Audit requirements

5.2 Audit experience  
Audit experience must be recorded and submitted on the online IRCA audit log section of the IRCA application process.
 
5.3 Audits  
For the purposes of certification, audits must have been performed:  
•    during five-year period prior to applying for certification
•    after passing an IRCA Certified Training Course
•    in accordance with the auditing guidance standard ISO 19011 or ISO 17021
•    against the relevant ISO standard for the scheme for which an applicant is applying, or an acceptable alternative.
Audits performed against alternative national, international, or company standards may be acceptable.  
Audit logs must include all the information requested. IRCA reserves the right to verify the information supplied in audit logs.  

5.3.1  Combined/integrated audits:  
Where two or more standards are being audited during a combined/integrated management system audit, the number of audit days will be equally distributed between the standards. We will only accept the audit days allocated to the relevant scheme for which an applicant is applying.   

5.3.2  Acceptability of internal audits for Auditor/Lead Auditor applications  
We may accept internal audits for Auditor, Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor grades, provided that the audits were of the full management system covering all clauses and requirements of the applicable management system standard, and that it was of a part of the organisation from which the applicants was entirely independent (e.g. separate business unit).   
An applicant may be asked to submit the following information for internal audits:  
•    an organisation structure diagram of the company, showing the auditor’s independence from the system audited • a sample audit report
•    any additional information which may support the application

5.3.3   Consultancy audits  
We will accept consultancy audits where:  
•    the client (auditee) already had a fully established management system prior to the audit
•    the applicant had no part in setting up the management system being audited  
•     the scope of the audit included all elements of the management system.

5.3.4  Surveillance (partial system) audits  
We accept surveillance (partial system) audits for the purposes of Auditor/Lead Auditor initial certification, recertification and regrade.  
 
5.3.5  Remote audits:  
Remote audit activities are those that are performed at any place other than the location of the auditee, regardless of the distance.   
IRCA will accept remote audits where there has been as much interaction between the auditor and the auditee as would occur during an on-site audit.   
Interaction may be by video conferencing, document and record-sharing systems, etc.  
 
5.3.6  Unacceptable audits  
We will not accept the following audits:  
•    audits of the same management system that occur more frequently than once every 12 months
•    audits of less than one days duration (six hours of audit activity, exclusive of breaks), except for the internal auditor grade, where we will accept audits of three hours exclusive of breaks
•    gap analysis, close out or follow-up visits
Audits that were performed before successfully completing an IRCA Certified Training Course, or which were conducted more than five years prior to certification.  
 
5.4  Acceptable alternative standards  
We accept audits performed against standards that we have evaluated as being acceptable alternatives to ISO standards. A list of acceptable alternative standards for each auditor scheme is available on www.quality.org