What this is
What is the difference between a standard and a clause in this register?
What is the difference between a standard and a clause in this register?
A standard is the whole document — ISO 45001, ISO 9001, a customer scheme like BRCGS. A clause is one addressable requirement inside it, such as 8.1.2. The register holds one entry per clause, not one entry per standard, because readiness is assessed and evidenced at clause level.
What does Clause Type actually control?
It marks a clause as Mandatory, Fundamental or Guidance. Fundamental clauses are knockout items — failing one of them in a readiness audit typically fails the whole assessment regardless of how well everything else scores. Guidance clauses inform good practice but carry no certification consequence on their own.
Why is this register a singleton with many rows, not one row?
Singleton describes the register itself — one register exists per workspace — not the number of clauses in it. A single organisation working to three standards will typically hold dozens of clause entries inside this one register.
Scope
When is a standards and clause register required?
This register is the anchor that lets other templates claim compliance against a specific clause. Treating it as a general compliance notebook, rather than a structured clause index, breaks the link every other template depends on.
Use this template when
- A new standard, or a new revision of an existing standard, needs to be added to the library
- A clause needs to be broken out so templates elsewhere can tag directly to it
- The compliance lead needs to record what evidence a specific clause expects
- A readiness report needs to show which clauses are covered without a manual audit walk-through
- A standard is revised and clause numbers or requirements have shifted
Do not use it for
- Legal and Other Requirements Register, which tracks external legal obligations, not the internal management-system standards this register covers.
- Document Register, which tracks the controlled documents that satisfy a clause, not the clause itself.
- Compliance Obligation Assessment, which evaluates how well an obligation is being met, not what the obligation says.
- Management Review Record, which documents the review meeting, not the standards being reviewed against.
- Recording a whole standard as one row — this register works at clause level, not document level
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 45001 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 45001 requires organisations to determine and have access to applicable legal and other requirements, and to know how they apply — this register is the structural answer to that requirement, extended here to cover the other management-system standards it also anchors.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| cl.4.2 Needs and expectations of workers and interested parties | Determine which requirements apply to the management system | Identification |
| cl.6.1.3 Determination of legal requirements and other requirements | Requirements are documented, kept up to date and communicated | Requirement |
| cl.7.5 Documented information | Requirement content is captured in a form people can act on | Requirement |
| cl.9.1.2 Evaluation of compliance | Periodic evaluation of compliance with applicable requirements | Ownership |
| cl.5.3 Organizational roles, responsibilities and authorities | A named owner accountable for each requirement | Ownership |
| cl.9.3 Management review | Applicable requirements reviewed and their status considered | Ownership |
What it does not cover
- A PDF copy of the standard sitting in a shared folder, which has no clause-level structure other templates can tag against.
- A spreadsheet of clause numbers with no Clause Type set, which cannot distinguish a knockout Fundamental requirement from optional Guidance.
- An entry with Clause Reference but no Requirement Summary, which forces every reader back to the original standard to know what the clause demands.
- A clause entry left at an old Standard Version after a revision, which points templates at a requirement that no longer matches the current text.
- Applies To Workspace left blank on a clause multiple workspaces rely on, which means readiness reporting for those workspaces silently omits it.
Global
Standards and Clause Register requirements by country
The register's own structure is jurisdiction-neutral, but which standards populate it — and how heavily each clause is weighted at audit — depends on where the organisation certifies and who its customers are.
ISO 45001:2018, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015
Third-party certification bodies audit against the current published edition of each standard.
Standard Version must match the edition actually certified against, or clause references drift during a transition period.
BRCGS, SQF, FSSC 22000 clause structures
Retailer-mandated certification schemes layer their own clause numbering on top of, or instead of, ISO structures.
These schemes need their own Standard entries and clause numbering — they are not simply an ISO 9001 alias.
OSHA general industry and construction standards
A regulatory floor that exists independently of any voluntary ISO 45001 certification.
Organisations certifying to ISO 45001 in the US still need OSHA obligations tracked, typically via the Legal and Other Requirements Register rather than this one.
How to complete it
How to complete a standards and clause register, step by step
The mechanical part — typing in a clause number — is trivial. The judgement calls below are what decide whether the register can actually answer a readiness question without a manual audit.
This call should follow the certification scheme's own published knockout list where one exists, not an internal guess at severity — misclassifying a Fundamental clause as Mandatory understates the audit risk of leaving it uncovered.
Enough that a template owner tagging against the clause knows what to satisfy without opening the standard, but short enough that it does not become a paraphrase that drifts from the source text over successive edits.
A standard revision that changes what a clause requires, or renumbers it, warrants a new entry linked to the new Standard Version — editing the old entry in place breaks historical tagging silently.
Applies To Workspace should reflect where the clause is operationally enforced through tagged templates, not every workspace that could plausibly care about it — overtagging dilutes the field's usefulness for readiness reporting.
What auditors find
Most common standards and clause register findings
These are the gaps that show up when the register is checked against how it is actually meant to function as the library's compliance anchor.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental clauses not distinguished from Mandatory in Clause Type | cl.9.1.2 | Cross-check Clause Type against the certification scheme's published knockout clause list and correct misclassifications. |
| Clause entries still reference a superseded Standard Version | cl.6.1.3 | Create new entries under the current Standard Version and mark superseded entries as such rather than editing in place. |
| No Clause Owner assigned on clauses with active template tagging | cl.5.3 | Require Clause Owner before a clause can be tagged by other templates. |
| Evidence Expected left blank on Mandatory or Fundamental clauses | cl.7.5 | Make Evidence Expected mandatory for these two Clause Type values at minimum. |
| Applies To Workspace not updated when a template starts tagging a new clause | cl.4.2 | Trigger a review of Applies To Workspace whenever a new template link references the clause. |
| Clause entries never revisited despite Last Reviewed dates lapsing | cl.9.3 | Report on Last Reviewed dates alongside the management review cycle so stale clauses surface before an audit does. |
Case in point
Case in point: a readiness report that quietly excluded a Fundamental clause
A site preparing for ISO 45001 recertification ran its readiness report from the register and it came back clean — every tagged clause showing linked evidence. The report looked complete because it only showed clauses that had entries; a Fundamental clause on management commitment had never been added to the register at all, so its absence didn't register as a gap, it simply wasn't counted.
The external auditor found it in ten minutes by working from the standard's table of contents instead of the site's register. The lesson that stuck was that a clause register only proves readiness for the clauses it contains — someone still has to periodically check the register's coverage against the standard itself, not just check each entry's own completeness.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
3 sections
- Reference
- FDN-009
- Archetype
- Register
- Record ID
- CLS-2026-000
- Scoring
- None
- Direction
- n/a
- Singleton
- Yes
- Basis
- ISO 45001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001
- Links
- Referenced by KnowComply and all audits
- Tags
- Master data, Compliance
- Sections
- 3
- Fields
- 13
- Follow up fields
- 0
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 0
Identification
6 fieldsClause ID*
Format CLS-0000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Standard*
ISO 45001, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, SQF, BRC, OSHA or other.
Standard Version*
Standards get revised, and clause numbers move.
Clause Reference*
For example 8.1.2. This is what Pick Lists display.
Clause Title*
Requirement
4 fieldsRequirement Summary*
What the clause actually requires, in plain language.
Clause Type*
Mandatory, fundamental or guidance. Fundamental clauses are knockout in readiness audits.
Evidence Expected
Applies To Workspace
Ownership
3 fieldsClause Owner
Last Reviewed
Notes
FDN-009 · record IDs look like CLS-2026-000 · Referenced by KnowComply and all audits
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
Adding clauses is a one-time exercise per standard. Keeping Standard Version current, catching Fundamental gaps before an auditor does, and holding Clause Owner assignments straight is the ongoing work.
Builds the readiness view straight from this register, flagging Mandatory and Fundamental clauses with no linked evidence before an audit finds them.
Cross-checks templates tagged to a clause against that clause's Evidence Expected text, surfacing mismatches early.
Tracks which ISO 45001 clauses its own templates satisfy, so worker-safety readiness rolls up without a manual mapping exercise.
Watches for standard revisions and clause entries left on a superseded Standard Version, drafting the new entries for the compliance lead to approve.
This template lives in General — control tower. The orchestration layer. Registries and engines every other workspace reads from.
Meet General→Glossary
Standards and Clause Register definitions and key terms
- Fundamental clause
- A requirement whose absence typically fails a certification audit outright, regardless of performance elsewhere in the standard.
- Clause tagging
- Linking a template or record to the specific standard clause it evidences, enabling readiness to be reported by query rather than manual review.
- Standard Version
- The published edition or revision of a standard; clause numbers and requirements can change between versions.
- Readiness audit
- An internal or external check of whether an organisation currently meets a standard's requirements, ahead of formal certification assessment.
- Evidence Expected
- The type of record or documentation a clause anticipates as proof of conformance, recorded against the clause itself.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about standards and clause register
Do we need a separate register entry for every clause in a standard, even ones we don't currently evidence?+
Yes for Mandatory and Fundamental clauses — an absent entry cannot be flagged as a gap, as the case above shows. Guidance clauses can be added more selectively.
What happens to old clause entries when a standard is revised?+
They should be marked Superseded and a new entry created under the new Standard Version, preserving the history rather than overwriting it.
Can one clause entry apply to more than one workspace?+
Yes — Applies To Workspace is a multi-choice field precisely because clauses like documented information or competence cut across several workspaces.
Who decides Clause Type when a scheme doesn't publish an explicit knockout list?+
The compliance lead, using the scheme's audit protocol and past audit outcomes as the basis, documented in Notes so the classification can be reviewed later.
Does this register replace reading the actual standard?+
No. Requirement Summary is a working reference, not a licensed reproduction of the standard's text, and the original document remains the authority in a dispute.
How does this register relate to the Legal and Other Requirements Register?+
This one covers voluntary management-system standards and certification schemes; the legal register covers statutory and regulatory obligations. Some clauses in this register, such as cl.6.1.3, explicitly require the legal register to exist alongside it.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Management System Governance
Legal and Other Requirements Register
Lists every law, regulation, permit and commitment that applies to your operation
Compliance Obligation Assessment
Assesses how each legal requirement applies to you and what you do to meet it
Compliance Evaluation Record
Records the periodic evaluation of whether you actually comply with each obligation
Regulatory Change Record
Records a change in law or regulation and what it means for you
Regulatory Inspection Record
Records a visit by a regulator, including what was inspected, what was said and any orders issued
Management Review Record
Records the periodic review of the management system by senior leadership, covering performance, risks, resources and improvement
More in Registries
Site and Location Register
Holds every site, building, area and zone your organisation operates
Asset Register
Holds every piece of equipment, machine, vehicle and tool you track
Worker Profile
Holds a record for each worker, including role, department, site and start date
Job and Task Register
Lists the jobs and tasks people perform, so risk assessments and ergonomic assessments can be tied to real work rather than job titles
Vendor and Contractor Register
Holds every supplier, contractor and service provider you work with, including their status and approval level
Chemical and Substance Register
Lists every chemical and hazardous substance held on site, with quantity, location and hazard class
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- ISO 45001:2018 cl.6.1.3 — Determination of legal requirements and other requirements
- ISO 45001:2018 cl.9.1.2 — Evaluation of compliance
- ISO 9001:2015 cl.7.5 — Documented information
- ISO 14001:2015 cl.9.3 — Management review
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.