Free document control register template for Excel.
A ready-to-use document control template for every controlled document you issue, from procedures and work instructions to plans and manuals, with the owner, the approver, the revision in force, the review date, and who holds a copy. Download it, fill in your own documents over the example set, and you have a working register in minutes. Free, no email, no form.
.xlsx and .csv · 16 columns · Dropdowns for type, function, status, and review frequency · Example set included · No email required
Every column a document control template needs.
The template starts from document-control practice rather than a blank grid. Sixteen columns cover the document, the person who owns it, the approval behind the revision in force, the review that keeps it current, and every copy in circulation.
The Document type, Function or area, Status, and Review frequency columns carry dropdowns, the header row is frozen, and a second sheet explains how to fill each column.
Read what makes a document controlled- 01Document number
The controlled number the document is known by. Keep the format consistent across the register, so it sorts cleanly.
- 02Title
The document title, written the way it reads on the document itself.
- 03Document type
What kind of document it is, picked from a dropdown of Policy, Procedure, Work instruction, Form, Plan, Register, Standard, Manual, Template, or Checklist.
- 04Function or area
The part of the business the document governs, picked from a dropdown of Document control, Engineering, Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Safety, Environment, Procurement, Commercial, or IT.
- 05Document owner
The named person accountable for keeping it current. A document with no owner is a document nobody reviews.
- 06Approved by
Who approved the revision that is in use, so the register is the evidence that the version people follow was approved.
- 07Revision
The revision this row records, for example 1, 2, 3, or A. One row holds one revision.
- 08Date issued
The date this revision was released for use.
- 09Status
Where the document sits in its life, picked from a dropdown of Draft, In review, Approved, Issued, Under revision, Superseded, or Withdrawn.
- 10Review frequency
How often the document has to be reviewed, picked from a dropdown of 6 months, Annual, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, or On change only.
- 11Next review date
When the review falls due. Sort on this column and the register becomes the review schedule.
- 12Distribution
Who receives the document, listed by role, team, or company and separated by semicolons, so you know who to reissue to.
- 13Controlled copies
Where printed controlled copies are held, so they can be pulled the day a new revision is issued.
- 14Retention period
How long the document is kept once it is superseded or withdrawn, taken from your retention schedule.
- 15File location
Where the master file lives, so the register and the file stay linked.
- 16Notes
Anything else worth recording against the row, such as the revision it supersedes.
Fill the register as each document is approved.
Six steps keep the register reliable. Work down them as documents are written, approved, and reissued, and the register stays a true picture of what is in force, who approved it, and who is holding a copy.
List every document you actually control
Add a row for each policy, procedure, work instruction, form, plan, and manual people are meant to follow. If a document is on the register, it is a controlled document, and everything that follows applies to it.
Name one owner per document
Fill the document owner with a person, not a department. The owner is who the review lands on, who answers questions about the content, and who signs the next revision out.
Record who approved the revision in use
Write the approver and the date issued against the row. Those two columns are the evidence that the version people are working to was approved, which is the first thing an auditor asks for.
Set the review frequency and the date it falls due
Pick the review frequency from the dropdown, then work the next review date out from the date issued. Sort on that column at the start of each month and the register hands you the review list.
Record the distribution and every controlled copy
Fill who receives the document and where any printed copies are held. When a revision is issued, that line tells you who to reissue to and which paper copies to pull, so nothing carrying uncontrolled when printed is left in circulation.
Supersede the old row, keep it, and start a new one
When a revision is approved, set the status on the earlier row to Superseded and add a new row for the new revision. Keep the old row, so the register carries the full history of what was in force and when.
What a filled-in document control template looks like.
The file arrives with six documents already on it, taken from one worked project: a ferry terminal and wharf called Aurora Wharf. Three of those rows show the register doing the work it exists for. Read them, then type your own documents over the top.
- AWF-DC-PRO-0001Row 01
Document Control Procedure, the revision in force
- Document type
- Procedure
- Function or area
- Document control
- Document owner
- R. Sandoval
- Approved by
- P. Rasmussen
- Revision
- 3
- Date issued
- 2026-02-12
- Status
- Issued
- Review frequency
- Annual
- Next review date
- 2027-02-12
One line answers everything an auditor asks. Revision 3 is the revision people follow, R. Sandoval owns it, P. Rasmussen approved it, and it was issued on 12 February 2026. The review is annual, so the next one falls due on 12 February 2027. One printed controlled copy exists, on the site office document board, which is the copy to pull the day Revision 4 goes out. The notes column carries the rest: Revision 3 supersedes Revision 2 and rewrote the numbering section.
- AWF-SAF-PRO-0011Row 02
Permit to Work Procedure, a review that has passed
- Document type
- Procedure
- Function or area
- Safety
- Document owner
- J. Halloran
- Revision
- 1
- Date issued
- 2025-11-18
- Status
- Under revision
- Review frequency
- 6 months
- Next review date
- 2026-05-18
- Controlled copies
- Site office; each gatehouse
This is the row the register exists to surface. The next review date has gone by, the status reads Under revision, and the notes say Revision 2 sits with the safety lead. Revision 1 is still the revision on the gatehouse walls, so it is still the revision people work to. Sort the register on Next review date at the start of each month and this row comes to the top before anyone has to ask.
- AWF-DC-FRM-0021Row 03
Transmittal Form, a revision still in draft
- Document type
- Form
- Function or area
- Document control
- Document owner
- R. Sandoval
- Approved by
- Blank
- Revision
- 2
- Date issued
- Blank
- Status
- Draft
- Review frequency
- On change only
- Controlled copies
- None issued
The blank cells carry the meaning. Draft Revision 2 has no approver and no date issued, because neither has happened, and the register has to say so rather than inherit the dates from Revision 1. Review frequency reads On change only, which is right for a form that changes when the process changes rather than on a calendar. Nothing is in circulation yet, so Controlled copies reads None issued.
The same Aurora Wharf project runs through all six templates, using the same document numbers, so the registers line up if you take more than one.
A spreadsheet register works, until it does not.
A register like this is quick to start, everyone can read it, and it holds the whole controlled set on one page. It keeps working until two things happen: someone works to a printed copy of a revision you superseded months ago, and a review date passes with nobody watching. When you are walking the site pulling paper, that is the sign to move the record into document control software.
The current revision is the one people open, so a superseded procedure cannot go on being followed because someone kept a copy.
Run each document through a configurable review and approval workflow, with reviewers set per stage, so who approved which revision is a lookup rather than an email search.
Every revision is held under revision control with the date it was issued, and every change is written to an audit trail.
Issue documents by tracked transmittal, so who was sent which revision, and when, is on the record rather than in sent items.
Lunr is document control software built for the record. It holds every controlled document under revision control, runs approval through a workflow, and issues revisions by tracked transmittal, so the version people read is the version you approved.
Questions about document control registers.
What the register is, what document control means in practice, what a document control template has to include, how it differs from a document register, and how often a controlled document should be reviewed.
- What is a document control register?
- A document control register is the list of every controlled document an organisation or project issues, one row per revision, with the document number, title, type, owner, approver, revision, date issued, status, review frequency, next review date, distribution, and where any printed controlled copies are held. It answers which revision is in force, who approved it, who has a copy, and when the next review falls due. This template gives you that register in Excel, with a CSV copy for any other tool.
- What is document control?
- Document control is the practice of making sure the version of a document people work to is the version that was approved, and that superseded versions stop being used. In engineering that means numbering documents to a scheme, holding each revision under revision control, approving revisions before they are issued, issuing them by transmittal to a known distribution, and keeping a register that records all of it. The register is where the practice becomes evidence.
- What should a document control template include?
- A document control template has to record, for every document, the number it is known by, its title, its type, the function it governs, the person who owns it, who approved the revision in use, that revision and the date it was issued, the status, how often it is reviewed, when the next review falls due, who it is distributed to, where any printed controlled copies are held, and how long it is retained. Anything less and the register cannot answer the two questions that matter: is this the approved version, and who is working to an old one. This template ships all of those as sixteen columns, with dropdowns on the four that should never be free text.
- What columns does a document control register need?
- At a minimum it needs the document number, title, type, owner, revision, date issued, and status. A register that is worked rather than filed also carries the approver, the function the document governs, the review frequency and next review date, the distribution, the location of any printed controlled copies, and the retention period. This template ships sixteen columns, including a file location and a notes column, with one row per revision.
- What is the difference between a document control register and a document register?
- A document control register covers the documents that govern how work is done: policies, procedures, work instructions, forms, plans, and manuals, with an owner, an approver, and a review date against each one. A document register covers the engineering record a project produces: drawings, specifications, calculations, datasheets, and reports, tracked by revision and status. Most asset owners keep both, and the numbering scheme is the thing that ties them together.
- How does document control work for engineering drawings?
- Drawings are controlled the same way as any other document, with one difference: a drawing is reissued far more often, so the revision on the sheet and the revision on the register have to be checked on every issue. Keep drawings in a drawing register with one row per revision and a transmittal reference against each issue, and keep the procedures that govern how drawings are numbered, checked, and issued in this document control register.
- How often should a controlled document be reviewed?
- Set the frequency by the risk the document carries rather than by habit. Safety and permit procedures are usually reviewed every six months or annually, quality plans and engineering procedures annually, and manuals every three to five years. Anything that changes when the plant, the standard, or the law changes should be set to On change only, with the trigger recorded in the notes. Whatever you pick, put the next review date in the register, because a frequency nobody has turned into a date is a review nobody does.
- Is the template free to download?
- Yes. Both files download straight from this page, with no email address, no sign-up, and no form in front of them. Take the .xlsx for Excel or the .csv for anything else, delete the example rows, and start typing your own documents in.
- Does the template work in Excel and Google Sheets?
- Yes. The .xlsx file opens in Excel with the header styling, the header row frozen, and the Document type, Function or area, Status, and Review frequency dropdowns in place. The .csv copy opens anywhere, including Google Sheets and any other spreadsheet tool, and holds the same columns and example rows without the formatting.
Five more registers, free to download.
Each one ships as an Excel file with dropdowns, a frozen header row, example rows over the same worked project, and a second sheet explaining every column, plus a CSV copy for Google Sheets. No email, no form.
- 01
Master document register template
Every document the job is contracted to produce, including the ones nobody has started, with a planned issue date, a review code, and a responsible party against each.
Deliverables · 16 columns · .xlsx and .csv
- 02
Drawing register template
Every drawing on the job, one row per revision, with the status it carries and the transmittal that issued it.
Drawings · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
- 03
Document register template
Every controlled document the job produces, from drawings and specifications to calculations, reports, and manuals, at its current revision.
Controlled documents · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
- 04
Transmittal register template
Every package that left the office, with the recipient, the purpose of issue, and each document at the revision that was sent.
Issues · 14 columns · .xlsx and .csv
- 05
RFI register template
Every request for information raised on the job, with who owes the answer, the documents it concerns at their revision, and the date a response is due.
Questions · 15 columns · .xlsx and .csv
See how the six registers sit against each other on one job on the document control templates hub.
Outgrown the spreadsheet register?
Book a walkthrough with someone who knows what a transmittal and an as-constructed drawing are, and watch Lunr keep the approved revision in front of everyone who needs it.
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- entity
- Lunr Labs Pty Ltd
- location
- Melbourne AU
- workspace
- documents.lunr.app
- rev
- 2026