Article 18: Documentation Keeping | EU AI Act

Article 18 of the AI Act contains useful information about providers of high-risk AI systems’ obligation to maintain extensive documentation for various operational and regulatory reasons.

The providers must maintain these documents for a period of 10 years after the high-risk AI system is made available on the market. Such documentation must be made available to the national competent authorities and contain the following:

• Technical documentation;
• Documentation related to quality management systems referred to in Article 17;
• Documentation related to any changes approved by the notified bodies;
• Decisions and other relevant documentation issued by the notified bodies;
• The EU declaration of conformity as mentioned in Article 47.

In cases where the provider or its authorized representative goes bankrupt or ceases its activities before the 10-year period ends, each member state must determine the conditions under which the aforementioned documentation must be made available to the national competent authorities for the specified period.

Additionally, providers classified as financial institutions subject to internal governance, arrangements or processes requirements under Union financial services law must maintain the technical documentation to ensure compliance with those requirements as well.