What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on PE-13 Fire Protection?

SSP PE-13 statement describing fire detection and suppression systems with independent power and the service schedule; Fire system inspection certificates and suppression system maintenance records; Physical security policy and facility risk assessment; Badge access system audit log and door alarm reports; Visitor sign in records with escort assignment; CCTV retention configuration and footage spot check evidence.

What is the most common gap auditors find on PE-13?

Server room doors propped open during cooling failures

FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline) · PE - Physical and Environmental Protection

`PE-13` Fire Protection

Employ and maintain fire suppression and detection devices independent of energy source.

Source: FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline), PE-13. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline) in the compliance library.

A FedRAMP baseline is a subset of NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, enhancements included.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

hard

to go live

Physical access / facilities

where the evidence lives

teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

CCTV retention configuration and footage spot check evidence · Physical access / facilities

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Fire system inspection certificates and suppression system maintenance records · Physical access / facilities
Physical security policy and facility risk assessment · Physical access / facilities
Badge access system audit log and door alarm reports · Physical access / facilities
Visitor sign in records with escort assignment · Physical access / facilities

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

SSP PE-13 statement describing fire detection and suppression systems with independent power and the service schedule · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Mostly documents and reviews. Pull the 1 system-held artefact from your Physical access / facilities on a schedule; put the documents under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Server room doors propped open during cooling failures
CCTV coverage gaps at loading docks and equipment delivery areas
Tailgating observed without challenge during walkthroughs

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

PE-12 Emergency Lighting · PE-13(1) Fire Protection | Detection Systems: Automatic Activation and Notification (PE-13(1))