What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on PE-3 Physical Access Control?

SSP PE-3 statement describing entry controls (badge, biometric, guard), visitor escort and physical access audit logs; Badge system entry logs for sampled dates and the key and combination inventory; Fire suppression and UPS 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.

What is the most common gap auditors find on PE-3?

Visitor logs incomplete or escort sign offs missing

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

`PE-3` Physical Access Control

Enforce physical access at entry/exit points; verify authorizations; control ingress/egress; maintain audit logs.

Source: FedRAMP Moderate (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline), PE-3. 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 Moderate (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

Badge system entry logs for sampled dates and the key and combination inventory · Physical access / facilities
CCTV retention configuration and footage spot check evidence · Physical access / facilities

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Fire suppression and UPS maintenance records · Backup / DR tooling
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-3 statement describing entry controls (badge, biometric, guard), visitor escort and physical access audit logs · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Start with the 2 of 7 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

Visitor logs incomplete or escort sign offs missing
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-2 Physical Access Authorizations · PE-4 Access Control for Transmission (PE-4)