# Expiry and re-approval

A policy signed off two years ago and never looked at since is worse than no policy, because people trust it. Expiry brings approved pages back around on a schedule and tells everyone when they are due.

ℹ️

**Expiry is a re-review clock, not a response deadline.** It has no effect on a request still waiting for answers. The clock starts once the approval reaches approved or rejected.

![image-20260902-112820.png](https://help.gocapable.com/images/04456bee-2483-4fae-9828-ee4119ea4c4d.webp)

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## Two ways a page comes back

| **Trigger**             | **When**                 | **Who is asked again**              |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------- |
| **The page is edited**  | Immediately, on publish  | The same reviewers, same thresholds |
| **The deadline passes** | On the next hourly sweep | The same reviewers, all reset       |

Editing is covered on [How approvals work](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/how-approvals-work.html). If the approval came from a team, the team **current** members and settings are re-read first, so somebody who joined last week is included.

📝

Only an **exact date** at least a day ahead carries across an edit. Period based expiry is recalculated when the new round completes, so the clock runs from the new sign-off rather than the old one.

![image-20260902-112922.png](https://help.gocapable.com/images/cfdb314f-5c40-4912-af0f-ac47bf367143.webp)

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## Setting an expiry

Three places, and the more specific one wins.

| **Where**                       | **Applies to**                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The approval panel, on one page | That page. See [Request an approval](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/request-an-approval.html).                                     |
| A team configuration            | Everything that team approves in that space. See [Teams and assignment](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/teams-and-assignment.html). |
| Space settings                  | Every approval in the space. See [Space settings](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/space-settings.html).                             |

### The options

| **Option**                          | **Notes**                                                                |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| No expiry                           | The default. Stays approved until edited.                                |
| 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year | Counted from when the approval completes.                                |
| Custom interval                     | Days, weeks, months or years. A day interval cannot be lower than **7**. |
| Exact date                          | A fixed calendar date. Today or earlier moves to tomorrow.               |

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## What happens when it expires

An hourly job finds approvals past their deadline, resets every reviewer to in review, and notifies everyone. The page is no longer approved.

| **Before the deadline** | **After the sweep** |
| ----------------------- | ------------------- |
| APPROVED                | REVIEW              |

### Rejected pages expire too

Internally complete means approved _or_ rejected, and the clock treats both the same. A rejected page comes back for re-review on the same schedule as an approved one.

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## Finding what is about to lapse

Expiry dates are searchable and sortable, so you can build a standing view of everything due next month and work through it at a monthly meeting. See [Search and reporting](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/search-and-reporting.html).

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## A few things that catch people out

* Expiry is processed **hourly**. Do not build a process that depends on minute-level timing.
* An approval that never completes never expires, including one where everybody only commented.
* A pending approval only ever expires on an **exact date**. Relative periods need a decision first.
* Automatic publishing fires on approval only, never on rejection or expiry. See [Publishing](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/publishing.html).

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## Related

[How approvals workWhy expiry only starts after a decision.](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/how-approvals-work.html)

[Teams and assignmentSet expiry once for a whole team.](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/teams-and-assignment.html)

[Search and reportingBuild the expiring-soon report.](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/search-and-reporting.html)

[CompliancePeriodic review, and what auditors ask for.](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/compliance.html)

[Common questionsWhen the byline and banner disagree.](https://help.gocapable.com/approval/common-questions.html)

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_Nothing goes stale without somebody being told._