Document control is the set of rules a company uses to manage the documents people work from, such as procedures, work instructions, drawings and forms. It covers how a document is reviewed and approved before use, how each version is identified, how changes are made and approved, how people get the current version where they work, and how old versions are withdrawn so nobody uses them by mistake. A master list or a document system usually tracks every controlled document, its owner and its current revision.
Example: An engineer updates a drilling work instruction. Document control assigns revision C, routes it for approval, posts it at the drill station, removes the revision B printout from the binder, and logs the change on the master document list.
If two revisions of an instruction or drawing are in circulation, someone will eventually build to the old one. Document control is one of the first things a quality auditor samples, often by picking up a document at a workstation and checking it against the master list.
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