The purpose of the Assessment (STAGE-2) is to ensure that the requirements of relevant ISO standards as addressed by the documented quality system are being complied with. The Auditors will be looking for objective evidence of compliance with the standards, and Non compliances are brought to the attention of the guide and noted on a report form. At the end of assessment, these are discussed and the company's management representative is asked to sign the report acknowledging that he understands and accepts the findings.
The Assessment is concluded with a “Closing Meeting” at which the Team Leader presents the findings and makes a recommendations, either for certification to the applicable standards of ISO otherwise with a requirement for a verification audit in case of major non-conformances having been identified.
In case where non-compliances are of a minor nature, certification is recommended subject to a corrective action plan that addresses the non-compliances and observations raised in the report being submitted together with objective evidences for all non-compliances within 60 days. When this corrective action plan and the objective evidences are received at the SCS office, the audit reports shall be verified for conformance against the requirements of the certification standard. The client's file is reviewed to ensure an independent verification of compliance against certification checklist and grant of certification.
The stage 2 audit shall take place at the site(s) of the client. It shall include at least the following :
a) information and evidence about conformity to all requirements of the applicable management system standard or other normative document;
b) performance monitoring, measuring, reporting and reviewing against key performance objectives and targets (consistent with the expectations in the applicable management system standard or other normative document);
c) the client's management system and performance as regards legal compliance; d) operational control of the client's processes;
e) internal auditing and management review;
f) management responsibility for the client's policies;
g) links between the normative requirements, policy, performance objectives and targets (consistent with the expectations in the applicable management system standard or other normative document), any applicable legal requirements, responsibilities, competence of personnel, operations, procedures, performance data and internal audit findings and conclusions.
Each certified organization shall be required to undergo a surveillance audit at once a year during the term of validity of its certification. The continual conformance of the organization management system with the certification standard shall be verified by auditing selected elements of the management system at each visit besides verification of the effectiveness of the corrective actions against the non-conformities raised during the previous audit.
The Auditors are required to complete the Reports in a precise and accurate manner. The justification for non-inclusion of any element as per the ISO standards e.g. Design Control etc from the company's quality system should be carefully verified and recorded in the Report.