Advice

Q. Is an audit required each year?

Yes, to maintain your certification, it is mandatory to have at least one surveillance audit visit per year to ensure you are still meeting requirements. Such surveillance audits sample the ongoing effectiveness of your management system and you will received a written report outlining the results. These can include major or minor non-compliances and observations. Should a major non-compliance be identified, you would be given a set period of time to rectify the situation.

Very large organisations will often be required to have more than one surveillance visit per year. In some cases, if a large number of non-compliances are identified at each surveillance audit, your certification body may require you to undertake 6-monthly surveillance audits for an agreed period.

Every third-year a full re-audit is undertaken and this is aimed at identifying key trends of strength and weakness and your certification body would work with you to identify opportunities for improvement. Such third year audits are more extensive that annual surveillance audits and some certification bodies may charge extra to undertake them.

Lastly, we give all of our clients ample notice to arrange their annual audits before the end of their certification period. We also offer ISO health-checks for those clients that value a refresher (to iron out any 'wrinkles') prior to the formal audit.