Questions and answers
Many of the queries we have received recently are about the end of the transition period in December. This edition’s questions and answers concentrates on this event. We have included a number of questions that are representative of those we receive. If you have a question about transition, or about any aspect of auditing, please let us know.
I am certified as a QMS auditor and have not yet transferred to the
QMS 2000 programme. Will I loose my certification at the end of the
year because I haven’t yet transferred?
No. IRCA intends to maintain the QMS program for as long as there
is demand. Although we encourage all QMS auditors to transfer, we
recognise that in many countries there is a shortage of opportunities
to achieve auditing experience to ISO 9001:2000.
I am a QMS
lead auditor and am having difficulty gaining sufficient audit experience
against ISO 9001:2000 to transfer to the QMS 2000 lead auditor grade.
Will my auditing experience against other standards be acceptable
for transfer?
Yes, in some circumstances we do accept other standard auditing experience.
If you are already certified as an EMS auditor (auditor, lead auditor
or principal auditor grades only) we will accept audits against ISO
14001:1996, or acceptable alternatives, where these do not exceed
25 per cent of the QMS audit experience transfer requirement.
Will I be
still able to transfer to the QMS 2000 programme after the end of
the transition period?
Yes, IRCA will offer transfer for the foreseeable future. But you
may have to look harder to find a training organisation that offers
the transition training course.
I am certified as an internal auditor. Can I transfer to the QMS 2000
programme?
Yes, last year IRCA withdrew the ‘stand-alone’ internal
auditor programme and instead incorporated an internal auditor grade
into each of its main programmes. So now, depending on the type of
standard you are auditing against (QMS, EMS, OH&S, etc.) you can
be certified to the internal auditor grade for that programme.
The IRCA certification team will be happy to discuss with you how
to transfer from your current ‘old’ internal auditor grade
to the QMS 2000 internal auditor grade or to the internal auditor
grade for any of the other programmes.
The transition period ends on 15 December 2003. What does the end
the transition period mean?
It means that ISO will withdraw the 1994 versions of the ISO 9000
series of standards and organisations currently certified (by IAF
accredited certification bodies) to those standards will have the
certification withdrawn.
We believe that some organisations will continue to be certified to
the withdrawn standard, but the certification will be unaccredited.
Where can I find out more about the revisions and the transition period?
The ISO website has an excellent section on the ISO 9000:2000 standards
and we recommend you visit it. See
the ISO website.
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