How do we know when we’re due for an audit?
ISO Audits should usually be around the same time each year, approximately 1 year from your initial certification date. However, it’s not completely up to you to keep track of this yourself. Your registrar should have sent you a notice showing your audit schedule for the next 3 years. The ISO guideline 17021, which registrars have to adhere to, determines the timing of the annual surveillance audit.
If this is your first surveillance audit after becoming ISO certified, then the audit timing will be based on the Stage 2 certification audit date rather than the actual date of certification indicated on your ISO certificate.
What do we need to do to make sure we get our audit done in time?
Most registrars are happy to work with you to schedule your audit and will allow you to have an audit a month or two before the exact date of your initial certification. But keep in mind that each registrar is different, and, although they follow the ISO 17021 guidelines, they are all dependent upon their auditors’ schedules. In our current market, auditors are typically booked solid for 4 – 6 months in advance, so it isn’t easy to move dates around. Moving your audit to a new date, means lots of other organizations have to be moved too, so advanced notice is critical.
If this is a recertification audit, scheduling can get pretty tricky. Not only does your audit have to occur before your actual certificate expires, but you have to allow time for any nonconformities (if there are any) from the surveillance audit to be answered, reviewed, and closed. If you don’t allow for enough time and your current certification expires before you are issued a new one, you could potentially wind up in a state of “no certification.” While this doesn’t necessarily mean losing your certification entirely, it could lead to a change to your certificate. Each certificate displays a company’s initial certification date, the date of the certificate’s latest issue, and the date on which the certificate will expire. Whenever your registrar issues a new certificate, they have to change the latest issue and expiry dates. If you are in a state of “no certification” when you are issued a new certificate, the date of initial certification will change, as well. Therefore, a lapse in your certification means that instead of the new certificate saying that you have been certified since April 2001, it will say that you have been certified since April 2013. This is necessarily not a deal-breaker, but to some customers it could be a big deal.
You should always contact your registrar as early as possible to ask any questions you may have about scheduling. Most auditors handle their own schedules once they’ve been assigned to your project, but it’s up to you to be in contact with the registrar and/or auditor and get the ball rolling.
So if you foresee any scheduling issues, don’t delay – contact your registrar today!
