# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 PE-18(1) — Facility Site - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pe-18-1-facility-site - 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) › PE — Physical and Environmental Protection - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `PE-18(1)`·medium·Component: **Physical and Environmental Protection** ## What this control requires > Position system components in secure facility locations to minimize risks from physical and environmental threats. This control supports the Facility Siting Plan capability within the Physical and Environmental Protection family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control PE-18(1) ### In plain English Position system components in secure facility locations to minimize risks from physical and environmental threats. 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. ## 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 **Physical and Environmental Protection**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control PE-18(1)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### Physical Security **Inheritance.** For cloud-only operations, inherit physical controls from the provider's SOC 2 / ISO 27001 report and document the inheritance in the SoA. #### 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. - **Security.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Physical.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Protection.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Environmental.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, system, controls, protection, position, components, capability, threats. ## Evidence to collect - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. - **Infra Scan.** Continuous infrastructure-posture telemetry — AWS Config, Azure Policy compliance, GCP Organisation Policy, Wiz / Prisma findings. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Facility Site. ## 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 3.4.11** — Information Location](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-4-11-information-location) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.312(b)** — Audit Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-312-b-audit-controls) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.7.1** — Physical security perimeters](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-7-1-physical-security-perimeters) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control PE-18** — Location Of System Components](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pe-18-location-of-system-components) - [**Control PE-1** — Policy And Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pe-1-policy-and-procedures) - [**Control PE-23** — Facility Location](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pe-23-facility-location) - [**Control PE-12(1)** — Essential Mission And Business Functions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pe-12-1-essential-mission-and-business-functions) - [**Control AT-3(1)** — Environmental Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/at-3-1-environmental-controls) - [**Control PE-9(1)** — Redundant Cabling](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pe-9-1-redundant-cabling) ## 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 PE-18(1)` Topics: governance riskphysical securityenvironmental controlspolicy 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.