Templates and records · BRCGS · Clause 3.7

BRCGS corrective and preventive action record

BRCGS distinguishes three steps when a nonconformity occurs: correct it, understand the cause and prevent it recurring. All three have to be written down.

In one sentence

The BRCGS corrective and preventive action record documents, for each nonconformity, the immediate correction, the root cause analysis, the preventive action that stops it recurring, who owns it, the deadline and the check that it has been effective, because clause 3.7 is a fundamental requirement and the basis of the post-audit action plan.

Content reviewed on 17 October 2026

Where the standard requires it: BRCGS · Clause 3.7 Clause references follow the numbering of BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9. If your audit is already against a later issue, check the correspondence on brcgs.com.
Type of information: Mandatory record Record to be retained (3.7, fundamental requirement)
Who fills it in: Area manager and quality The area analyses and implements; quality checks effectiveness and closes
When: As soon as it is detected Effectiveness is checked once enough time has passed for the failure to have reappeared
How long it is kept: Shelf life plus 12 months, at least BRCGS requires a retention period to be set taking into account legislation, the customer and the product's shelf life, and as a minimum records must be kept for the shelf life plus twelve months (3.3).

What the standard requires

What BRCGS demands and what it leaves to your judgement

BRCGS requires a procedure covering identification of the nonconformity, correction, root cause analysis, preventive action to stop it recurring and verification that the action has been effective. Actions are assigned to people with sufficient authority and implemented within defined timescales.

The Standard uses "preventive action" for what other standards call corrective action: the action that addresses the cause. After the certification audit, the action plan includes the root cause of each nonconformity and a preventive action plan.

Trends also count: several similar nonconformities call for a common-cause analysis, not for each to be handled in isolation.

Read it in context: Senior management commitment and continual improvement, in the BRCGS Academy

Structure

Fields the template should include

Number, date and source
Description of the nonconformity and clause affected
Immediate correction and product affected
Root cause analysis and method
Preventive action, owner and deadline
Evidence of implementation
Check of effectiveness and result
Link to similar previous nonconformities

Example

Example: internal nonconformity at a fictitious sauce plant

Company, people and figures are fictitious: the example only shows what a properly completed record looks like.

Field	Content
Source	Weekly hygiene inspection · 8 April 2026
Nonconformity	Blue utensils (allergen area) on the allergen-free line
Correction	Immediate removal, line cleaned and egg protein strip test negative
Root cause	The allergen-free area's utensil cabinet was emptied during a shift change and there was no restocking
Preventive action	Minimum stock of utensils per area and a check at shift start-up · production · 30 April
Effectiveness	30 June: 12 inspections with no recurrence · effective
Similar	Second utensil incident this year: added to the allergen risk assessment

At the audit

Mistakes auditors commonly flag

Only the correction is recorded and the case is closed.
A root cause that describes the symptom: "the procedure was not followed".
Actions assigned to people without the authority to implement them.
No check of effectiveness, or one done on the same day.
Recurring nonconformities handled one by one.

In Kimobox

How this record is kept in Kimobox

1Any user can raise the nonconformity with its source and photos.
2The root cause is mandatory before moving on to the action.
3The action has an owner and a date, and the system warns you if it slips.
4Verification of effectiveness is scheduled within the same record; recurrences are shown together.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask us before getting started

Why does BRCGS speak of preventive action?

Because that is its term for the action that eliminates the cause to stop the nonconformity recurring, which ISO 9001 or IFS calls corrective action. Correction is what is done immediately about the problem.

Which root cause method does BRCGS require?

None in particular. Five whys, Ishikawa or another are fine if the cause recorded genuinely explains the failure. What it requires is that the analysis exists and is documented.

How are audit nonconformities answered?

With a plan setting out the correction, root cause and preventive action for each one, sent to the certification body with its evidence within the deadline the Standard sets.

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Sources

Where each figure comes from

References to the official text in force. If a standard is revised, this page is updated and the review date says so.

BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety, Issue 9 BRCGS · Published August 2022