What are the Recommendations from Your Audit?

18 Mar, 2021

You’ve received the good news; you’ve passed your ISO audit.  You can finally breathe and relax for another 12 months, but then your auditor starts listing off recommendations.  If you’ve received your ISO certification, why on earth would you need to work on these? Well, there are two types of recommendations, one to make you compliant with the standard and another to support continual improvement:

Non-conformance – mandatory 

One of the benefits to ISO certification compared to UKAS accreditation certification is that there is more flexibility when it comes to non-conformances.  This means that we can still certify you even if you have non-conformances, provided we can see you are trying to be compliant with the standard.  These types of recommendations are mandatory and will need to be rectified as soon as possible and certainly by your next audit.  Failure to do so could mean losing your ISO certification.  Some common examples of non-conformances include:

  • Reviewing your objectives
  • Not running regular Management Review Meetings (MRMs)
  • Not recording non-compliances
Opportunity for Improvement (OFI)– non-compulsory

Your management system flourishes on opportunity for improvements.  Whilst they are not compulsory, they could well develop into a non-conformance over time should they be ignored.  Some common examples of OFIs include:

  • Displaying your ISO certification logo on your website
  • Attending an ISO refresher training course
  • Train an additional team member to assist with the running of the management system

This is where auditor rotation comes in handy too, as having recommendations raised by a fresh pair of eyes is one of the ways these opportunities can be identified.

Some of these recommendations might take you five minutes to resolve whilst others could take days, weeks or even months.  But remember, if you’re struggling with any of these, your auditor will be able to help you with your recommendations at your annual support meeting.  Our online training modules and classroom training can also help with the majority of recommendations.  Alternatively, take a look at our FAQs and Tutorials within the Client Area.

ISO Quality Services Ltd are proud to specialise in the implementation and certification of the Internationally recognised ISO and BS EN Management Standards.

Do you want to get ahead of your competition? Win more tenders or save time and money on reoccurring issues? Contact us today on 0330 058 5551 or email info@isoqsltd.com.

Alternatively, you can request a quote by filling out our enquiry form and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.