The auditor is not your enemy and not your examiner. They are an independent person whose job is to test whether the system you wrote is the system you run. Almost everything that goes wrong on the day was visible three weeks earlier, in your own practice audit.
Usually a day or less. They read the system: scope, documents, internal audit, management review. Outcome: either ready for Stage 2, or a short list of what must be fixed first.
The working day. They trace real jobs back and forward through your records, watch work happening, and ask your people about their own jobs.
Findings are graded. Minor ones are closed with evidence, usually within days. Major ones need a follow-up visit. The certificate follows once closure is accepted.
Straight from real audits. The right answer is always the truthful one in your own words.
The practice exam was skipped, or run at the last minute and written up generously. Auditors read that immediately.
Top management has to review the system. No minutes, no review, and the leadership clause fails.
Evidence stops for a month, usually around a busy period or a shutdown. It shows up in the sample.
The certificate claims a site or a service that nobody prepared — and the audit walks straight into it.
| Finding | What it means | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Observation | A note, not a failure — something that could become a problem | Recorded, acted on at your own pace, checked next visit |
| Minor non-conformity | A requirement not fully met, without breaking the system | Evidence of the fix, usually within days; certificate proceeds once accepted |
| Major non-conformity | A requirement missing in a way that matters | A follow-up visit after you fix it; the certificate waits |
| Suspension or withdrawal | Serious or repeated failure, or misuse of the certificate mark | Rare; the body's process applies, and we stay with you for it |
Yes, as part of the fee. We sit in, answer questions about how the system was built, help you find a record quickly, and make sure nothing is agreed on the day that you cannot deliver.
No, and please do not. Rehearsed answers are obvious and count against you. What works is people understanding their own job and the records behind it — which is what implementation is for.
Say so. Auditors respect an honest gap with a plan far more than a hunt through folders. We log it and close it.
Stage 1 is usually a day or less. Stage 2 depends on your size, sites and shifts — commonly one to two days for an SME, more if you run multiple sites or shifts.
Yes, and they will. Contractors, new staff and the person on the floor are all fair game, because the system has to work for them too.
Send us the date and the standard. We will tell you what is likely to be sampled, and what to check in your own records this week — whether or not you are our client.