Business Continuity Planning Checklist

Business continuity planning: making sure the important work keeps running

The first thing to do is set out the purpose of the Business Continuity Plan, including how you will prioritise business functions for recovery during emergencies. Record the inspection date, who prepared it, and the location, and write down the instructions that will guide everyone involved. With that in place, the rest of the checklist gives you a structured way to work through the risks and the recovery strategy.

How to work through the checklist

The checklist is organised into four sections. 1. **Inspection** — capture the inspection date, who prepared it, the location, and the signature and timestamps that close it out. 2. **Scope and Objectives** — state the purpose of the BCP, including the prioritisation of business functions for recovery, and the instructions that accompany it. 3. **Risk Operations and Recovery Planning** — describe the operation, carry out an impact assessment on business continuity, record the impact description, and set out the recovery strategy. 4. **Operational Area** — apply the assessment across the area of the business you are planning for. > Work through each section in turn. The scope and objectives come first because they frame every decision that follows — you cannot prioritise functions for recovery until you have said what the plan is for.

Assessing impact and setting recovery priorities

The heart of the checklist is the impact assessment on business continuity. Start by describing the operation so that everyone reading the plan understands what is being protected. Then assess the impact on continuity and use the **Critical, High, Medium and Low** scale to rank it — this is what lets you compare one function against another on the same footing. Record the impact description in plain terms, so the reasoning behind each ranking is visible to the people who will act on it. From there, set out the recovery strategy, and state how you will prioritise business functions for recovery during emergencies. Keep the tasks and responsibilities you define tied to the designated team members who will carry them out.

Closing out the inspection

Record the real start and end dates of the inspection, sign the checklist, and note when it was finished. That record shows when the planning work was done and who was accountable for it, which is what makes the completed checklist useful the next time you review it — or the moment you have to put the plan into action.

Frequently Asked Questions

A business continuity plan (BCP) sets out how your organisation keeps its most important functions running — or restores them quickly — during and after an emergency. This checklist helps you define the scope of the plan, identify which business functions are at risk, and outline the tasks and responsibilities that the designated team members will carry out.

The checklist is organised into sections covering inspection details, the scope and objectives of the plan, risk operations and recovery planning, and the operational area. It begins by recording when the inspection was conducted, who prepared it, and the location, before moving into the substance of the plan itself.

Start by recording the inspection date, who prepared it, and the location. Then set out the purpose of the BCP, including how you will prioritise business functions for recovery during emergencies, and document the instructions that will guide those involved.

You describe the operation itself and carry out an impact assessment on business continuity, recording the impact description and the recovery strategy that follows from it. This is where you establish which functions matter most and how they will be brought back.

The checklist uses a single answer scale of Critical, High, Medium and Low, which you apply when assessing the impact on business continuity. This lets you rank functions and impacts consistently when you prioritise recovery.

The inspection captures the real start date and real end date, and the plan is signed off with a signature recorded on the checklist. Together these give an auditable record of when the planning inspection took place and who completed it.

Written by

Arne Reis

Founder

Process optimizer with 25 years of expertise, focused on operational excellence in quality, maintenance, EHS, and commissioning. Emphasizes innovative solutions and top-quality standards.

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