A recording apparatus including a recording head that discharges UV ink onto a recording material and an ultraviolet light irradiation unit that irradiates ultraviolet light to the discharged UV ink so as to harden the UV ink; further includes a failure diagnostic unit that diagnoses a failure condition of the ultraviolet light irradiation unit and a controller that controls operations of the recording head, the ultraviolet light irradiation unit, and the failure diagnostic unit. Further, the controller is so configured as to change the operation mode of the recording apparatus to a failure-state mode when the ultraviolet light irradiation unit has been diagnosed as a failure by the failure diagnostic unit.