ISO9

The purpose of an internal audit is to determine that the elements of your Quality Management System (QMS) are, in fact, operating as planned. Corrective Action Requests (CARs) record the process of solving problems discovered in the audit. A proper internal audit will address all of the required elements of the ISO 9000 Standard and look for objective evidence that these elements were adequately addressed.

Prior to your organization undergoing a full registration audit, it is necessary to conduct a pre-assessment audit. The purpose of the pre-assessment audit is to ensure you are ready to proceed with the full registration audit. Essentially, the pre-assessment audit is a dress rehearsal for the real thing. It is recommended that your organization conducts a pre-assessment audit because this process allows for your organization to identify any nonconformances and implement corrective actions before the registrar's audit.

On the day of the pre-assessment audit an assessor will come to your office and perform an in-depth review of your organization's compliance with each element of the quality standard. Any nonconformances or observations are provided to you in writing in the pre-assessment audit report.

In many cases, the pre-assessment audit report may be available to your organization from the auditor on the same day, but this depends on the individual auditor. If the auditor discovers a significant number of nonconformances, it is recommended that your organization postpone any final registration audit, address and correct any nonconformances, and consider conducting another pre-assessment audit. It is important to remember that a registrar’s time is limited and you would rather postpone a final audit to ensure that your organization complies rather than rush the process only for the registrar to find a number of nonconformances.

After the pre-assessment audit, it is good practice to verify the effectiveness of any corrective actions taken and the correction of any nonconformances with a second internal audit. Once this has been completed and all issues have been addressed, you are ready for your registration audit. It is important to remember that all nonconformances discovered in any internal or pre-assessment audits need to be resolved prior to the arrival of the registrar for the final audit.