ISO Definition of Terms

A third party that assesses and determines that a Quality Management System of an organizations meets a particular standard.

This is the assurance awarded by an independent certification body (CB) that a product service or system meets the requirements of a standard.

set of operations and specific conditions that establish a relationship between quantities indicated by a measuring instrument/system or values represented by a material measure or a reference material and the corresponding values realized by standards

person who conducts an audit

organization as a whole or parts thereof being audited

extent and boundaries of an audit

Note 1 to entry: The audit scope generally includes a description of the physical and virtual-locations functions organizational units activities and processes as well as the time period covered.

Note 2 to entry: A virtual location is where an organization performs work or provides a service using an on-line environment allowing individuals irrespective of physical locations to execute processes.

arrangements for a set of one or more audits planned for a specific time frame and directed towards a specific purpose

description of the activities and arrangements for an audit

results of the evaluation of the collected audit evidence against audit criteria

Note 1 to entry: Audit findings indicate conformity or nonconformity.

Note 2 to entry: Audit findings can lead to the identification of risks opportunities for improvement or recording good practices.

Note 3 to entry: In English if the audit criteria are selected from statutory requirements or regulatory requirements the audit finding is termed compliance or non-compliance.

records statements of fact or other information which are relevant to the audit criteria and verifiable

set of requirements used as a reference against which objective evidence is compared

Note 1 to entry: If the audit criteria are legal (including statutory or regulatory) requirements the words “compliance” or “non-compliance” are often used in an audit finding

Note 2 to entry: Requirements may include policies procedures work instructions legal requirements contractual obligation

outcome of an audit after consideration of the audit objectives and all audit findings

organization or person requesting an audit

Note 1 to entry: In the case of internal audit the audit client can also be the auditee or the individual(s) managing the audit program. Requests for external audit can come from sources such as regulators contracting parties or potential or existing clients.

systematic independent and documented process for obtaining objective evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which the audit criteria are fulfilled

A listing an organization's assets such as production equipment machines IT equipment office equipment et.al.