Documents must be approved, reviewed, versioned, available at the point of use, legible and protected from unintended use when obsolete.
What applies today
The body must have procedures to control internal and external documents that relate to fulfilling the standard. The procedures must define the controls needed to approve documents for adequacy before issue; review and update them and re-approve them; identify changes and the current revision status; make the relevant versions available at the points of use; keep documents legible and readily identifiable; identify documents of external origin and control their distribution; and stop superseded documents being used by mistake, marking them suitably if they are kept for any purpose. A document may take any form or medium.
Why it matters
Document control is unglamorous and it is where a new edition creates immediate risk. If the 2012 standard and a draft summary sit in the same shared folder, an evaluator can use the wrong basis. The clause also covers external documents, which includes the standard, scheme rules and client specifications. The test is at the point of use, not in the document register.
The public FDIS contents lists clause 8.3 as Control of documents (Option A). This site uses the shorter label Control of documents for the page. The FDIS requirement wording is not held, so the requirement above is the 2012 text that applies until publication.
Where this clause lands in the revision
Clause 8 is where the 8.8 replacement meets management review, internal audit and corrective action. The public record confirms the titles; the requirement wording is not held. A first artefact an assessor commonly asks for here is document control procedure covering the seven controls. The party this touches first is The document controller and every owner of a procedure or form.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Procedure | Document control procedure covering the seven controls |
| Master register | Register with owner, version, approval and effective date |
| External documents | Controlled list of standards, scheme rules and client specifications |
| Point of use | Sample check that the current version is the one in use |
| Obsolete | Record of removed or marked obsolete documents |
One common question. ask for the procedure in use and compare it with the register. A current form with no approval record is a finding.
Common failures
- The shared drive holds three versions of the same procedure with no marking
- External standards are not in the register
- Approval is an email that is not linked to the document
Prepare before publication
Run a version check on the ten documents used most often in certification. Remove every unmarked obsolete copy.
Dates that matter
The public record gives stage 50.20 on 4 August 2026 and voting to 27 October 2026. The planning date, 15 February 2027, is an estimate from that stage and not an ISO date, and clause 8.3 has no separate date.
Cross-references
8.2 General management system documentation · 8.4 Control of records · 7.1 General process requirements
Source
Source for 8.3: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Clause 8.3, with the ISO/IEC FDIS 17065 public record. Our statement, not the instrument verbatim; the FDIS wording is not held.
Not legal advice; does not certify. A reading of the requirement and the evidence an assessor commonly samples, not a substitute for the standard or your accreditation body's rules.