# Visitor Log

**Template version:** 1.0.0 · **Edition:** Ready to adopt · **NIST basis:** SP 800-53 Rev. 5, release 5.2.0

*Tailor this template before adoption; it is not legal advice.* Latest version: <https://kston83.github.io/nist-guide/templates/forms/visitor-log/>. Dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0 (<https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/>): adopt and change it without attribution.

| Facility and entrance | Log owner | Records kept for | Last reviewed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Fill in: facility and entrance] | [Facilities manager] | [Fill in: time period for which to maintain visitor access records for the facility where the system resides. Typical: 2 years, or longer where the organization's records retention schedule requires] | [Fill in: date] |

## 1. How to use this log

- Record every visitor to a non-public area when they arrive, check their identification, and issue a visitor badge that looks different from permanent badges and is valid only for that day (PE-8a, PE-3d).
- Escort and control visitors [Fill in: circumstances requiring visitor escorts and control of visitor activity. Typical: at all times in non-public areas, for every visitor and for anyone without a physical access authorization for the area, including maintenance personnel who are not on the authorized maintenance list]. Record the escort; the escort stays with the visitor until they leave the non-public area (PE-3d).
- Record the departure time and collect the badge when the visitor leaves. A badge that is not returned is disabled and reported as an anomaly.
- Keep the records for [Fill in: time period for which to maintain visitor access records for the facility where the system resides. Typical: 2 years, or longer where the organization's records retention schedule requires] (PE-8a).
- Review the records [Fill in: the frequency at which to review visitor access records. Typical: at least monthly] and record the review in section 3 (PE-8b).
- Report anomalies to [Fill in: personnel to whom visitor access records anomalies are reported to. Typical: the facilities manager and the security operations team] (PE-8c). An anomaly that suggests a security incident is reported under the [incident response plan](https://kston83.github.io/nist-guide/templates/plans/incident-response-plan/).
- A person who visits so often that they need regular access should be authorized under PE-2 and added to the physical access list instead.

| Field | What to record |
| --- | --- |
| Visit ID | A unique ID, or the line number on a paper log |
| Date | Date of the visit |
| Visitor | Name and organization |
| Identification checked | The type of identification checked, for example a driver's license or a government ID card; not its number, unless section 2 allows it |
| Person visited | Name and organization of the person visited |
| Purpose | Why the visitor came, for example a meeting, a delivery or maintenance |
| Areas | The non-public areas the visitor entered |
| Badge | The visitor badge number issued, and whether it was returned |
| Escort | Name of the employee who escorted the visitor (PE-3d) |
| Entry and departure | Times of entry and departure |

## 2. Limits on personally identifiable information

For a facility whose systems are under the Privacy baseline, the log collects only these elements, identified in the privacy risk assessment: [Fill in: elements identified in the privacy risk assessment to limit personally identifiable information contained in visitor access logs. Typical: the visitor's name and organization, the person visited, the purpose of the visit, the date and times of entry and departure, the badge issued and the escort; the type of identification checked, but not its number or a copy of it unless a law or regulation requires one] (PE-8(3)). Record the decision in the minimization entry of the [privacy impact assessment](https://kston83.github.io/nist-guide/templates/reports/privacy-impact-assessment/), and remove any field, form or system setting that collects anything else. On a paper log, use one sheet per visitor, or a cover, so that visitors cannot read earlier entries.

### Federal systems

The National Archives and Records Administration's [General Records Schedule 5.6](https://www.archives.gov/files/records-mgmt/grs/grs05-6.pdf) (GRS Transmittal 35, May 2024), items 110 and 111, covers visitor processing records: destroy when 5 years old for areas requiring the highest level of security awareness, including Facility Security Level V, and when 2 years old for all other facility security areas, including Facility Security Levels I to IV, with longer retention allowed if required for business use. Under the Privacy Act, records retrieved by an individual's name or other identifier are a system of records ([5 U.S.C. § 552a(a)(5)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section552a&num=0&edition=prelim)), and an agency must give each individual it asks for information in one the notice that [§ 552a(e)(3)](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title5-section552a&num=0&edition=prelim) describes. As of October 2026.

- The "Records kept for" value shall be at least 5 years for a Facility Security Level V facility and at least 2 years for any other, as GRS 5.6 items 110 and 111 set, unless the agency's approved records schedule sets a different period. (PE-8a)
- Where the log is retrieved by a visitor's name or other identifier, it shall be covered by a published system of records notice, and the sign-in form or visitor management system shall present the Privacy Act statement that 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(3) requires. (PE-8(3))

## 3. Reviews

| Review date | Reviewed by | Period covered | Checks (missing departure times, badges not returned, visits outside hours, no escort, repeat visitors) | Anomalies found, and to whom reported | Next review |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Fill in: date] | [Fill in: name and title] | [Fill in: dates] | [Fill in: checks done] | [Fill in: anomalies and report date, or "none"] | [Fill in: date] |

## Register

| Visit ID | Date | Visitor | Identification checked | Person visited | Purpose | Areas | Badge | Escort | Entry and departure |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Fill in: ID] | [Fill in: date] | [Fill in: name and organization] | [Fill in: type of identification] | [Fill in: name and organization] | [Fill in: purpose] | [Fill in: areas] | [Fill in: badge number, returned or not] | [Fill in: name] | [Fill in: times] |