IATF 16949 Audit Days Calculation

Many companies ask how do you calculate IATF 16949:2016 Audit Cost? The external audit is performed by a third party registrar, otherwise known as a Certification Body (CB). IATF 16949 Audit time is determined by the size, complexity, risk, and nature of an organization. ISO/IEC 17021 is the international standard used by IATF as the basis to determine the automotive industries specific requirements in order to manage certification to IATF 16949, and it provides a table to calculate the number of days for a certification audit. Registrars are generally $1500/day, and you would need to contact them for a more accurate quotation. Receive Free Registrar Quotations here.

ISO/IEC 17021 is the international standard used by IATF as the basis to determine the automotive industries specific requirements in order to manage certification to IATF 16949.

The specific needs of the automotive sector have resulted in requirements supplemental to ISO/IEC 17021. For example, IATF provides this guidance:

Calculating Audit Time Chart IATF 16949.

Auditing for IATF 16949 happens in stages. Many times, the registrar, or CB may conduct a pre-audit, at the request of the client. Although it is considered an audit it is not part of the initial audit (stage 1 and stage 2).

The initial audit will be conducted in two stages: stage 1-readiness review and stage 2-site audit. The stage 1 audit should take 1 or 2 days at the client site. If the client has multiple locations than each site will have a 1 or 2 day audit. In certain cases, the registrar may apply to the IATF oversight office to complete the audit without having to go to the site. Stage 2 is a process-based evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of the client’s management system. The time between stage 1 and stage 2 depends on the time needed for the client to resolve areas of concern identified in stage 1. Stage 2 must be finished within 90 days.

We are often asked how long an audit takes by your selected registrar. Audit time is calculated by many variables such as size, complexity, risk and the nature of your organization. When you are on the path to becoming IATF 16949 certified, the accredited registrar will use these guidelines along with requirements set forth by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) to determine time required to audit clients. Although we cannot calculate all variables, we have created a table to give you an idea of how long audits take. This table reflects guidelines provided by IAF to be used for calculating audit time based on number of employees.

This table represents the size of the organization but once complexity, risk and nature of the organization are factored into the equation the actual time it takes to audit your organization will most likely vary.  IAF provides additional guidelines and requirements for considering these factors.

Is this a transition audit?

If you are transitioning from TS 16949:2009 to IATF 16949:2016 additional time may be required. This is necessary to allow auditors to make sure the new standard has been met.  Once certification to IATF 16949 has been achieved, future audits will not require the additional audit time.

Every certification body (CB) will have their own process for determining audit time. Although the way audits are conducted may vary from CB to CB, they are required to meet the IAF requirements to maintain accreditation. Audit time may fluctuate between the initial, surveillance and re-certification audits. A certification body could determine after an initial audit that more or less time is required for the surveillance audit. Audit time may include remote auditing techniques such as web meetings, teleconferencing, and electronic verification of the client’s processes. This is not uncommon for certification bodies, especially for stage one audits.

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