What is an RSAW? How can the RSAW help me? How do I use an RSAW?

NERC developed RSAW, a Reliability Standard Audit Worksheet in order to facilitate NERC’s and the Regional Entities’ assessment of a registered entity’s compliance with each NERC Reliability Standard. While the information included in the RSAW provides some of the methodology that NERC has elected to use to assess compliance with the requirements of the Reliability Standard, it should not be treated as a substitute for compliance with the Reliability Standard or viewed as additional Reliability Standard requirements.

In all cases, the Regional Entity should rely on the language contained in the reliability standard itself, and not on the language contained in the RSAW, to determine compliance with the reliability standard. Additionally, NERC reliability standards are updated on occasion, and each RSAW may not necessarily reflect the current version of the Reliability Standard. Therefore, it is imperative that entities treat each RSAW as a reference document only, and not as a substitute or replacement for the Reliability Standard. It is the responsibility of the registered entity to verify its continued compliance with the latest approved version of the Reliability Standards, by the applicable governmental authority, relevant to its registration status.

The NERC RSAW language contained within each RSAW provides a non‑exclusive list, for informational purposes only, of examples of the types of evidence a registered entity may produce or may be asked to produce to demonstrate compliance with each Reliability Standard. A registered entity’s adherence to the examples contained within an RSAW does not necessarily constitute compliance with the applicable reliability standard, and NERC and the Regional Entity using this RSAW reserve the right to request additional evidence from the registered entity that is not included in this RSAW. Additionally, an RSAW includes excerpts from FERC Orders and other regulatory references. The FERC Order cites are provided for ease of reference only and do not necessarily include all applicable Order provisions. In the event of a discrepancy between FERC Orders, and the language included in an RSAW, FERC Orders shall prevail.Each NERC Reliability Standard will have requirements (Example: R1, R2, R3, R3.1). To comply with these requirements each functional entity should review the standard and the accompanying Reliability Standard Audit Worksheet, or RSAW. The RSAW can help entities identify the types of evidence that an audit team will require as proof of compliance.

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