PE-7: Visitor Control

The pe-7: visitor control requirement means you must formally control and record visitor access to facilities and areas where your system components or federal data are processed, stored, or accessed. Operationalize it by defining “visitor,” requiring authorization and identity verification, issuing time-bound badges, escorting where required, logging all activity, and retaining evidence that the process runs consistently. ¹

Key takeaways:

• Define visitor rules per space type (lobby, office, data center, secure room), then enforce them with badges, escorts, and logs.
• Make logs reviewable and retainable evidence: who, why, where, when, escort, and exit confirmation.
• Assign a control owner and keep recurring artifacts ready for assessment (procedure, training, visitor logs, exceptions). ²

PE-7 sits in the Physical and Environmental Protection family of NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 and is assessed the same way most physical controls are assessed: the assessor will ask for the rule, walk the process, and test evidence that it works in practice. ²

Most gaps are not about buying new badge systems. They come from unclear definitions (who counts as a visitor), inconsistent treatment of third parties (cleaning staff, maintenance, delivery, auditors, applicants), and missing evidence (logs that cannot be produced, approvals that are informal, exceptions that are undocumented). If your organization supports federal information systems or operates contractor systems handling federal data, PE-7 becomes a baseline expectation for facility access governance and assessment readiness. ²

This page focuses on requirement-level execution: how to translate PE-7 into a working visitor control procedure, how to scope it to the right spaces, how to run it with Facilities and Security, and what artifacts you need on hand so an exam or audit does not become a scavenger hunt. ²

Regulatory text

Framework requirement: “NIST SP 800-53 control PE-7.” ³

Operator interpretation: PE-7 requires you to implement controlled visitor access to your facilities and to manage visitors in a way that reduces unauthorized physical access risk. In practice, auditors look for three things:

1. Defined rules for visitor access to areas that matter for the system,
2. Consistent execution of those rules (authorization, identification, escorting, logging), and
3. Evidence that you can produce on demand and that supports traceability from entry to exit. ²

Plain-English interpretation (what PE-7 expects)

Treat every non-authorized person as a visitor and control their movement anywhere they could reach system components or sensitive information. That includes spaces with:

• Servers, network gear, endpoints, removable media storage, secure printing, backup media, or comms closets
• Work areas where screens, whiteboards, or paper records expose federal data
• Shipping/receiving zones if they create a path into secure areas

Visitor control is a process requirement, not a technology requirement. A modern badge system helps, but PE-7 is satisfied only when you can show that authorization and logging happen consistently and that exceptions are managed. ²

Who it applies to (entity and operational context)

Applies to:

• Federal information systems (agency-operated environments)
• Contractor systems handling federal data (including managed services, SaaS, hosting, and on-prem contractor environments used to process/store/access federal data) ²

Operational contexts where PE-7 is commonly assessed:

• Corporate HQ, branch offices, call centers, support centers
• Data centers (owned or co-lo), secure cages/rooms, MDF/IDF closets
• Warehouses and staging areas holding IT assets or media
• Any leased space where you control entry (or share responsibility with a landlord)

Third-party nuance: PE-7 includes visitors who are part of your broader third-party ecosystem: vendors, consultants, auditors, delivery drivers, building trades, and temporary labor. Many organizations incorrectly treat “vendors we trust” as non-visitors; assessors usually still expect visitor governance unless those individuals are formally onboarded with equivalent authorization and access controls. ²

What you actually need to do (step-by-step)

1) Scope the spaces that require visitor control

Create a short “PE-7 in-scope areas” list tied to your system boundary:

• Restricted areas: data center, network closets, secure media storage
• Controlled areas: office floors where federal data is accessed
• Public areas: lobby, reception, shared conference rooms

Document which rules apply to each category (badge type, escort required, photography rules, device restrictions). ²

2) Define “visitor” and “authorized personnel”

Write definitions that eliminate edge cases:

• Visitor: anyone without an active employee/contractor badge that grants independent access to the area
• Authorized personnel: individuals with approved physical access rights, identity proofing completed, and access recorded in your access control system

Call out special populations: interview candidates, delivery drivers, cleaning crews, on-call maintenance, and third-party field engineers. ²

3) Establish entry, identification, and authorization rules

A workable minimum set:

• Pre-authorization by a sponsor for non-routine visits to controlled/restricted areas
• Identity verification at check-in (how strict depends on the area)
• Badge issuance that is visually distinct for visitors and expires at end of visit
• Access limitation to approved areas only

If you use a visitor management system, configure mandatory fields so people cannot “skip” the reason for visit, sponsor, or areas visited. ²

4) Escort rules and responsibilities

Write the escort standard by area type:

• Restricted areas: escort required unless the visitor is formally provisioned as authorized personnel
• Controlled areas: escort required for first-time visitors or where sensitive screens/records are visible
• Public areas: escort optional, but keep visitors contained

Operational detail that matters in audits: define what “escort” means (line-of-sight, no badge passback, visitor never left alone, escort retrieves badge at exit). ²

5) Visitor logging (what to capture)

Capture enough detail to reconstruct the visit:

• Visitor name, organization, and contact (as appropriate)
• Date/time in and out
• Sponsor/host name
• Areas visited (especially restricted areas)
• Badge ID (or another unique identifier)
• Escort name (if applicable)
• Purpose of visit / ticket or work order reference

Decide retention based on your overall record retention policy and assessment needs, then enforce it consistently. ²

6) Manage exceptions without creating a backdoor

You will have exceptions (emergency repairs, after-hours access, VIP visits). Require:

• Documented approval (who approved, why)
• Compensating controls (escort, limited route, time box, photos prohibited)
• Post-visit review for restricted area access

Assessors tolerate exceptions; they do not tolerate undocumented exceptions. ²

7) Train the humans who run the control

Train reception, security guards, facilities staff, and frequent sponsors. Cover:

• How to challenge tailgating
• What IDs are acceptable and for which areas
• How to record and correct log errors
• What to do if a visitor refuses the process

Keep training completion evidence aligned to roles. ²

8) Build assessment-ready control mapping and ownership

Assign a control owner (often Facilities or Corporate Security) and a compliance owner (GRC) to maintain:

• Procedure currency
• Evidence collection cadence
• Exception review

Daydream fits here as the operational glue: map PE-7 to an owner, define the procedure, and schedule recurring evidence pulls (visitor logs, approvals, exception register) so you are not assembling artifacts under audit pressure. ²

Required evidence and artifacts to retain

Keep these artifacts in a single control file (or control record) so you can answer requests quickly:

1. Visitor Control Procedure (PE-7)

• Definitions, area categories, authorization, ID checks, escort, logging, exception handling ²

2. List/map of in-scope facilities/areas

• What is restricted vs controlled vs public; tie to your system boundary ²

3. Visitor logs (sample set for the assessment period)

• Must show entry + exit, sponsor, areas, badge identifier ²

4. Evidence of enforcement

• Badge templates, signage photos, turnstile/door policy excerpts, receptionist checklist ²

5. Exception register and approvals

• After-hours visits, emergency access, deviations, and compensating controls ²

6. Training records

• Reception/security and sponsor guidance distribution or completion ²

Common exam/audit questions and hangups

Expect these lines of inquiry:

• “Show me how a visitor gets into the building and into a restricted area.”
• “How do you prevent a visitor from wandering or tailgating?”
• “Can you produce visitor logs for a requested time window?”
• “Who approves access for third-party technicians? Where is that recorded?”
• “What happens if the receptionist is out and deliveries arrive?”
• “How do you handle shared buildings and shared lobbies?”

Hangup pattern: you have a policy, but the assessor finds a gap between policy and front-desk practice (missing sponsor, incomplete exit times, inconsistent badge return). ²

Frequent implementation mistakes (and how to avoid them)

• Mistake: treating recurring third parties as “not visitors.”
  Fix: either onboard them as authorized personnel with formal access provisioning, or keep them in the visitor process every time. ²

• Mistake: logs exist but are not searchable or exportable.
  Fix: test retrieval quarterly by pulling a sample period and validating required fields are present. ²

• Mistake: escort policy is vague.
  Fix: write escort rules by area type and define “escort” behavior so it is testable. ²

• Mistake: no documented exception path.
  Fix: add a short exception workflow with required approvals and post-visit review for restricted areas. ²

• Mistake: scope creep or scope neglect.
  Fix: tie PE-7 scope to your system boundary and update when facilities change or you add a new secure room. ²

Enforcement context and risk implications

No public enforcement cases were provided in the source catalog for PE-7, so you should treat this as an assessment-readiness and risk-management requirement rather than a control with a specific enforcement playbook in this dataset. ²

Risk implications are still concrete:

• Visitor access is a direct path to asset theft, unauthorized device connection, exposure of screens/paper records, and tampering with network or backup infrastructure.
• Weak visitor logs undermine incident response because you cannot reconstruct who was present in a sensitive area during an event. ²

Practical 30/60/90-day execution plan

First 30 days (stabilize and scope)

• Name the control owner and backup owner; document responsibilities. ²
• Define in-scope areas and classify them (restricted/controlled/public).
• Draft or refresh the Visitor Control Procedure with clear definitions, escort rules, and minimum log fields.
• Run a walkthrough at one representative site (reception to restricted area) and record gaps.

Days 31–60 (implement consistently and collect evidence)

• Configure visitor management logging fields; standardize badge appearance and expiration.
• Train reception/security and frequent sponsors; publish a one-page sponsor checklist.
• Stand up an exception register and approval flow for after-hours/emergency visits.
• Start a recurring evidence pull (monthly or quarterly) for logs and exceptions, stored under the PE-7 control record. ²

Days 61–90 (test like an auditor)

• Perform an internal control test: sample visits, verify sponsor approvals, confirm entry/exit times, check escort compliance for restricted areas.
• Validate log retention and retrieval: confirm you can export a requested date range quickly and that it contains required fields.
• Update the procedure based on findings; document corrective actions and completion.
• If you use Daydream, automate evidence requests to Facilities/Security and attach artifacts to the PE-7 record on a fixed cadence. ²

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a visitor management system to meet PE-7?

No. PE-7 is satisfied by a controlled process with reliable logging and enforcement. A system helps with consistency and evidence retrieval, which is what assessments usually stress. ²

Are delivery drivers “visitors” under PE-7?

If they enter controlled or restricted areas, treat them as visitors and apply check-in, badging, escort, and logging. If they remain in a public receiving area with no path into sensitive spaces, document that boundary and keep them contained. ²

What about third-party technicians who come in regularly?

Either onboard them as authorized personnel with formal physical access provisioning, or run them through the visitor workflow every time. The failure mode is informal “known visitor” access with no logs. ²

How detailed do visitor logs need to be?

Detailed enough to reconstruct who was present, why they were there, what areas they accessed, and when they left. If you cannot answer those questions from the log, your log fields are too thin. ²

Do visitors always need escorts?

Not always, but you should require escorts for restricted areas unless the individual is formally authorized for unescorted access. Document escort requirements by area type so the rule is consistent and testable. ²

What evidence do auditors ask for first?

They usually start with the written procedure and then ask for visitor logs for a selected period, plus proof the process is enforced (badges/signage) and that exceptions are controlled. Keep those artifacts pre-packaged under the PE-7 control record. ²

Footnotes

1. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5; NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 OSCAL JSON

2. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

3. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 OSCAL JSON