Skip to content
VTValiTracAI

Procedure · SOP-01

Control of Documents

Creation, review, approval, issue, change and withdrawal of internal and external documents.

Get the pack — $299Download 3 free samples

Purpose

To define how the Laboratory creates, reviews, approves, issues, distributes, changes, re-reviews and withdraws the documents that make up its management system, and how it controls documents of external origin, so that only current, approved documents are available at the point of use and the unintended use of obsolete documents is prevented.

What is inside

11 sections, about 5 pages when printed.

  1. 1. Purpose
  2. 2. Scope
  3. 3. References
  4. 4. Definitions
  5. 5. Responsibilities
  6. 6. Process overview
  7. 7. Procedure
  8. Records generated by this procedure
  9. Monitoring and performance indicators
  10. Assessment readiness notes
  11. Related documents

Records it generates

Applying this procedure produces the following records, which are the evidence an assessor samples.

  • –Master Document Register (internal and external)
  • –Document Change Requests with review and approval evidence
  • –Distribution and acknowledgement records
  • –Obsolete document archive
  • –External document currency checks

What an assessor looks for

The document closes with these points, so you can check your own practice before someone else does.

  • –Sampling documents at the bench and in on-site kits to confirm they are the current revision listed in FRM-01.
  • –Tracing one recent change from FRM-02 through review, approval, issue, withdrawal and staff notification.
  • –Checking that external standards and UKAS publications referenced in procedures are the current edition, and that the currency check is recorded.
  • –Confirming that the person who approved a calibration procedure is technically competent to do so (link to FRM-16).
  • –Looking for hand amendments, annotated printouts and personal copies of procedures on desks.

Before you use it

  • Replace every square-bracket token, starting with [LABORATORY NAME], [ADDRESS] and [EFFECTIVE DATE]. The full token list is in GD-01 Read Me First.
  • Have the content technically reviewed against how your laboratory actually works, then approved by the responsible manager before it becomes a controlled document.
  • Update the Word fields after editing so the table of contents and page numbers are correct: select all, then press F9.
  • Record the document in your own document register and set its review date.
  • Delete the assessment readiness notes if you do not want them in your controlled version; they are guidance for you, not requirements.

Related documents

This is an original template published by ValiTrac. It does not reproduce the text of ISO/IEC 17025 or of any accreditation body publication, and it does not by itself confer or guarantee accreditation. Customise, review and approve it before use.