EvidenceSheet
PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 12: Information Security Policies

12.5.2.1 Six-monthly scope confirmation for service providers

Service providers only: the entity must document its PCI DSS scope and reconfirm it, at least every six months, as well as following any major change affecting in-scope systems. At minimum, each scoping validation covers every element listed in Requirement 12.5.2. The guidance explains the higher frequency reflects that service providers tend to hold larger volumes of cardholder data and run bigger, faster-changing networks. Applicability: applies only when the assessed entity is a service provider. Objective under the customized approach: scope accuracy is continually verified through thorough analysis and suitable technical measures. Future-dated: treated as a best practice up to 31 March 2025 and mandatory since then.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 12.5.2.1. 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 PCI DSS v4.0.1 in the compliance library.

Version 4.0.1 is the active version; 4.0 has been retired. Appendix A1 applies only to multi-tenant service providers, A2 only to card-present POS POI terminals that still use SSL or early TLS, and A3 only when a payment brand or acquirer requires it. Which requirements apply to you follows your validation type.

4
artefacts
1
held by a system
1
at each review
moderate
to go live
SIEM / log platform
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

  • Change log linking significant changes to triggered scope reviews · SIEM / log platform

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Evidence each review addresses every 12.5.2 element · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Two scope confirmation reports within the last 12 months · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Updated diagrams per review cycle · Document repository

First move

Start with the 1 of 4 artefacts that already live in a system (SIEM / log platform); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

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.

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12.5.2 Annual and change-driven scope confirmation · 12.5.3 Scope review after significant organisational change