Audit Overview By: Neal D. Stiemert The Audit One of the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard is that your registrar conducts audits to assure that your quality system complies with ISO 9001, customer and regulatory requirements. There are three types of required audits to get, and to remain, certified: Certification Audit Attributes An audit of your entire quality system. An audit team usually conducts the audit. Certification will not occur if you have one major finding or an excessive number of minor findings. The number of allowed minor findings is determined by the registrar. A major finding requires a re-audit by the registrar. All audit findings require written corrective action. If you pass the audit, your company is recommended for certification. Your certificate is good for a period of three years. Surveillance Audits - Type A Attributes The audit assures ongoing compliance. The audit is a limited scope audit of the quality system. It will cover management review, corrective action, document changes and progress towards continuous improvement targets. It will also cover internal quality audits and any findings documented during the previous audit. The audit usually is performed by one auditor. The frequency of surveillance audits is determined by you and the registrar. Surveillance Audits - Type B Attributes This particular audit is a re-audit of your entire quality system. This audit is conducted prior to the expiration of your certificate. It will be 2/3 of the audit days of a certification audit (e.g. if your certification audit was 3 days, this surveillance audit will last 2 days). When you pass the re-audit, you will be issued a new certificate that is good for three years. Notes about the Registrar There are about 100 registrars. Most registrars are very good, but some do not deserve to be in business. Be certain that your regisrar is accredited and acceptable to your customer (some are not). If your auditor is writing you up for something that is not in the standard, you should challenge them. You have the right to challenge any audit findings and to refuse to let any auditor in your facility. If you feel that you cannot work with your registrar, you should get another registrar to assume the registration at no cost to you. Remember that you have the check book, which makes YOU the boss! Good Luck on Your Next Audit! I hope this information helps you with your transition. Feel free to contact me with any questions at 800-959-0632. Neal D. Stiemert President Independent Quality Consultants, Inc. About the Author Neal D. Stiemert is President of Independent Quality Consultants, Inc. and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University school of business. Neal is an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, a certified lead auditor and has over 24 years of management, auditing, consulting and training experience in the quality profession. Neal has served as an examiner for the Minnesota Quality Award, an SPC instructor at Purdue University and an officer and committee member in the Chicago and Minnesota sections of ASQ. Neal also conducts registration audits for Smithers Quality Assessments and SAI Global Assurance Services. Comment on this article