Key takeaways
- 1A technical expert. Their role is agreed with you before the audit. They do not act as auditors and are accompanied by an auditor (§9.2.2.2.2).
- 2An observer. Their presence and justification are agreed with you before the audit. A note to §9.2.2.2.1 lists witnessing accreditation body personnel among possible observers.
- 3An auditor-in-training. Allowed where an auditor is appointed as evaluator, with final responsibility for the trainee's findings (§9.2.2.1.4).
- 4An interpreter. Selected so as not to unduly influence the audit (§9.2.2.1.3).
Before an audit, the certification body tells you who is coming. ISO/IEC 17021-1 §9.2.3.5 requires it to give the name of each audit team member and, when you ask, background information on each of them. It has to do this early enough for you to object to a particular member, and for the body to reconstitute the team in response to "any valid objection". These are the questions that requirement makes room for.
Who is on the team, and in what role?
The audit plan includes the roles and responsibilities of team members and of accompanying persons such as observers or interpreters (§9.2.3.2 f)). The points the opening meeting considers include introducing the participants with an outline of their roles, and confirming the roles and identities of any guides and observers (§9.4.2 a) and h)).
Does the team know our sector?
Ask for the background information. At application review the body determines the competences the team needs (§9.1.2.3), and the team as a whole has to hold all of them (§9.2.2.1.1). Background information is how you can see that from your side.
Is anyone coming who is not an auditor?
- A technical expert. Their role is agreed with you before the audit. They do not act as auditors and are accompanied by an auditor (§9.2.2.2.2).
- An observer. Their presence and justification are agreed with you before the audit. A note to §9.2.2.2.1 lists witnessing accreditation body personnel among possible observers.
- An auditor-in-training. Allowed where an auditor is appointed as evaluator, with final responsibility for the trainee's findings (§9.2.2.1.4).
- An interpreter. Selected so as not to unduly influence the audit (§9.2.2.1.3).
Does anyone on the team have a link to us?
The standard's impartiality clauses show the kind of situation that matters. Under §5.2.10, people who provided management system consultancy to you are not used on your audit; the recognized mitigation is a minimum of two years after the consultancy ended. Under §5.2.13, personnel must reveal any situation that could present a conflict of interest, and are not used unless the body can show there is none. If you know of a relationship the body may not, say so.
What makes an objection valid?
The clause does not list grounds. It provides for objecting to a particular member; it says nothing about choosing one. A request for a particular auditor is a different matter: §5.2.11 requires the body to act on threats to its impartiality arising from the actions of other persons, bodies or organizations.
When should we ask?
The clause requires notice with sufficient time but sets no number of days. Raise questions and objections when you receive the names, not on the morning of the audit, so the team can be changed if it needs to be.
CAS — An EGAC accredited MS certification body No. 012418. Accredited scope: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 22000, ISO 50001 and ISO 22301. Certificates accredited for ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 22000 and 50001 fall within EGAC's IAF MLA scope; ISO 22301 is accredited by EGAC and sits outside that scope.
Verify any certificate: cas.com.eg/certsearch
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