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SOP-002 — Document change management

Guide

SOP-002 — Document change management

Standard Operating Procedure · owner: Operations (Process Engineer) with Rules & Governance (rules) and The Archives (versioning). Layer: SOP/Runbook (docs/canon.md).

Purpose

A predictable path for changing any document, so changes are reviewed, approved by the right owner, versioned, and never lost.

Flow

flowchart LR
  P["Propose"] --> R{"Review"}
  R -->|approved| A["Approve"]
  A --> V["Version<br/>(Archivist)"]
  V --> Pub["Publish"]
  R -->|changes| P
  classDef s fill:#1d4ed8,color:#fff,stroke:#1e3a8a
  classDef d fill:#0f766e,color:#fff,stroke:#134e4a
  class P,A,V,Pub s
  class R d

Text fallback: Propose → Review → (changes requested? back to Propose) → Approve → Version (Archivist: first immutable, refresh latest, manifest) → Publish.

Approver by document class

Class Approver Reference
Rule (GR-#) Golden Rule → Principal GR-3 (co-create + approve)
Foundational doc (docs/) Documentarian → Principal —
Policy / handbook (hr/) Human Resources Policy Library
SOP / runbook / job aid Operations (or doc owner) this SOP
Architectural decision Principal recorded as an ADR

One home per decision (tie-break)

A decision is recorded in exactly one home — an ADR for one-off architectural choices; CLAUDE.md for durable rules; hr/policies/ for policies. Cross-link between them; never duplicate (see CONTRIBUTING.md).

Definition of Done (DoD)

A change is done only when:

  • [ ] Content reviewed and approved by the class owner above.
  • [ ] Archived by the Archivist (first immutable, latest refreshed) and scripts/archive-manifest.sh shows 0 drift.
  • [ ] Canon updated (docs/canon.md) if a doc was added/moved/retired.
  • [ ] Any Mermaid diagram validated (mermaid MCP) and carries a text fallback.
  • [ ] Template placeholders ({{PROJECT_NAME}}, {{PRINCIPAL}}) left intact.
  • [ ] Decision captured in its one home (GR-6); learnings → docs/knowledge/.
  • [ ] Pushed to the working branch and main fast-forwarded.