Template

Validation master plan template

A section-by-section VMP builder producing your plan skeleton for document control.

A VMP fails review for missing sections more often than weak content — no risk-based rationale, no deviation-during-validation handling, no periodic review triggers. This builder expands the seven items Annex 15 §1.5 expects into eleven working sections, states what each must cover, and captures your draft or reference per section.

Free · Excel workbook · unlocks in seconds
See the validation pack
Validation master plan template — the Excel workbook you download, showing its sections and columns

What the template covers

The workbook walks 11 VMP sections — from purpose and scope through risk-based approach, documentation standards and acceptance-criteria philosophy to schedule — each row pairing what the section must cover with a content/reference cell, an owner, and a Draft / In review / Approved / N-A dropdown, plus an Instructions tab and a worked example.

  • The seven items EudraLex Vol 4 Annex 15 §1.5 expects a VMP to cover, expanded into eleven working sections
  • What each section must cover, stated per row
  • Risk-based approach and GAMP-category depth rationale
  • Change and deviation handling during validation
  • Periodic review and revalidation triggers, schedule and references

Frequently asked questions

What is a validation master plan?

The top-level planning document that defines what your organisation validates, on what risk basis, by whom, to what documentation standard, and on what schedule — expected by EU GMP Annex 15 §1.5 and structured in practice around GAMP 5 for computerised systems.

How is a VMP different from a validation plan or protocol?

The VMP is the site- or programme-level umbrella; individual validation plans and IQ/OQ/PQ protocols sit beneath it and inherit its policies. Inspectors read the VMP first to understand whether your validation programme is designed or ad hoc.

Does a small company need a VMP?

Scaled to size, yes — the expectation is a documented, risk-based plan, not a large document. The eleven sections here can each be a paragraph; what matters is that none is silently absent.

See this discipline running in a governed eQMS

Complere connects these records end to end — with an immutable, database-enforced audit trail on the audit-trail tables and inspection-ready retrieval.