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Audit Planning

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This article explains how Assurco plans, staffs, and manages certification audits, so you know what to expect before, during, and after your audit.

1. Defining the Audit Objectives, Scope and Criteria

Agreeing the audit approach

Before your audit takes place, we agree the audit objectives, scope and criteria with you during the application review. These details are confirmed in advance and may only change if there is a formal review and agreement with you.

What are the audit objectives?

The audit objectives are documented in your audit report and typically include:

  • Confirming conformity of your management system (or relevant parts of it) against the agreed audit criteria
  • Assessing whether your management system supports compliance with applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements Please note: certification audits are not legal compliance audits
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of your management system in achieving its stated objectives
  • Identifying opportunities for improvement, where appropriate

Defining the audit scope

The audit scope describes what will be audited and includes:

  • Sites and locations
  • Organisational units and functions
  • Activities, processes and services

These boundaries are clearly documented in the Audit Plan and Audit Report.
Any change to scope is subject to a further application review to ensure accuracy and fairness.

Audit criteria

The audit criteria form the reference point for determining conformity and include:

  • The relevant ISO standard(s) or other normative documents
  • Your own documented management system, as sampled during the audit

All audit criteria are clearly documented in your audit report.

2. Selecting the Audit Team

How we choose auditors

Your audit team is selected based on the outcome of our application review, using Assurco’s competence management system. We ensure that:

  • Auditors are competent for your sector and scope
  • Impartiality is maintained at all times
  • Where a single auditor does not cover all required competencies, the combined competence of the audit team is considered

Factors we consider

When deciding the size and composition of the audit team, we take into account:

  • Audit objectives, scope, criteria and audit duration
  • Whether the audit is combined, joint or integrated
  • Certification and regulatory requirements
  • Language and cultural considerations

Technical experts, trainees and support roles

  • Technical experts may support the audit where specialist knowledge is required. They do not act as auditors and always work under the direction of an auditor.
  • Auditors‑in‑training may participate under supervision. A competent auditor remains fully responsible for the audit outcomes.
  • Translators or interpreters, where required, are selected to ensure they do not influence audit findings.

Audit team roles and responsibilities are documented in the audit plan and audit report.

3. Observers, Technical Experts and Guides

Observers

Observers may attend an audit only with prior agreement from both Assurco and the client. Observers must not interfere with the audit process or influence outcomes.
Observers may include client personnel, consultants, regulators, or accreditation body representatives.

Technical experts

Where technical experts are used, their role is agreed in advance. They support preparation or audit activities but do not perform audits and are always accompanied by an auditor.

Guides

Each auditor is normally accompanied by a guide provided by the client to facilitate access and logistics. Guides must not influence the audit process or findings.

4. The Audit Plan

Why we create an audit plan

An audit plan is prepared for each audit to ensure clarity and agreement on how the audit will be conducted and scheduled. Plans may be finalised closer to the audit date to ensure they remain relevant.

What the audit plan includes

The audit plan covers:

  • Audit objectives
  • Audit criteria
  • Audit scope and processes to be audited
  • Audit dates, sites and any remote activities
  • Expected duration of on‑site audit activities
  • Audit team roles and responsibilities, including observers or interpreters

Communicating audit tasks

Audit team members are instructed to:

  • Review relevant policies, procedures, records and documents
  • Confirm that requirements for the agreed certification scope are met
  • Evaluate whether processes are implemented and maintained effectively
  • Communicate any inconsistencies between your policies, objectives and practice

5. Communication with You

Sharing the audit plan

The audit plan and audit dates are shared with you in advance and agreed before the audit begins.

Audit team transparency

We provide the names of all audit team members in advance.
If requested, we can share competence profiles for each auditor, giving you confidence in their suitability. You may raise any valid objections, and we will review the audit team accordingly.