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Applicant Handbook

The rules of the QA Assessor Auditor Register. Read this before you apply; by submitting an application you agree to it. Reference QA-CB-HBK-001, version 4.1, 26 September 2026.

1. Scope

QA Assessor certifies individual management system auditors on ten schemes, one per standard, at five grades: Associate Auditor, Internal Auditor, Auditor, Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor. Certification rests on a structured assessment of your competence against a published rubric: your verified training and audit records, a work sample of your own audit work (Auditor and above), a structured interview (Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor; a sample of Auditor applications) and, for Auditor and above, verified work experience. A completed auditor course at the level the grade needs is the training requirement of every grade. It is not a qualification, a licence, or an organisation certification, and it does not by itself entitle the holder to audit on behalf of any certification body or employer. QA Assessor’s certification processes are self-declared as aligned with ISO/IEC 17024:2026; QA Assessor is not accredited and makes no claim of accreditation. Everything is done online, from your dashboard.

2. Records you keep

Training and Qualifications

Record each auditor course with the provider, standard, level and completion date. QA Assessor courses are added and verified by us. Courses from other providers need the certificate uploaded; we may contact the provider to confirm it. Courses from an Approved Training Provider are confirmed with the provider directly. A course counts for a grade only when it is verified and is at the level the grade needs: Foundation or above for Associate Auditor, Internal Auditor or Lead Auditor for Internal Auditor, Lead Auditor for Auditor, Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor. Completing a QA Assessor course is not a condition of certification and gives no advantage in the assessment of an application.

Audit Log

Record each audit separately. An audit counts towards a grade when it:

  • was carried out after the qualifying course was completed and within the five years before the application date (fifteen years for Principal Auditor)
  • was against the standard of the scheme applied for; when a standard has been revised, audits against the previous edition count until the end of the transition period set for that standard, and the Audit Log records the edition audited against
  • covered the whole audit cycle you took part in: planning, opening meeting, evidence gathering, findings, closing meeting and reporting
  • for the Internal Auditor grade, lasted at least three hours and did not cover your own department or activities
  • for the Auditor, Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor grades, covered the full management system
  • names an organisation and a person who can confirm your participation and role

Total days include preparation, on site or live remote sessions, and reporting. On site days include live remote auditing time. Observed or shadowed audits where you did not gather evidence yourself do not count. Team leader means you planned the audit, led the audit team, chaired the meetings and issued the report.

Work sample. If you apply for Auditor, Lead Auditor or Principal Auditor, one of the audits you count must carry your work sample: a redacted audit plan, checklist or audit report you produced for it. Attach it as the evidence of that audit record, tick “work sample” and accept the authenticity and redaction declaration. Remove client names and confidential details. The assessor scores the sample for planning, evidence gathering and sampling, well-formed findings, and report structure.

CPD Log and Work Experience

Complete at least three CPD records in each calendar year. A CPD record is one Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle: the objective, start and planned completion dates, the planned activities, the activities undertaken, your reflection on them and what you will do next, with evidence where you have it. See the CPD Guidance. Work experience is a requirement for Auditor, Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor: at least four years of full-time work experience, two of them in the discipline of the scheme (quality, environment, occupational health and safety, information security, food safety and so on), recorded in Work Experience and verified. The platform adds up your verified years (overlapping periods count once) and will not accept an application for these grades below four years; the assessor confirms the two years in the discipline from the roles and duties you recorded. Associate Auditor and Internal Auditor have no work-experience requirement.

3. Verification

We check records against the evidence attached and may contact providers, employers and the verifiers you name. Verified records are locked; you cannot edit or remove them. The records your application rests on are frozen when the prerequisite review authorises the assessment. A record you no longer want is withdrawn, not deleted: it goes to the trash and QA Assessor can restore it. If something on a verified record is wrong, use Request a correction next to the record (or the contact page): a reviewer checks the request and, if it is accepted, corrects the record, re-verifies it and tells you within 10 working days. Rejected records show the reason and can be corrected and resubmitted. Submitting a record you know to be false ends the application and may lead to withdrawal of any certification held. Records are usually checked within 5 working days of the evidence being received.

4. Application and fees

You apply from your dashboard for one scheme and one grade at a time. Before you sign the declaration you see the itemised fees. The scheme application fee is US $16, charged once per certification scheme (not again for another grade on that scheme, at renewal, or if you have already paid it for that scheme), and is not refundable once assessment has begun. The first annual fee (US $19 to US $99 depending on the grade) is refunded in full if the application is not approved. Nothing is paid on submission: once QA Assessor has confirmed your eligibility you pay the scheme application fee (if due) and the first annual fee together, in one payment, and assessment begins when it is received. Annual fees are per scheme and per grade. Regrading carries a processing fee of US $25 and no new annual fee. All fees are in US dollars; your bank may apply a conversion rate. An application whose fees are not paid within 60 days of the eligibility confirmation is closed; you can apply again at any time.

If you need a reasonable adjustment for the assessment because of a disability, a health condition or language, ask before you apply (reasonable adjustment request, QA-CB-FORM-014): adjustments change how you are assessed, never what is required. The declaration you accept is versioned; the version and the time of acceptance are stored with your application. Eligibility checks, fees, statuses and reminders are rule-based automation on the platform; no artificial intelligence takes part in assessing your evidence or deciding your application (AI Policy, QA-CB-POL-011).

Application status words

  • Prerequisites under review. Submitted; your identity, declaration and the grade requirements are being confirmed against your verified records. Nothing has been paid yet.
  • Eligibility confirmed: fees payable. The scheme application fee (if due) and the first annual fee are payable together, in one payment, within 60 days; the assessment is authorised when they are received. The application is not in the assessment queue until then.
  • Prerequisites not met: records requested. Something is missing; the reasons are shown, and you can add records and ask for another look.
  • Assessment authorised, Assessor assigned, Under assessment. The records your application rests on are frozen and an independent assessor is scoring them against the rubric.
  • More information requested. The assessor needs something from you; you have 30 days to respond.
  • Awaiting certification decision. The assessment is locked and with the Certification Manager; Returned to the assessor means a point is being looked at again.
  • Certified and listed. Approved; the certificate is issued and the register entry is live.
  • Not approved. Declined, with reasons; the first annual fee is refunded.
  • Closed. Left unpaid for 60 days; nothing was charged.

5. Assessment and decision

Assessment has five stages, and your dashboard shows which one your application is at.

1. Prerequisite review. A Certification Manager or Profile Assessor confirms the fee, your verified identity, the declaration you accepted (its version is stored) and every requirement of the grade against your verified records, including four years of work experience for Auditor and above. If something is missing you are told what to add and can ask for another look. When everything is in place the assessment is authorised and the records it rests on are frozen.

2. Assignment. An assessor with recorded competence for the scheme is assigned. The platform refuses anyone who trained you, verified your records or authorised your case, and the assessor declares that they have no conflict of interest before the assessment opens.

3. Assessment against the rubric. The assessor scores each criterion of the published rubric (0 not demonstrated, 1 partly, 2 demonstrated) from your verified audits, your work sample and, where applicable, your interview, writing what they saw and referencing the evidence. When submitted, the assessment is locked; the outcome (competent, borderline or not competent) is computed from the scores. No software judgement or artificial intelligence scores your evidence or decides your application.

4. Structured interview. Required for Lead Auditor and Principal Auditor, and for a sample of Auditor applications: five fixed questions about your own audits, online, about 45 minutes, recorded with your consent (which you confirm in My Certification) after a live identity check. You may ask for another time before it takes place.

5. Decision. A Certification Manager who did not assess, verify or train you reviews the locked assessment and the evidence. The platform allows the decision only when every condition is met (prerequisites authorised, assessment locked, interview evaluated where required, no conflict, no open complaint or appeal about the case, nothing changed since the lock) and records the reasons. A borderline outcome goes back to the assessor; a not-competent outcome is not certified. Most applications are decided within 15 working days of the prerequisite review, not counting time waiting for you or for an interview slot you asked to move. Decisions are sent by email and shown in your dashboard, with the reasons and the appeal route if the application is not approved.

6. Your certification

On approval you receive a certificate number made of your Register ID and the scheme code (for example 93506121-QMS; a re-issue after a regrade, recertification or correction keeps the number and carries the next issue number), a certificate stating the scope of certification (the standard and the grade) and the three-year certification period, a digital auditor card and a public register entry. Your eight-digit Register ID is yours for life and identifies you on the register across all your schemes. Certificate numbers issued before 26 September 2026 in the form QAC-YYYY-NNNNNN remain valid and resolve to the same entry. The certificate and card carry a verification link and QR code that anyone can open to confirm your status. You may describe yourself as “QA Assessor Certified [grade], [standard]” while your registration is current. You may not imply accreditation, describe the certification as covering standards or grades you do not hold, or alter the certificate or card. See the Certificate and Mark Use Policy.

Register status words

  • Certified and listed. Current: the annual fee is paid and no restriction applies.
  • Lapsed. The paid-until date has passed without renewal, or recertification was not completed by its due date. Not shown in the register list; the verification page shows the status.
  • Suspended. Temporarily withdrawn under the Suspension and Withdrawal Policy.
  • Withdrawn. Permanently removed under that policy.

7. Keeping certification

  • Renewal. Each registration is paid for twelve months at a time. Pay the annual fee before the paid-until date; we email you 90 and 30 days before, and nothing is charged automatically. Paying early loses nothing: the new period runs from the current paid-until date. A registration not renewed by its paid-until date lapses and leaves the public register list until it is renewed; renewing after a lapse relists you for twelve months from the day you pay.
  • CPD. At least three completed CPD records in each calendar year (nine over a three-year cycle).
  • Recertification. Every three years, confirming continued auditing and CPD. Auditors who have not audited in the previous three years may be moved to Associate Auditor or Principal Auditor as appropriate. If recertification is not completed by the due date, the certification is marked Lapsed after a written reminder; it is reinstated by completing recertification within 6 months, after which a new application is required.
  • Code of Conduct. Applies at all times. Breaches may lead to suspension or withdrawal.

Two dates matter: the registration valid until date (renewed every twelve months by the annual fee) and the recertification due date, which is the end of the three-year certification period (recertification on CPD and continued auditing). Both are shown on your certificate, your dashboard and the register. The certification period is three years from the date of the decision, subject to the annual conditions.

8. Suspension, withdrawal and appeals

We may suspend or withdraw certification for false records, breaches of the Code of Conduct, upheld complaints about your auditing, or misuse of the certificate or mark. You will be told the reasons and may appeal within 30 calendar days (14 days for a course result) through the online appeal form, which gives you a case reference at once; appeals are acknowledged in writing within 2 business days, reviewed within 15 working days by someone not involved in the original decision, and can be escalated to an independent panel. Complaints about QA Assessor or about a certified person use the online complaint form. See the Complaints and Appeals Policy and the Suspension and Withdrawal Policy.

9. Your data

Records and evidence are held to assess and maintain your certification and are handled under our Privacy Policy. The public register shows your name, Register ID, scheme, grade, certificate number, dates and status, and only the details you choose to add (country, sectors, a short profile, a contact route). You can close your account from Community settings; certification records are kept for the periods in the Privacy Policy and a withdrawn or lapsed register entry is kept so that certificates already issued can still be verified.

Apply for certification Code of Conduct CPD Guidance