IRCA introduces rolling renewals

This month IRCA announced a major change in the way we process auditor certifications. This new approach is designed to improve the certification process and provide a better service for every auditor.

Why has IRCA made the change?

In responding to our 2003 IRCA auditor customer satisfaction survey many auditors identified the administration of their auditor certification as one of the most important areas in which they wanted to see improvement.

In answer we have introduced rolling renewals.

Until now, IRCA has operated a fixed certification period based on the calendar year (January - December). This means every year we experience a huge demand on our services in the first few months of the year, when approximately 2,500 auditors submit their audit and CPD logs for tri-annual renewal of certification and 8,000 auditors want to pay their annual fees. This has made it very difficult to provide the quality of service we want to provide and that our customers demand. Spreading these events evenly across the whole of the year will reduce this load and allow us to provide a better, faster and more effective service.  

What is the change to renewal of certification dates?

For all of our currently certified auditors, the tri-annual renewal of certification and annual fee periods currently expire on 31 December. This will change for 2005, and next year all auditors will be notified of their new certification expiry date. This date will now coincide with the first day of the month of each auditor's birthday. We will send this information with (depending on your circumstances) your tri-annual certification notification letter or annual fee notice in November.

For new applicants, the 3-year certification period will start from the date that certification is awarded and finish 36 months later.

These changes do not apply to auditors whose certification is administered through an IRCA recognized Organization Employing Auditors (OEA)

IRCA Certification Manager, Martin Prendergast, noted that, "this improvement has required considerable changes to our IT and to our business processes, but the project will be worth it to see an increase in customer satisfaction."

If you have any queries, please contact IRCA at irca@irca.org .