Run a CAPA to closure

Last updated August 25, 2026

When to open one

A corrective action addresses the cause of a problem, not the problem itself. Reworking a defective batch is a treatment; changing the setup check that let the batch through is a corrective action. Open a CAPA when the same non-conformity could happen again.

The stages

The CAPA workflow tracker showing draft, action planning and in progress complete, with effectiveness and closed still ahead.
Five stages, and a CAPA sits in exactly one of them. The tracker is the fastest answer to "where is this?".

  1. Analysis. Record the root cause and how you arrived at it.

  2. Action planning. Add the actions, each with an owner and a due date.

  3. In progress. Owners complete their actions and record what they did.

  4. Verification. Someone other than the action owner checks that the cause is actually gone.

  5. Closure.

A CAPA cannot be closed while an action is still open, and an action cannot be completed before the CAPA is in progress. Both rules exist because a CAPA closed on paper is the single most common audit finding in this area.

Effectiveness

Verification asks one question: if the same conditions occurred again, would the same non-conformity occur? Answering it needs evidence from after the action was taken, which is why verification is a separate stage and not a checkbox.

Closing it

Closing is a decision, and the decision is written down. What you type here is what the next auditor reads when they ask why this CAPA stopped.

The close CAPA dialog with a closure decision field.
The closure decision is not optional wording - it is the record of why this was considered finished.

Next: find the root cause, which is where a CAPA that closes cleanly actually starts.

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