Policy
Policy Review Checklist
What This Template Is
The Policy Review Checklist template provides a structured checklist for reviewing policies before approval, during periodic reviews, and when assessing policy effectiveness. It ensures policies are complete, compliant, current, and effective — not just documents on a shelf.
Who Should Use It
Policy owners responsible for drafting and maintaining policies
Compliance officers reviewing policies for regulatory alignment
Legal teams ensuring legal sufficiency of policies
Governance professionals managing the policy lifecycle
What It Contains
Content review: clear purpose, scope, definitions, roles, procedures, exceptions, references
Regulatory alignment: maps to applicable regulations, confirms no regulatory gaps
Consistency check: consistent with related policies, no contradictions, correct hierarchy level
Currency check: reflects current operations, technology, and organizational structure
Effectiveness review: compliance rates, attestation rates, incident trends related to the policy
Approval verification: correct approver, approval authority documented, approval evidence attached
Distribution verification: distributed to correct audience, attestation campaign completed
Review scheduling: next review date set, review frequency appropriate to risk level
When to Use It
- Before approving a new or revised policy
- During annual or periodic policy reviews
- When regulations change and may impact existing policies
- When assessing policy effectiveness as part of governance reviews
How to Use It
1
Create a policy review checklist from the template within the Policies & Procedures module
2
Work through each section for the policy under review, documenting findings
3
For any items that fail review, create remediation actions with owners and due dates
4
Record the review outcome — approve, revise, or retire — with documented rationale
5
Set the next review date and update the policy's review schedule