An internal auditor is someone who is qualified to and conducts internal audits within an organization. The internal auditor can be qualified in a variety of ways: on-the-job training, internal taining courses, self-directed studies, CBT, etc. One method is for the to-be-auditor to attend a formal class offered by an external qualified training provider (ideally but not always). Some industries and standards require a formal qualification (cetification) of the auditor. The training & certification source can then offer a certificate that the auditor has attended and completed the requirements of the course, therefore making the auditor a 'certified internal auditor'. Some courses are 'accredited' buy CBs but it is not a requirement in the case of ISO 9001 internal auditors.
If you are looking at having auditors certified then the questions to ask are:
- who is certifying the auditor; is the party qualified or not to teach the topic to others and what are the credentials (i.e. RABQSA accredited trainer)
- who is accrediting the course; some courses are accredited by certification bodies (i.e. RABQSA) or professional societies (i.e. ASQ), some are accredited by the organization who teach the courses (huh?!?); see RABQSA about course certification requirements
- who is recognizing the certification & based on what; some organizations claim 'global recognition' but is it true?!?