Question · ISO/IEC 42001 · Annex A

How does ISO 42001 Annex A map to an AI audit?

Annex A lists 38 reference controls grouped under 9 control objectives (A.2 to A.10), from AI policy through data, lifecycle and third-party relationships.

AboutISO/IEC 42001 · Annex A
Legal forceVoluntary; normative for organizations certifying to ISO/IEC 42001
Applies from18 Dec 2023
Checked21 Oct 2026

01 / The answer

The short answer

Annex A is the control list a certification auditor checks an AI management system against. In the commonly reported count it has 9 control objectives (A.2 to A.10) and 38 controls, covering AI policy, internal organization, resources, impact assessment, the AI system life cycle, data, information for interested parties, use of AI systems, and third-party relationships. The organization must compare its risk treatment with every control and justify any exclusion. The auditor tests the controls it includes; a missing or unjustified control is a nonconformity. Only an accredited certification body can certify.
ISO/IEC 42001 · Annex A · checked 21 Oct 2026

02 / The rule

What ISO/IEC 42001 · Annex A requires

Annex A lists 38 reference controls grouped under 9 control objectives (A.2 to A.10), from AI policy through data, lifecycle and third-party relationships. It is the auditable control surface of a 42001 certification: organizations pick the controls their AI risk treatment needs and record the choices in a Statement of Applicability.

  1. 01Compare AI risk treatment against all Annex A controls and record included and excluded controls with justification.
  2. 02Maintain AI policies and internal roles (A.2, A.3) and document resources: data, tools, compute, people (A.4).
  3. 03Assess impacts of AI systems on individuals, groups and society, and document the assessments (A.5).
  4. 04Define and document the AI system lifecycle: requirements, design, verification and validation, deployment, operation and monitoring (A.6).

03 / Records

Records to keep

  1. 01Statement of Applicability covering all 38 Annex A controls
  2. 02AI system impact assessment documents
  3. 03Lifecycle records: verification and validation results, deployment and monitoring plans
  4. 04Data provenance and data quality records for training and evaluation data

Optional evidence · where Planisphere fits

Keep a record anyone can check

When your team meets a duty, Planisphere can seal the event it reports as a receipt.

01 · Your teamRecord the event

A disclosure shown, a review signed, a model change approved: the event your system reports.

02 · PlanisphereSeal it

The event becomes a sealed receipt, dated and attributed to whoever is signed in.

03 · AnyoneCheck it

Paste the receipt into Verify. No account or key.

A record supports your compliance evidence process. It is not a legal finding or a certification. Systems that call Planisphere's gate API can also hold or refuse an action before it runs.

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Related: ISO/IEC 42001 · Annex A: the full guide