Create approval definitions

---
title: Create approval definitions
description: Use approval definitions to define a set of criteria that are evaluated automatically before the policy is marked as approved.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-service-management/change-management/create-approval-definitions.html
release: australia
product: Change Management
classification: change-management
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Creating change approval policies, Use, Change Management, IT Service Management]
---

# Create approval definitions

Use approval definitions to define a set of criteria that are evaluated automatically before the policy is marked as approved.

## Before you begin

In the approval definitions, you can define to determine

-   If the approval is user or group based.
-   If it should automatically approve or reject on behalf of a user.
-   If a response to the approval is required.

Role required: change\_manager or admin

**Note:** Approval definitions can be applied only once if multiple applied decisions have the same approval definitions associated with them.

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Change** > **Change Policy** > **Approval Definitions**.

2.  Select **New**.

3.  On the form, fill in the fields.

<table id="choicetable_tjf_kp1_1gb"><thead><tr><th align="left" id="d265196e101">

Field

</th><th align="left" id="d265196e104">

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td id="d265196e110">

**Name**

</td><td>

Name of the approval definition.

</td></tr><tr><td id="d265196e119">

**Mandatory**

</td><td>

Option that, when selected, makes the change approval policy wait until there is a response from the approval generated by the definition.

</td></tr><tr><td id="d265196e128">

**Approval action**

</td><td>

Type of approval record to create.-   **Approve**: Generates an approval record with the state set to **Approved**. Assign the user to associate with the record in the **User** field.
-   **Reject**: Generates an approval record with the state set to **Rejected**. Assign the user to associate with the record in the **User** field.
-   **Add a user approval**: Adds an approval record for the user specified in the **User** field.

If the approval is necessary before the policy is approved, select the **Mandatory** check box.

-   **Add a group approval**: Adds approval records for the members of the group listed in the **Group** field.

If the approval is necessary before the policy is approved, select the **Mandatory** check box.

When the **Add a group approval** action is selected, the **Wait for** field determines when an approval action should be considered met.

</td></tr><tr><td id="d265196e197">

**Approver source**

</td><td>

Source of the user or group approver.-   **Approval Definition**: enables the selection of a specific user or group.
-   **Change Request**: enables the user or group to be determined dynamically through a reference field from the Change Request \[change\_request\] table.


</td></tr><tr><td id="d265196e220">

**Wait for**

</td><td>

Determines the approval timing.-   **First response**: waits for the first response from the group.
-   **All responses**: waits for all responses from the group. All members of the group must approve for the approval decision to be approved.
-   **Percentage of users**: Set a percentage of users required for approval in the Percentage field. The possible values are:
    -   Empty: The first response satisfies the approval decision.
    -   Less than or equal to 0%: The first response satisfies the approval decision.
    -   Greater than or equal to 100%: All responses are required.
    -   Between 0 and 100%: The specified percentage of responses is required.
 **Note:**

The percentage is rounded to the nearest integer. 2.49 would round to 2, whereas 2.5 would round to 3.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>    **Note:** When adding users or groups to which you want to send the approval, select **Approval Definition** in the **Approver source** field.

4.  Select **Submit**.


**Parent Topic:**[Creating change approval policies](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/it-service-management/change-management/using-change-approval-policies-cf.md)