---
title: How to check readings against your own tolerance limits
description: Enter the limits from a client drawing or your own procedure on the template, and Stratum Track gives a Pass or Fail on the tablet, Job Details and the report.
published: 2026-09-16
updated: 2026-09-16
---

# How to check readings against your own tolerance limits

Plenty of acceptance limits are not an ISO 286 fit. A client drawing gives 80.002 to 80.021, and a
minimum wall thickness has no upper limit at all. Enter those limits on the template and Stratum
Track checks every reading against them as the technician types, then gives the same Pass or Fail
on Job Details and in the report.

You set this up once for each template, and it takes about two minutes per table.

## What you need

- A manager login. Only a manager can open **Manage Templates**.
- A laptop or desktop. The editing controls need a screen at least 1024 pixels wide.
- A grid of readings on the template: a row for each position, a column for each reading.

## Step 1: Open the template

Open **Manage Templates**, press **Actions** on your template, then **Review**. The template opens on the **Preview**
tab, which shows the form as the technician sees it. Everything below is done there.

## Step 2: Add a specification to the table

Skip this step if the table already has a specification column.

Under the table, press **Add column**. Enter a **Column heading** such as Result, set
**What goes in it** to **Specification**, then choose **What it measures** and a
**Tolerance code**. Stratum Track never invents a specification, so it asks for a code; step 3
replaces it with your own limits. Press **Add column**.

The new specification checks the readings in its grid straight away. Use **Map fields** only to
change which readings it checks.

## Step 3: Enter your own limits

Select a cell in the specification column. The panel beside the form shows a **Specification**
section. Open **Limits from** and choose one of these.

| Choose | When |
|---|---|
| **ISO 286 fit code** | The drawing calls up a fit such as H7 or h6 |
| **Limits you type** | The limits are the same on every job using this template |
| **Limits on the job** | The limits change job to job, and the technician records them on the step |

For **Limits you type**, fill in **Lower limit** and **Upper limit**. Leave one empty to check a
single side, such as a minimum wall thickness, and the limits print as **at least** or **at most**
followed by your number. Add a **Maximum spread** if the readings must also agree with each other,
and a **Shown as** name such as the drawing number. Press **Save limits**.

![The Specification panel with Limits you type chosen, and the lower limit, upper limit, maximum spread and drawing number entered](/assets/screens/spec-limits-02-limits-you-type.webp)

For **Limits on the job**, choose the fields holding the lower and upper limits. Both must be
Measurement fields on the same step as the readings, and not inside a repeating section.
**Maximum spread** and **Shown as** are still set on the template.

Use the same units as the readings; Stratum Track does not convert them. The line under the
controls then shows what the specification accepts, for example
**Your limits · 80.002 to 80.021 · spread 0.008**.

Last, under **Shows**, choose **Pass / Fail** for the result or **Range** for the limits. A new
column starts on **Range** in every row, and each cell carries its own choice, so select each cell
you want to read as a verdict.

## Or use the limits already in your Word template

If your Word template already has the limits typed into the table, as a pair such as
80.002 / 80.021 between the readings and a **Yes/No** box, Stratum Track finds them. Click the
strip above the table to select it, and the panel shows a card headed **Limits already typed in
this table**.

![Limits found in the Word template, with Use these limits beside each row](/assets/screens/spec-limits-01-typed-in-word.webp)

Press **Use these limits** on each row you want. Stratum Track saves them as that row's limits,
connects its readings, and converts its Yes/No box to the Pass or Fail result, so you skip steps 2
and 3 for that row. **Yes/No filled in automatically** marks the rows where it will. Limits taken
this way are named **Client specification** until you change **Shown as**.

## Step 4: Make the change live

Adding a column in step 2 to a template jobs have already used saves your work to a draft, and the
form your team is using stays as it is. Press **Activate Template** and every job switches to the
updated form, including jobs under way, keeping the answers already recorded. Until you activate,
you can discard the draft.

Limits saved on a specification column that was already there, and limits taken with **Use these
limits**, do not wait for a draft. They reach the job as soon as you save them, so tell your
technician before you change limits on a job in progress.

## Step 5: Check it on a job

Open a job that runs the template, and open the step. A **Range** cell shows the limits beside the
readings with the **Shown as** name under them. A **Pass / Fail** cell reads **Waiting...** until
the technician enters the readings, then **Pass** or **Fail**, updating as a reading changes.

On **Job Details**, Pass shows in green and Fail in red, and any reading outside the limits is
marked in red.

![Job Details with a green Pass at the coupling end, and a red Fail at the free end where 80.024 is above the upper limit](/assets/screens/spec-limits-03-job-details.webp)

The report prints the same Pass or Fail wherever your report document carries that cell. The
template's **Field Reference** page, on the **Actions** menu, lists the placeholders under
**Specifications**.

## Worth knowing

- **The spread is checked once every reading is inside the limits.** The largest reading minus the smallest must not exceed **Maximum spread**.
- **A reading exactly on a limit passes**, and so does a spread exactly equal to it.
- **A reading a specification checks prints three decimal places**, whatever **Decimal places** is set to.
- **A specification cannot sit in a repeating table or a repeating section**, and it is never a required field.
- **Your report document does not change when you save.** If it prints the limits as typed text, update it to match and upload it again.

## Common questions

#### Do tolerance limits have to come from ISO 286?

No. **ISO 286 fit code** is unchanged, and limits from a client drawing, an OEM manual or your own
procedure work the same way: the technician sees the same **Waiting...**, **Pass** and **Fail**.
Stratum Track never converts a pair of limits into an ISO 286 code, because several codes give
similar limits and a guess would change your acceptance criteria.

#### Can the limits change from one job to the next?

Yes. Choose **Limits on the job** and choose two Measurement fields on the same step as the
readings. The technician enters the limits from that job's drawing and the result updates with
each entry. While both limit fields are empty, the result reads **Waiting...** on the
step and **No Data** on Job Details.

#### Does changing the limits change reports for jobs already done?

It can. Stratum Track calculates the result from the readings each time a report is generated, so
a report made after you change the limits uses the new ones. A job that already recorded a Yes or
No in a converted box keeps that answer. Decide whether your finished jobs should be judged
against the new limits before you change a template they use.

#### Do I need to ask you to switch this on?

No. Your own limits are available to every company, on any template with a grid of readings. If
you would rather we set the tables up with you, send us the form you use: we build the
specifications and return the template for your approval.