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Management of Change (MOC) is a formal process for evaluating, approving, implementing, and documenting changes to a facility, process, equipment, or procedure before they are introduced.
MOC is used to identify safety, environmental, operational, and technical risks that could result from a proposed change. It is particularly important in process industries such as oil and gas, LNG, chemicals, utilities, pharmaceuticals, and other asset-intensive industries.
MOC is a physical and procedural change discipline. It should not be confused with change control for master data, which governs how the data records describing assets are updated.
The two processes are closely related. A facility change managed through MOC will often require corresponding updates to tags, drawings, equipment data, maintenance information, and other asset records.
An MOC is typically required when a permanent or temporary change falls outside the facility's approved design or operating basis.
Examples include:
A true like-for-like replacement may be handled differently if it remains within the approved design basis and the organization's procedures allow it.
Organizations should define their own MOC criteria and approval requirements based on applicable regulations, standards, risks, and internal procedures.
A typical Management of Change procedure follows a controlled sequence from the initial request through implementation and closure.
The proposed change should be clearly defined, including what is changing, why the change is required, and which equipment, processes, systems, or procedures may be affected.
The proposed change is evaluated for potential safety, environmental, operational, and technical consequences.
The assessment may also identify impacts on engineering information, maintenance requirements, documentation, training, and connected systems.
Relevant engineering, operations, maintenance, safety, and other responsible stakeholders review the proposed change.
Approval confirms that the impacts have been assessed and required actions identified before implementation.
The physical, technical, or procedural change is carried out according to the approved scope.
Associated actions such as documentation updates, system changes, and communication or training should be coordinated with the implementation.
A physical change often creates an information change.
Affected information may include:
These records should be updated so that the documented asset continues to reflect the physical facility.
Before closure, the organization should verify that the approved change and required follow-up actions have been completed.
The completed MOC provides traceability of what changed, why it changed, who reviewed and approved it, and which associated information was updated.
An approved MOC that is not reflected in engineering documentation and asset data can create a gap between the physical facility and its documented state.
For example, replacing a pump with a different model may affect more than the physical equipment. Manufacturer information, technical attributes, spare parts, maintenance requirements, drawings, supplier documentation, and operational system records may also need to change.
This is where MOC connects directly with as-built documentation and asset information governance.
The objective is to maintain a clear connection between:
What changed → why it changed → what was approved → what information was affected → what was updated
This helps engineering, maintenance, and operations work from information that accurately represents the current facility.
Equipment changes can affect tag status, equipment attributes, relationships, and associated documentation.
A governed Master Tag Register (MTR) provides a controlled reference for identifying which tags and equipment records are affected by an approved change.
An MOC may require:
Connecting MOC with the Master Tag Register helps maintain consistency between approved engineering changes and authoritative asset records.
Management of Change and master data change control address related but different questions.
Management of Change asks:
Is this physical, technical, or procedural change acceptable, and have its risks and impacts been properly reviewed?
Change control for master data asks:
Has the resulting change to tag, equipment, attribute, or other master data been made correctly, by an authorized person, with the appropriate approval and audit trail?
A facility change may therefore pass through both processes.
MOC governs the proposed facility or process change, while master data change control governs how the resulting information changes are reflected in authoritative asset records.
Management of Change is an important element of process safety because modifications can introduce hazards that were not considered in the original design or operating procedures.
A structured MOC process helps organizations evaluate these risks before implementation rather than discovering their consequences after the change has been made.
For covered processes in the United States, Management of Change is also an element of OSHA Process Safety Management requirements.
Depending on the organization and applicable requirements, an MOC assessment may consider the technical basis for the change, safety and health impacts, required procedure modifications, authorization requirements, and whether the change is temporary or permanent.
Management of Change can be administered through documents, spreadsheets, workflow systems, or dedicated MOC software.
Digital MOC workflows can help organizations manage:
For asset-intensive organizations, however, recording the approval is only part of the process.
The resulting changes to equipment, tags, drawings, attributes, and operational records also need to be controlled so that asset information remains synchronized with the approved facility state.
Sharecat supports the asset information changes that result from an approved MOC.
When equipment, tags, technical attributes, drawings, documents, or relationships are affected by a change, the resulting updates need to be captured through a governed information process.
Sharecat helps maintain controlled tag and equipment records and their associated information, providing traceability between approved changes and the documented state of the asset.
The Master Tag Register can be used to maintain affected tag and equipment information, while governed change control helps ensure that updates to authoritative asset records are reviewed, traceable, and consistently reflected across the information environment.
This helps close the gap between approving the physical change and updating the information that describes it.
MOC stands for Management of Change. It is a structured process for evaluating, approving, implementing, and documenting changes that could affect a facility, process, equipment, procedures, or associated risks.
Management of Change in process safety is the formal evaluation and control of changes that could introduce new safety, environmental, or operational risks.
MOC can be triggered by changes to equipment, process conditions, safety systems, engineering designs, materials, control systems, or procedures. The specific criteria depend on the organization's MOC procedure and applicable requirements.
A Management of Change procedure defines how proposed changes are identified, assessed, reviewed, approved, implemented, documented, and closed.
Not necessarily. A true like-for-like replacement may not require a full MOC if it remains within the approved design basis and meets the organization's criteria. Non-identical substitutions or other changes that affect design, operation, or risk generally require additional review.
No. MOC governs physical, technical, or procedural changes and their associated risks. Master data change control governs how resulting changes to asset records and attributes are authorized, implemented, and documented.
Management of Change software provides digital workflows for managing change requests, impact assessments, approvals, actions, documentation, audit trails, and closure.
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