Internal audit
In ISO 9001:2026
Checked — unchanged in substance; 9.2.2 now carries the title 'Internal audit programme'. Scope your transition audits to cover every changed area, including the clause-10 renumbering.
Plain-language summary
Audit your own system at planned intervals: does it meet your requirements and the standard's, and is it effectively implemented — with objective auditors, defined criteria, results to management, corrections without delay, and records.
What the clause is really asking
Conduct internal audits at planned intervals; plan the programme considering importance, changes and previous results; define criteria/scope per audit; select auditors ensuring objectivity and impartiality (no one audits their own work); report to relevant management; correct and take corrective action without undue delay; retain programme and result records.
What auditors look for
Auditors audit your audit programme: risk-based planning (problem areas audited more?), full coverage over the cycle, auditor independence, finding quality (real findings or polite ticks?), and the speed/closure of resulting actions. A programme that never finds anything draws suspicion, not praise.
Typical evidence
Audit programme/schedule with rationale; audit plans and reports; auditor independence evidence; finding and corrective action records with closure.
How to comply — recommendations
Schedule by risk, not by calendar convenience: double frequency on processes with complaints or changes. Cross-audit between departments for independence. Track finding closure age as a KPI — an audit system is judged by what happens after the report.
Common nonconformities
Same areas audited annually regardless of performance; auditors auditing their own department; findings open for months; audits producing nothing but 'opportunities'.
Related clauses
IATF 16949: extended by 9.2.2.1-9.2.2.4; auditor competence IATF 7.2.3; ISO 19011 guidance
In the book
Chapter 9 — Evaluation — Reading Your Own Instruments treats this clause family in full: what it is really asking, what auditors look for, the evidence that satisfies, how to make it work on a real floor, and where companies stumble.
Resources for this clause
- ArticleHow to write an ISO 9001 audit nonconformity that won't get thrown out
- Free downloadNC Writing ChecklistWrite audit nonconformities that hold: requirement, evidence, statement — in that order, checked before the finding is issued.
- Toolkit · $99ISO 9001 Documentation ToolkitStop writing your QMS from a blank page: a fully-written quality manual, ten complete procedures and the working forms, logs and registers behind them — one numbering scheme, already cross-referenced, ready to adapt.
- Toolkit · $19AI Auditor PackTurn audit notes into findings that hold up, build checklists that find real evidence, write the report, and judge corrective actions — with AI that follows a proven audit method, not a blank chat box.
- Free courseInternal Auditor coursePlanning, running and reporting internal audits, with a verifiable certificate.
- Free appAudit ManagerPlan the programme, anchor each finding to its clause and drive the NC to closure.
- Course modulePractitioner course — Monitoring, Internal Audit & Management ReviewClauses 9.1–9.3
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Qlause provides interpretive guidance only and is not a substitute for the standard. Refer to your licensed copy of the relevant standard for the authoritative text.