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Document Standard

Field Value
Reference STD-001
Type Standard
Version 1.00
Status Approved
Owner Technical Lead
Approver Board
Approval Record
Effective Date 2026-08-05
Next Review 2027-08-05
Review Requirements As defined in STD-001
Classification Internal

Purpose

This standard defines the conventions used for creating, naming, storing, reviewing, approving and maintaining BRSA controlled documents.

The objective is to ensure documentation is consistent, understandable and maintainable throughout the lifetime of the organisation.

Scope

This standard applies to all controlled documents stored within BRSA repositories.

This includes:

  • Policies
  • Procedures
  • Standards
  • Registers
  • Templates
  • Architecture Decision Records

Document Types

BRSA uses a deliberately small set of document types.

Type Purpose
Policy (POL) Defines organisational rules and intent
Procedure (PROC) Defines repeatable methods of working
Standard (STD) Defines mandatory conventions
Register (REG) Maintains records and evidence
Template (TMP) Provides reusable document structures
Architecture Decision Record (ADR) Records significant decisions and rationale

Additional document types should only be introduced where there is a clear benefit.

Markdown Tables

Markdown tables should prioritise readability of content over alignment of column spacing in source files.

Contributors do not need to manually adjust whitespace alignment when adding or modifying table rows.

Rendered document readability is the primary consideration.

Organisation Naming

Public-facing documents must identify the organisation by its full legal or recognised name at first use, followed by the abbreviation where applicable.

Example:

British Rabbit Smallholders Association (BRSA)

Internal documents may use the abbreviation after the organisation has been defined.

Document Naming

All controlled documents must follow this naming convention:

TYPE-NNN-short-name.md

Rules:

  • Type prefix identifies the document category.
  • Number is unique within the type.
  • Names use lowercase.
  • Words are separated with hyphens.
  • Spaces are not used.

Examples:

POL-101-privacy-notice.md
PROC-201-data-breach-response.md
STD-001-document-standard.md
ADR-001-engineering-principles.md

Document Metadata

All controlled documents must include:

  • Reference
  • Type
  • Version
  • Status
  • Owner
  • Approver
  • Approval Record
  • Effective Date
  • Next Review
  • Review Requirements
  • Classification

Document Status

Documents use the following lifecycle:

Status Meaning
Draft Being created or amended
Review Under review
Approved Authorised for use
Superseded Replaced by a newer document
Archived Retained for historical purposes

Classification

Every controlled document has a Classification field in its metadata table, recording its intended audience and access level. Valid values are:

  • Public — no restriction; published on the public website or public docs portal.
  • Internal — Committee members only; served under /internal on the governance portal, gated by Cloudflare Access (Committee policy).
  • Board — Trustees only; served under /board on the governance portal, gated by Cloudflare Access (Trustees policy).

Classification determines which folder a document lives in (docs/public/, docs/internal/, docs/board/) and is enforced structurally by that folder placement rather than by document content. There is no separate mechanism for marking a document as containing sensitive personal data (e.g. a home address) beyond assigning it the most restrictive applicable Classification — currently Board.

Classification is distinct from Status (§ Document Status), which tracks a document's position in its review lifecycle, not its audience.

Versioning

Version numbers follow this convention:

Change Version
Initial draft 0.x
Approved first release 1.0
Minor clarification x.1
Significant change x+1.0

The document owner determines the significance of a change.

Ownership and Approval

Every controlled document must have:

  • One named owner responsible for maintenance.
  • One approver responsible for authorisation.

The owner and approver may be the same person only where appropriate and approved.

Source and Generated Content

Markdown files are the authoritative source.

Generated outputs such as:

  • PDF documents
  • Website content
  • Published copies

must not be edited directly.

Generated content must be reproducible from source.

Archive and Retention

Documents must not be deleted solely because they are no longer current.

Superseded documents should be retained where they provide useful organisational history or evidence.

  • ADR-001 Engineering and Documentation Principles
  • TMP-001 Document Template

Review Requirements

Documents should be reviewed:

  • At the defined review date.
  • When legislation or organisational requirements change.
  • When the process or system described changes.
  • Following significant incidents or lessons learned.

Change History

Version Date Author Summary
0.10 YYYY-MM-DD Initial draft
0.50 2026-07-24 DC Version -> 0.50; Status -> Review
0.50 2026-08-05 DC Status -> Approved; Effective Date -> 2026-08-05; Last Reviewed -> 2026-08-05; Next Review -> 2027-08-05
1.00 2026-08-05 DC Version -> 1.00; Status -> Approved; Effective Date -> 2026-08-05; Last Reviewed -> 2026-08-05; Next Review -> 2027-08-05