Roles and Owners in Standards
Owners in the Standards module are assigned at the requirement level, but the source of that assignment can come from the adoption default, a direct user choice, or a named site role. This article explains how site roles, the Role Holders page, the Default Owner setting, and requirement-level owner metadata work together.
Site roles and what they can do
Site roles allow you to assign people or companies to a named role that can be reused across your standards. An example may be a Data Protection Officer. You are then able to see all of the requirements fulfilled by that role and also re-assign it to update all of those requirements at once. A history is kept of who held the role and when.
Role Holders page
The Role Holders page lists the named accountability roles at your site and their current holders. It is titled Role Holders.
To view this page, you need to be at least a Member for the Standards module. Without access, the page shows:
You do not have permission to view role holders. Please contact your administrator.
When roles exist, the page shows the count of roles and requirements that reference them, such as X role(s) · Y requirement(s). You can expand a role to review holder history and assignments. If no roles exist yet, the empty state reads:
No Role Holders Yet
Create named roles such as Quality Manager or DPO and assign holders. Requirements can reference these roles when configuring compliance.
Managers and Admins can create roles and change holders from this page.
Default Owner
When you adopt a standard, the adoption wizard and the standards settings page include a Default Owner section. This sets the owner that will be pre-filled on each requirement when the standard is adopted or when adoption settings are later edited. For step-by-step instructions, see Set a default owner for a standard.
The Default Owner control offers two assignment paths:
Path | What it does |
|---|---|
Site Role | Use a named site role so holder changes cascade automatically. The selector shows Select a site role (optional). If no eligible roles exist, the message is No roles with Standards access. |
Direct User | Assign a user directly as the default Owner. The picker is restricted to users with Standards access at the site and shows the helper text: Only users with Standards access at this site can be assigned as Owner. |
If no default owner is set, the display label reads None — assign per requirement.
How default owners cascade
A default Owner assignment cascades to requirements that have an Owner slot but do not already have an explicit override:
On adoption, in-scope requirements receive the default Owner unless they already have an explicit Owner assignment.
When adoption settings are edited, a changed default Owner cascades only to requirements that have not been overridden at the requirement level.
Clearing an explicit requirement-level Owner reverts that requirement to the adoption default if one exists.
Explicit requirement-level Owners are never overwritten by a default Owner change.
Requirement owner states
In the requirement detail metadata, the Owner field shows one of the following states to indicate how the current assignment was determined:
State label | Meaning |
|---|---|
Not Required | The requirement does not define an owner role. |
Not Assigned | The owner role exists but has no filled assignment. |
Inherited from adoption default | The owner is inherited from the default set during adoption. |
Direct assignment | A user was assigned directly to this requirement, overriding any default. |
Via site role … | The owner is determined by the current holder of a named site role. The label includes the role name. |
Validation rules
The system enforces the following rules for default and requirement-level Owners:
Only users who have Standards access at the site can be selected as a direct default Owner.
A site-role default must point to an existing, unarchived site role whose holder has Standards access.
If the default Owner is set to a direct user who lacks Standards access, the error message is: The default Owner must be assigned to a user with Standards access at this site.
If you cannot see the Role Holders page or the Default Owner control, verify your site role in Settings > User Management.
Next steps
For step-by-step instructions on reviewing or changing role holders, see Manage site roles in Standards. To set a default owner for a standard, see Set a default owner for a standard.
To assign role holders on an adopted requirement, see Assign roles to a requirement.