# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CP-7(2) — Accessibility

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-2-accessibility
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5) › CP — Contingency Planning
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `CP-7(2)`·high·Component: **Contingency Planning**

## What this control requires

> Identify accessibility issues to alternate processing sites during area-wide disruptions and define mitigation actions to ensure continuity. This control supports the Accessibility capability within the Contingency Planning family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control CP-7(2)

### In plain English

Identify accessibility issues to alternate processing sites during area-wide disruptions and define mitigation actions to ensure continuity. In practice, this means you can prove you policy management-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

SP 800-53 is the catalogue every U.S. federal authorisation (FedRAMP, FISMA, CMMC) and most regulated industries point at. A missing control surfaces as a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) item that an Authorizing Official must approve before the Authority To Operate is granted or renewed.

This control is rated **high**. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation.

## What an auditor looks for

A 3PAO (FedRAMP) or Independent Assessor (NIST RMF) tests against NIST SP 800-53A assessment procedures. For each control they expect a documented implementation that addresses every assessment objective (Examine, Interview, Test) and an implementation summary in the System Security Plan.

Within **Contingency Planning**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control CP-7(2)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Business Continuity

**BC/DR.** Define RTO/RPO per service, test backup restoration quarterly, and run a tabletop of full-region failover annually.

**Backups.** Immutable backups (S3 Object Lock / Azure immutable storage / GCS bucket lock) plus an air-gapped copy for ransomware resilience.

#### Policy Management

**Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA.

### Operational checklist

-   **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Control.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Alternate.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Identify.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Contingency.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** management, actions, capability, policy.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Accessibility.

## Common pitfalls

-   DR plans that have never been tested in earnest, or that depend on an MFA token only one person can produce.
-   Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.

## How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

-   [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.30** — ICT readiness for business continuity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-30-ict-readiness-for-business-continuity)
-   [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.308(a)(5)(i)** — Security Awareness and Training](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-308-a-5-i-security-awareness-and-training)
-   [**BSI C5:2020 SP-01** — Documentation, communication and provision of policies and instructions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/sp-01-documentation-communication-and-provision-of-policies-and-instructions)
-   [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC2.3** — External Communication on Internal Control Matters](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc2-3-external-communication-on-internal-control-matters)
-   [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.13.15** — Session Authenticity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-13-15-session-authenticity)

## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

-   [**Control CP-7(4)** — Preparation For Use](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-4-preparation-for-use)
-   [**Control CP-7(6)** — Inability To Return To Primary Site](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-6-inability-to-return-to-primary-site)
-   [**Control CP-2(3)** — Resume Mission And Business Functions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-2-3-resume-mission-and-business-functions)
-   [**Control CP-1** — Policy And Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-1-policy-and-procedures)
-   [**Control CP-7** — Alternate Processing Site](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-7-alternate-processing-site)
-   [**Control CP-2(5)** — Continue Mission And Business Functions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-2-5-continue-mission-and-business-functions)

## References

-   [NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5](https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/risk-management/sp800-53-controls)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Control CP-7(2)`

Topics: governance riskbusiness continuitypolicy management

## Related compliance guidance

- [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): Start with the full NIST SP 800-53 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs.
- [NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC: a practical guide to protecting CUI in the cloud](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3): If your obligation is protecting CUI in your own systems for a federal or defence contract, this derived subset — not the full catalogue — is the requirement.
- [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most commercial SaaS already hold a SOC 2 Type 2, and FedRAMP 20x Class A is designed for providers that have one.
