# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 MA-5 — Maintenance Personnel - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ma-5-maintenance-personnel - 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) › MA — Maintenance - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `MA-5`·high·Component: **Maintenance** ## What this control requires > Establish a process to authorize Maintenance personnel, maintain a list of authorized entities, verify non-escorted personnel's access authorizations, and designate competent personnel to supervise Maintenance activities. This control supports the Access Control System capability within the Maintenance family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control MA-5 ### In plain English Establish a process to authorize Maintenance personnel, maintain a list of authorized entities, verify non-escorted personnel's access authorizations, and designate competent personnel to supervise Maintenance activities. 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 **Maintenance**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control MA-5) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### 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. - **Access.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Process.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Authorize.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Maintenance.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, access control, access authorizations, system, personnel, identity, maintenance, capability. ## Evidence to collect - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Maintenance Personnel. ## Common pitfalls - 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. - [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.7.6** — Maintenance Personnel](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-7-6-maintenance-personnel) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.310(a)(2)(iv)** — Facility Access Controls - Maintain Maintenance Records](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-310-a-2-iv-facility-access-controls-maintain-maintenance-records) - [**CIS Controls v8 6.8** — Define and Maintain Role-Based Access Control](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/6-8-define-and-maintain-role-based-access-control) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control AC-16(4)** — Association Of Attributes By Authorized Individuals](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-4-association-of-attributes-by-authorized-individuals) - [**Control MA-5(5)** — Non-System Maintenance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ma-5-5-non-system-maintenance) - [**Control AC-16(2)** — Attribute Value Changes By Authorized Individuals](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-2-attribute-value-changes-by-authorized-individuals) - [**Control MA-5(1)** — Individuals Without Appropriate Access](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ma-5-1-individuals-without-appropriate-access) - [**Control MA-5(2)** — Security Clearances For Classified Systems](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ma-5-2-security-clearances-for-classified-systems) - [**Control AC-16(6)** — Maintenance Of Attribute Association](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-6-maintenance-of-attribute-association) ## 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 MA-5` Topics: governance riskidentity accesspolicy 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.