he primary purpose of document control is to ensure that only current documents and not documents that have been superseded are used to perform work and that obsolete versions are removed. Document control also ensures that current documents are approved by the competent and responsible for the specific job persons and are distributed to the places where they are used. In regulated industries, this function is mandatory.
If a company is ISO 9001 compliant, it has document control it place. Document control is a part of ISO 9001 and GMP/GxP requirements.
There are four steps in the document control system:
1. Define the scope of the document control system (which documents must be controlled).
2. Develop a document authorization or approval system.
3. Ensure that only current versions of documents are used at the work places where they are used.
4. Out of date documents that need to be archived must be suitably identified.