Controlled documents

Make a document controlled, send it through formal review and approval, and respond when you’re asked to review or approve it.

Quick summary

• A controlled document gets a formal review and approval cycle before each new major version is approved, and is locked while the cycle runs and once approved.
• Only the people on Must review and Must approve hold the cycle up, not the optional reviewers and approvers.
• If a reviewer requests changes, the document stays Pending Review until you click Stop review cycle, which returns it to Draft with the same draft number.

Make a document controlled

Controlled documents are switched on per workspace. If Settings → Workspace Setup → Documents doesn’t show Controlled documents as Enabled, contact support.

Then tick Controlled on the document, when you create it or later from its Settings menu → Document Settings.

It gets a Document ID, like DOC-POL-010, and its Review and approval section opens up.

Start a review cycle

1. Open Send for review and approval

   On a controlled document in Draft, click Review & Approval → Send for review and approval.

   

   The Review & Approval menu on a controlled document: Send for review and approval starts the cycle, and Log changes to draft records a minor change without one.

2. Describe the version and set where it republishes

   Check the suggested Version Number and the title, and write a Summary of changes or click Generate AI Summary.

   Every place the document is used starts ticked under Republish options. Untick any that shouldn’t move to this version once it’s approved.

3. Pick reviewers and approvers

   Fill in Must review, Optional reviewers, Must approve and Optional approvers, and add a Note for them if you like. See Who reviews and approves.

   Only pick roles that have someone assigned. If a role has nobody in it, you can’t continue until you remove it or assign someone: “These roles have no people assigned”.

   

   Send for review and approval with all four lists filled in. 1 is Must review, here a person. 2 is Optional reviewers, here the DPO role and the person who holds it. 3 is Must approve, here the SIRO role. 4 is Optional approvers, here another person. The Note below goes to everyone listed.

4. Begin the cycle

   Click Next, then Begin review cycle. The document is now Pending Review and locked, and reviewers and approvers are notified.

To log a minor change without a cycle, use Review & Approval → Log changes to draft.

Respond to a request

Reviewer

When you’re asked to review, the document shows “You have been asked to review this document. Choose Complete review or Request changes when ready.”

Click Submit response, then either:

• choose Complete review, add a Note if you like, and click Accept and complete review; or
• choose Request changes, write a Comment, and click Request changes. Editors and approvers see your comment.

The header shows Completed reviews and who it’s Awaiting review from, with required people marked (required).

The review banner. 1 is the request to review. 2 is Submit response, open to show Complete review and Request changes. 3 is who the review is still awaited from, with required people marked (required).

Request changes. 1 is your Comment, which editors and approvers see on this review cycle. 2 sends it.

Approver

Once every required reviewer has completed their review, the document moves to Pending Approval and shows “You have been asked to approve this document. Choose Approve or Request changes when ready.”

Click Submit response, then either:

• choose Approve, add a Note if you like, and click Approve; or
• choose Request changes and write a comment.

When every required approver has approved, the document is Approved at the proposed version, and anything you ticked under Republish options moves to it.

When changes are requested

The document stays Pending Review and shows “A reviewer has requested changes. Use Stop review cycle when you are ready to continue.”

1. Click Stop review cycle and confirm. The document returns to Draft with the same draft number, like v1.1, and the review steps in progress are removed. You can stop a running cycle this way at any time.
2. Edit the document to address the comments, then click Send for review and approval again. The version number and summary are kept, but you pick the reviewers and approvers again.

Start the next version

An approved controlled document is locked. To change it, click Return to draft and confirm. Then:

• The latest approved version stays published and unchanged until you approve the updated one.
• The document opens as the next draft, like v2.1.

What we recommend

Keep Must review and Must approve short, since each required person can hold up the cycle, and put everyone else in the optional lists.

Related articles

Review cycle and statuses

The statuses, version numbers, reviewer and approver lists, and e-signatures.

Document versioning

Approving documents that aren’t controlled, and republishing.