# SOP: [Procedure name]

| | |
|---|---|
| **SOP ID** | |
| **Version** | 1.0 |
| **Owner** | _______________ (named person, not a team) |
| **Approved by** | |
| **Effective date** | |
| **Review date** | _______________ (an SOP without one becomes wrong quietly) |

---

## 1. Purpose

> One or two sentences. What this procedure achieves and why it exists.

## 2. When to use this

**Trigger:**

**Do NOT use this when:**

## 3. Who performs this

| Role | Responsibility | Authority required |
|---|---|---|
| | | |

**Skills or access needed before starting:**

## 4. Before you start

- [ ] Access to: _______________
- [ ] Tools / systems open: _______________
- [ ] Information to hand: _______________
- [ ] Approval obtained from: _______________ (if applicable)

**Estimated time:** _______________

## 5. Procedure

> Numbered, imperative, one action per step. Write for someone competent but
> unfamiliar — the person doing this at 2am is not the person who wrote it.

**Step 1.**
- Expected result:

**Step 2.**
- Expected result:

**Step 3.**
- Expected result:

### Decision point
> Where the procedure branches, make it explicit.

**If** _______________ **then** go to step ___
**If** _______________ **then** go to step ___

## 6. Verification

> How the person knows they succeeded. Not "it should work" — a specific check.

- [ ]
- [ ]

## 7. When it goes wrong

| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| | | |

**Stop and escalate if:**
> Be explicit. The most expensive incidents involve someone continuing when they should have stopped.

**Escalate to:** _______________  **Via:** _______________

## 8. Rollback

> If this procedure changes something, how is it undone?

## 9. Records

| What is recorded | Where | Retained for |
|---|---|---|
| | | |

## 10. Related documents

-

---

## Change log

| Version | Date | Change | Author | Approved by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | | Initial | | |