Document Control Kit: Master List and Change Request

Every management system standard built on the harmonized structure — ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO/IEC 27001 and the rest — puts the control of documented information in clause 7.5. The requirement is short. Meeting it day after day is where systems slip: an old form still in a drawer, a procedure nobody approved, a record nobody can find. This kit gives you a checklist to find those gaps and the registers to keep them closed.

What is inside

Document Control Checklist — 64 checks in seven sections: creation and approval, identification and version control, distribution and access, external documents, records retention and disposal, electronic document controls and backups, and obsolete documents.

Document Control Registers and Forms — five templates: a master document list, a document change request form, a records retention table with example record types, an external document register and a controlled copy distribution record.

Both documents as a designed, print-ready PDF and as an editable Word file.

Who it is for

Document controllers, quality and HSE managers, management representatives, internal auditors auditing clause 7.5, and small organisations setting up document control for the first time.

How to use it

Take the checklist to where documents are actually used — workstations, site offices, vehicles, shared drives — and sample. Pick a handful of documents and records, and follow each one back to the master list: is this the current version, who approved it, and can the older version still be found in use anywhere? Record what you saw in the notes column. Then set up or tidy the registers, and route every change through the change request form so that the master list stays true.

The retention table leaves every retention period as a placeholder on purpose. How long you keep a record depends on the law, your contracts and your own business needs, so check the legal requirements that apply to you before you fill it in. Check which edition of each standard applies to you as well.