Form library · Quality and compliance
Business continuity plan template
For people planning and exercising business continuity arrangements. Record plan ownership, critical activities and response and communications. Try the form below, see every question or download a blank PDF or Word copy.
Ready to use from the form library, and every question is yours to edit. Trial from £1, cancel any time.
Try it on your phone
Try it on this phone
Fill in the business continuity plan and exercise on your phone now
See how the business continuity plan and exercise looks on your phone
Scan the code with your phone camera. It opens the real form, no sign-up needed.
Open the live example and fill it in, just as your team would on site. No sign-up needed.
See it on this phoneEvery question is editable. Add this form to your account, then change the wording, add or remove questions and options, and make it fit your own jobs.
What does continuity planning involve?
Government guidance treats business continuity as preparation for disruption and recovery of essential activities. Cyber risks also need appropriate management. Set priorities from the organisation’s actual dependencies, then exercise and review the arrangements.
Last updated . Facts checked by the SiteSurvey team on 6 October 2026 against GOV.UK business continuity guidance and NCSC cyber risk management.
Try the business continuity plan and exercise form live
Answer a few questions and watch it adapt. Your answers are not saved, and any photos you add are deleted within the hour.
This is the real form as your team would use it: questions appear as you answer, scores work themselves out and you can add photos and signatures. No sign-up needed.
Want to see one filled in? See a completed business continuity plan and exercise report (PDF), made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit.
Fill it in on a phone or tablet
Your team completes the business continuity plan and exercise on site in the SiteSurvey app on iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. The project name and address fill in for them, it works without signal, and it syncs when the device is back online with photos kept against the question they answer.
Customers and subcontractors do not need the app: send them a link and they can fill it in from any browser.
Every question in the business continuity plan and exercise template
A business continuity record covering critical services, disruption triggers, recovery priorities, dependencies, communications and exercise findings. 6 sections and 35 questions. Follow-up questions and guidance appear only when an answer calls for them, so the person on site never sees the ones that do not apply.
Make it your own: every question is editable
This is a starting point, not a fixed form. Once it is in your SiteSurvey account you can reword any question, add or remove questions, sections and answer options, and add your own logo, so it fits the way your team works and the jobs you do.
Details you only enter once
Add this form to a project in SiteSurvey and it fills in what the project already knows, so nobody on site retypes it and every form on the job uses the same names. Anything filled in can still be changed.
- Project: the project name
- Site or premises address: the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisation: the project's customer
Record details and scope
- ProjectShort answer
Filled in from the project in SiteSurvey.
Fills in from the project name - Site or premises addressShort answerFills in from the site address, from the space or the project
- Client or organisationShort answerFills in from the project's customer
- Record date*Date
- Person completing the record*Short answer
- CheckThis is an organisation-specific planning and exercise record. It is not an ISO 22301 certification, emergency service response plan or guarantee of recovery.
- CheckGovernment guidance treats business continuity as preparation for disruption and recovery of essential activities. Cyber risks also need appropriate management. Set priorities from the organisation’s actual dependencies, then exercise and review the arrangements.
Plan ownership
- Plan reference and revision*Short answer
- Plan owner and deputy*Short answer
- Services, locations and exclusions*Notes
- Disruption triggers and who can activate the plan*Notes
Critical activities
- Critical activityRepeat for each critical activity. Each one asks:
- Service and accountable owner*Short answer
- Impact of losing the service*Notes
- Agreed recovery time target and basis*Short answer
- Tolerable data loss where relevantShort answer
- People, premises, suppliers, equipment and informationNotes
- Alternative arrangements and minimum resourcesNotes
Response and communications
- Initial response and escalation responsibilities*Notes
- Role-based contact routes and secure directory referenceNotes
- Staff, customer and supplier communication arrangementsNotes
- Recovery sequence and verification before return to normalNotes
Exercise and review
- Exercise dateDate
- Scenario testedShort answer
- What worked and what failedNotes
Compare what happened in the exercise with the plan's expectations. Name the dependency and the follow-up owner.
- Plan changes and approval referenceNotes
- Next review dateDate
Actions and review
- Are further actions required?*Choose one
- Yes
- No
- Further actionRepeat for each further action. Each one asks:Shown when “Are further actions required?” is “Yes”
- Action and evidence reference*Notes
- Person responsible*Short answer
- Target dateDate
- Action status*Choose one
- Open
- In progress
- Completed
- Completion evidence*NotesShown when “Action status” is “Completed”
- Outstanding limitations and information to pass onNotes
- Record status*Choose one
- Ready for review
- Further work needed
- Work or use stopped
- Reviewed byShort answer
- Review dateDate
- Author signature*Signature
- CheckSigning records the information entered. It does not itself certify legal compliance, remove a limitation or authorise unsafe work.
Scope and responsibility
This is an organisation-specific planning and exercise record. It is not an ISO 22301 certification, emergency service response plan or guarantee of recovery.
What a useful entry looks like
What worked and what failed
Compare what happened in the exercise with the plan's expectations. Name the dependency and the follow-up owner.
The contact tree reached the recovery lead, but the alternate supplier's availability was not confirmed. Procurement owns the follow-up action.
Fictional example of record wording. Use the actual evidence and approved arrangements for your job; this is not a completed report or an instruction to carry out the work.
See it filled in
A completed business continuity plan and exercise report, made by SiteSurvey from a fictional site visit: every answer, the photos, the guidance that applied and the sign-off, ready to send as a PDF.
Business Continuity Plan and Exercise FAQs
How should I record “What worked and what failed”?
Compare what happened in the exercise with the plan's expectations. Name the dependency and the follow-up owner.
Does this restore systems automatically?
No. It records recovery priorities, responsibilities and references. Backups, restore procedures and technical recovery must be implemented and tested separately.
How are recovery targets chosen?
Record agreed targets and their basis for each critical activity. The form supplies no universal recovery time.
Can I record a rehearsal?
Yes. Record the scenario, date, results and changes, then assign follow-up actions.
What are the limits of this template?
This is an organisation-specific planning and exercise record. It is not an ISO 22301 certification, emergency service response plan or guarantee of recovery.
Can I complete this form on site and share the record?
In the SiteSurvey app the form works offline, with signatures recorded against the questions. Share the completed record as a PDF or a link. Dates and action owners are recorded fields; this form does not send reminders or update other systems.
Related
Related templates
Templates that go with the business continuity plan and exercise form
An IT risk assessment linking business services, threat scenarios, existing controls, treatment decisions, accountable owners and review evidence.
An event risk assessment covering setup, public opening and breakdown, crowd movement, contractors, weather, emergency arrangements and review.
Use this business continuity plan and exercise form with your team
Add it from the form library in one click, change any question, and every completed form becomes a branded PDF report.
Start your trial →