What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on PE-14 Environmental Controls?

Physical and environmental protection policy; Procedures addressing temperature and humidity control; Temperature and humidity controls; Facility housing the system; Temperature and humidity controls documentation; Temperature and humidity records.

What is the most common gap auditors find on PE-14?

Acceptable levels for temperature, humidity or other environmental controls in the system area are not defined

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 · PE - Physical and Environmental Protection

`PE-14` Environmental Controls

a. Maintain Selection (one or more): temperature; humidity; pressure; radiation; [organization-defined environmental control] levels within the facility where the system resides at organization-defined acceptable levels; and b. Monitor environmental control levels organization-defined frequency.

Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, PE-14. 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 NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 in the compliance library.

Base controls and their enhancements. Which apply follows the baseline you are assessed against (for example FedRAMP Moderate or High, or the low, moderate and high baselines of SP 800-53B). Text in square brackets is a parameter your organisation sets.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

hard

to go live

Policy repository / GRC workspace

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

Test of Mechanisms supporting and/or implementing the maintenance and monitoring of temperature and humidity levels · Physical access / facilities

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Temperature and humidity records · Physical access / facilities

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Physical and environmental protection policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Procedures addressing temperature and humidity control · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Temperature and humidity controls · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Facility housing the system · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Temperature and humidity controls documentation · Policy repository / GRC workspace
System security plan · 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

Acceptable levels for temperature, humidity or other environmental controls in the system area are not defined
Environmental control levels are not monitored at the organization-defined frequency, and excursions go unnoticed

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-13(4) Fire Protection | Inspections · PE-14(1) Environmental Controls | Automatic Controls