WHO's 2024 specification asks for the digital display of the plant's control panel in the preferred language of the destination country and/or English, in colour and in SI units.

## Sources

- [WHO, Technical specifications for health facility based medical oxygen systems (December 2024), oxygen generator plants, lines 20, 38, 39 and 52](https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/ff437601-add3-44c8-8149-b85f0cdb2b52/content)
- [UNDP, REQ-OXY-001 v01, Technical and regulatory requirements for oxygen plants (effective 1 January 2025), sections 5.2.3, 6.1 and 9, Annex III](https://healthimplementation.undp.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/REQ-OXY-001-v01-UNDP-TECHNICAL-REGULATORY-REQUIREMENTS-FOR-OXYGEN-PLANTS.pdf)
- [UNICEF Supply Division, Technical requirements for medical devices (October 2023)](https://www.unicef.org/supply/media/19491/file/Technical-Requirements-Medical-Devices-Oct-2023.pdf)
- [World Bank, Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers, Seventh Edition (September 2025), paras 5.14 and 5.15](https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/c84273d1b230aeb2b0b8134de5dc8cd7-0290012025/original/Procurement-Regulations-7th-Edition-Sep-2025.pdf)
- [PATH, Pressure swing adsorption plants: common issues and solutions to prevent future disrepair (November 2023)](https://media.path.org/documents/Root_cause_analysis_report_external_clean.pdf)
- [WHO, Medical device donations: considerations for solicitation and provision, second edition (29 July 2024), Table 1](https://iris.who.int/server/api/core/bitstreams/7493cd2a-1c91-41cc-908a-7b9c0731169c/content)

Reviewed: 2026-10-23. Ultra Controlo engineering. https://library.ultracontrolo.com/answers/what-language-should-an-oxygen-plant-hmi-and-manuals-use/