Standard Change Request, the Justification field is showing as read-only.

[JuanGDev]

Hi everyone,
I’m currently exploring ServiceNow and noticed that on a Standard Change Request, the Justification field is showing as read-only.

Is this behaviour out-of-the-box (OOB), or is there some customisation that makes it read-only?

How can I check what is affecting this field?

So far, I right-clicked the form → Configure > All to review the Change Request configurations.

Any guidance on how to trace what is making this field read-only would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[Bhuvan · Accepted solution]

@JuanGDev 

You can refer below knowledge article for more information

https://support.servicenow.com/kb?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0750605

In addition to earlier details, please check standard change properties if the justification field is set as Read-Only. It could be set as per your Standard Change Request Process design.

As per community guidelines, you can accept more than one answer as accepted solution. If my response helped to answer your query, please mark it helpful & accept the solution.

Thanks,

Bhuvan

[svirkar420 · Accepted solution]

Hi @JuanGDev , No this is OOTB behaviour for standard change. This is happening because of the some UI policy or client script. You can check these by navigating to "change_request.CONFIG" here you will find all the configurations done on that particular table. Find the appropriate configuration and make it inactive. 

If this solution helped you Please Mark this solution as accepted and helpful as it will be helpful for other users as well.
Best Regards.
Saurabh V.

[svirkar420 · Accepted solution]

Hi @JuanGDev , No this is OOTB behaviour for standard change. This is happening because of the some UI policy or client script. You can check these by navigating to "change_request.CONFIG" here you will find all the configurations done on that particular table. Find the appropriate configuration and make it inactive. 

If this solution helped you Please Mark this solution as accepted and helpful as it will be helpful for other users as well.
Best Regards.
Saurabh V.

[ChallaR · Accepted solution]

hi @JuanGDev ,

NO this is not OOB behavior, i believe somewhere in script for action this has been set  .please find the below trouble shooting information -

Check UI Policies

• Go to the Change Request table (change_request).
• Navigate to UI Policies:
  System UI → UI Policies
• Filter by:
  • Table: change_request
  • Conditions: Look for ones applying to Standard Change (change_request.type == 'standard')
• Look for any UI Policy that sets Justification to read-only. 

Easy way open UI Policy Actions tab to see if Justification is being set to read-only.

2. Check Client Scripts

• Go to System Definition → Client Scripts
• Filter by:
  • Table: change_request
  • Type: onLoad
• Look for scripts that set g_form.setReadOnly('justification', true) or similar logic.

3. Check Dictionary Settings

• Right-click on the Justification field label → Configure Dictionary
• Check if the field is marked as Read-Only at the dictionary level.

4. Check View-Specific Form Layout

• Go to the form layout for the Standard Change view:
  • Right-click → Configure → Form Layout
• Ensure the field isn’t placed in a read-only section or overridden by a view-specific layout.

5. Check ACLs (Access Control Rules)

• Go to System Security → Access Control (ACL)
• Filter by:
  • Name: change_request.justification
• Check if there’s a read ACL that restricts write access based on roles or conditions.

Please check above mentioned way and let me know .

If this resolves your query please mark as complete and close the thread .

Thanks,

Rithika.ch 

[JuanGDev]

Hi @Bhuvan  

Thanks for sharing this article — it helped me identify the UI Policy responsible for making the justification field read-only.