What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on PE-6 Monitoring Physical Access?

SSP PE-6 statement describing physical access monitoring, weekly log review and coordination with incident response; Weekly physical access log review records with anomalies escalated; Visitor sign in records with escort assignment; CCTV retention configuration and footage spot check evidence; Environmental monitoring readings for temperature, humidity, and water leak sensors; Fire suppression and UPS maintenance records.

What is the most common gap auditors find on PE-6?

Environmental sensor alerts route to unmonitored mailboxes

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

`PE-6` Monitoring Physical Access

Monitor physical access to facility; review access logs at least weekly (FedRAMP); coordinate review with IR.

Source: FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline), PE-6. 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

moderate

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
Environmental monitoring readings for temperature, humidity, and water leak sensors · Physical access / facilities

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Weekly physical access log review records with anomalies escalated · Physical access / facilities
Visitor sign in records with escort assignment · Physical access / facilities
Fire suppression and UPS maintenance records · Backup / DR tooling

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

SSP PE-6 statement describing physical access monitoring, weekly log review and coordination with incident response · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Start with the 2 of 6 artefacts that already live in a system (Physical access / facilities); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Environmental sensor alerts route to unmonitored mailboxes
Server room doors propped open during cooling failures
CCTV coverage gaps at loading docks and equipment delivery areas

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-5 Access Control for Output Devices (PE-5) · PE-6(1) Monitoring Physical Access | Intrusion Alarms and Surveillance Equipment (PE-6(1))