Frequently Asked Questions
What is IRCA Auditor registration?
Most SQMC courses are IRCA-registered, or accepted by them for re-registration purposes. SQMC is an IRCA approved Training Organisation (A.O. 3808).
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What benefit is IRCA registration?
Effective auditing is recognised as one of the key components supporting accredited Third Party certification. The primary purpose of certification is to provide an acceptable level of assurance to the customers of the organisations registered to ISO 9000. The secondary purpose is to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation.
This assurance must be supported by auditing that is consistent in interpretation and in the application of the management systems standard. This applies not just to auditors within a single Certification Body but is absolutely essential that all auditors engaged in certification activities nationally and internationally are consistent in their approach to auditing and in their interpretation and application of the standard.
The credibility of ISO 9000 series certification and management systems certification in general depends on this.
IRCA's role is to provide an objective assurance of the competence of auditors. An assurance that is accepted by the Accreditation Bodies, by Certification Bodies, by the ISO 9000 series registered organisations and even more importantly, by the customers of those registered organisations.
IRCA achieve this by establishing auditor competence criteria, based on the international auditing standard ISO 19,011, and then rigorously assessing all applicants against this criteria.
Only auditors who are considered competent are awarded IRCA registration.
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What type of auditors register with IRCA?
The principal function of IRCA is to support accredited certification. This activity is referred to as 'Third Party' certification. Around 45% of IRCA registrants are Third Party auditors working full-time or contracted to Certification Bodies.
The next largest group of registrants are independent operators, many of them consultants who regard IRCA registration as an essential 'tool' of their profession. This group comprises around 40% of IRCA registrants.
The other single major component of IRCA registrants are the Internal or 'First Party' Auditors. These are usually quality professionals employed by organisations already registered to ISO 9000 or who are seeking registration. Their primary function is to maintain the organisation's management systems in compliance with the certification standard. Internal auditors make up 7% of all registrants.
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Where can I obtain information on the standards?
There are a number of sources of information on the revision of ISO 9000 quality management system standards, including, of course, BSI. ISO Central Secretariat in Switzerland also maintains a website that carries general information on the revision program.
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Will my organization have to re-write all its documentation?
No, not necessarily. If your current quality management system is successfully implemented, satisfies the needs and objectives of your organization, reflects the way your organization works, and already addresses all of the requirements, no changes are required. However, if your current documented system does not address all of the requirements, additional documentation will be necessary.
Only 6 documented procedures are required by the standard for administration of the system; however, other documented procedures may be required by your organization in order to manage the processes, which are necessary for the effective operation of the quality management system. This will clearly vary depending on the size of the organization, the kind of activities in which it is involved, and their complexity.
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Are the standards more compatible with national quality award criteria?
The 'Eight Quality Management Principles' are now the basis for the standards, which will be better aligned with the philosophy and objectives of most quality award programs. These principles are:
customer focus,
leadership,
involvement of people,
process approach,
system approach to management,
continual improvement,
factual approach to decision making, and
mutually beneficial supplier relationships.
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What are the benefits of the revised standards?
There are a number of major benefits with the revised Quality Management Systems 'family' of standards. They are:
Applicability to all product categories, in all sectors and to all sizes of organizations
Simple to use, clear in language, and easily understandable
Connection of quality management systems to organizational processes
Greater continual improvement and customer satisfaction
Compatibility with other management systems such as ISO 14000
The concept of the consistent pair - ISO 9001 covering the requirements and ISO 9004 for going beyond the requirements in order to further improve the business performance of the organization.
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What new requirements have been introduced into the revised ISO 9001 standard?
A large percentage of the 1994 revision requirements included in the ISO 9001:2000 standard. The new or more clearly defined requirements are included:
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Continual improvement
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Increased emphasis on the role of top management.
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Consideration of legal and regulatory requirements.
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Establishment of measurable objectives at relevant functions and levels.
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Monitoring of information of customer satisfaction as a measure of system performance.
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Increased attention to resource availability.
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Measurements of system, processes, and product.
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Analysis of collected data on the performance of the quality management system.
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Any activity or operation, which receives inputs and converts them to outputs, can be considered as a process. Almost all activities and operations involved in making a product or providing a service are processes.
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What is meant by "continual improvement"?
Continual improvement is the process focused on continually increasing the effectiveness and/or efficiency of the organization to meet its quality policies and objectives.
