Giving copy of external audit report to customer

M

Meggsy

#1
As a part of a tender submission to a customer, we have been asked to provide copies of internal and external audit reports. I assume this includes our LRQA surveillance report...

Is it appropriate for customers to ask for this? Dont they just need to know we were approved and have a certificate?

Sorry if this is a basic question, but it doesn't seem right to me.

Thanks
 
Elsmar Forum Sponsor

Stijloor

Staff member
Super Moderator
#2
Meggsy,

The fact that the Customer requests it, does not mean that you need to provide it to them. You can politely state that you consider this proprietary information. Have you asked what the purpose is of their request?

Stijloor.
 

DannyK

Trusted Information Resource
#3
I have heard customers asking for external audit reports.

Some provide them and others decline.

Some ask that they be reviewed on-site with no photocopies made.

Some customers ask for everything such as financial information and their requests are politely declined.
 
A

arios

#4
I have seen that some customers require those audit reports. It will be up to your management if you send those over. One thing to remember is that some registrars require that if you provide a copy of an audit report all the pages must be included.

Hopefully you can find a way to go around that petition but definitely you will have to use diplomacy, otherwise relationships and the perception mutual support can be affected.

If you have other customers besides the one that is requesting your reports you could probably use that as a valid rationale for not sending what they are requesting as they may contain proprietary information of those other customers. Instead you could offer your client an screened summary of which audits were done over the processes of interest, a summary of the results and the status of any relevant Corrective Actions associated with them. They may buy this approach.

Take care
 

Sidney Vianna

Post Responsibly
Staff member
Admin
#5
Is it appropriate for customers to ask for this? Dont they just need to know we were approved and have a certificate?
Assuming that there is meaningful information in the audit report, your customer might have a good insight into how robust your QMS is, by accessing the audit reports. It is a well known fact that lousy systems attain and maintain certification. It is like having a driver's license. It does not tell your driving record...I would think a customer would ask for several consecutive audit reports, if they want to make a fair assessment. The latest audit report, alone, might not be very representative of the system, after all.

An interesting point is the fact that ISO 17021 states that the CB must maintain ownership of the audit reports. In my opinion, it does not make much sense; after all, the audit report is one of the few tangible results of an audit. Since the registrant is paying for the service, the audit report should be their property, not the CB's.
 
J

JaneB

#7
Yes, as others have pointed out, some ask for it and don't get it, others do. It depends on your management whether they choose to provide them or not. You can hedge conditions around it, including getting them to sign an agreement not to disclose them to anyone else (I would) and/or offering to give them access to them (eg, on your premises) but not giving them the actual reports.

Taking the other party's point of view, I'd be one of the people who would ask to see them, and as Sidney says, I'd ask for a few consecutive ones. Assuming they're done by a reasonable auditor (vs a tuppence halfpenny dubious cheapo firm) they'd give me a very good idea of how much their system is actually in use (which is probably what they really wanna know) vs a system that is continually 'only just' scraping by and stuffing up, time after time.

Also, if someone declined to supply/give me access with any of those reports, I'd take that as a pointer to watch also. I'd wonder: why not?
 
P

Phiobi

#8
I must admit that I am one of those customers that asks to see the last CB audit report.
I find that it gives a lot of insight into the company, how they have performed and how they respond to NC's etc.

The shock for me is how often companies will have been audited by their CB 2 or 3 months before I audit them and I find the exact same issues!!

There have been many occasions when a supplier has refused my request to see the previous audit and EVERY single time i have audited them myself I have found that the QMS is very poor and I have not approved them in the first instance!

Personally I let my customers see them.
 
S

Sorin

#9
Personally, it's a big NO.
Professionally, an argumentative big NO.

1.Proprietary information
2.Other customers proprietary information.
3.EC-LR (export controlled - license required) aka ITAR/EAR.
That should be enough.

Edit:
I forgot. All external audits are subject to a confidentiality agreement. So...
There is one exception. If our company is doing an external audit on a supplier who is sub-contracted on an item for the customer. The customer in question have the right to see the audit, if the audit was conducted on his parts. The same if our company is the supplier in question.
 
#10
.... It is like having a driver's license. It does not tell your driving record...

:topic:
I often use the driver's license as an illustration of the difference between qualified and competent. The driver's license qualifies you to drive, it does not make you a competent driver.

I never really thought of the same analogy for the QMS. But you got me thinking (and that is a dangerous thing to do). The registration would be qualification, then could the audit reports show competence? I know this is not a competence thing, but I think there is something parallel here. Got to think about this more.
 
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
W Redacting Info Before Giving to Auditor ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 5
D Using "Particle Size Standard" templates as gauges - How to avoid giving a gauge # while using for process control? General Measurement Device and Calibration Topics 2
Hershal Holiday Season 2014 - Giving to others Coffee Break and Water Cooler Discussions 5
Q Giving out a Medical Device DRLM Listing US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 3
Hershal Charities and Giving Coffee Break and Water Cooler Discussions 13
Hershal Giving Back - Teddy Bear Cops Coffee Break and Water Cooler Discussions 0
V Minitab and Excel Giving Different Cpk Values for the same Data Using Minitab Software 12
G What is the proper Thanks Giving turkey sampling size? Coffee Break and Water Cooler Discussions 9
G VERY easy savory baked Thanks Giving party treat Coffee Break and Water Cooler Discussions 0
A Job Relieving Period? (Giving Notice) - Help Career and Occupation Discussions 11
P Thank giving to Marc for such a informative form Coffee Break and Water Cooler Discussions 1
F Customer Quality Audit Question - Giving the auditor a "guided" tour General Auditing Discussions 21
P DFMEA and giving ratings to the failure of an AC motor FMEA and Control Plans 1
ScottK Giving training with a vicious cold - how do you deal? Training - Internal, External, Online and Distance Learning 9
Marc More Americans abroad giving up citizenship for lower taxes Immigration and Expatriate Topics 52
Wes Bucey Thanks for giving me the opportunity to give a little bit back Philosophy, Gurus, Innovation and Evolution 20
Marc Will the weather service be forced to stop giving weather information for free? World News 4
W Writing Reports - Giving detailed information on a Continuous Improvement Project Quality Tools, Improvement and Analysis 2
L Giving key contact information ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 8
Sidney Vianna Giving up DOMESTIC automotive customers? Fines for Problems Customer and Company Specific Requirements 16
Geoff Cotton Minitab GR&R (Gage R&R) - Minitab is giving different results for distinct categories Using Minitab Software 4
Claes Gefvenberg Unorthodox auditing - Giving auditees a brief version the checklist before the audit General Auditing Discussions 20
R Purchasing: Do we need to evaluate even C class suppliers before giving them business Supplier Quality Assurance and other Supplier Issues 13
A Information about PPM since giving up AQL - Historical description of requirements AQL - Acceptable Quality Level 12
T How many companies are giving up ISO9000 registration? ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 2
J Argentina Asked for FSC Hard-Copy Edition Only Other Medical Device Regulations World-Wide 0
G Copy of withdrawn ISO 9001:1994 Quality Management Standard ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 2
A EC declaration of conformity - In the event clients ask for a copy CE Marking (Conformité Européene) / CB Scheme 12
J Where I can get a copy of either the 3rd or 4th edition of UL544? Other Medical Device Regulations World-Wide 7
A MDRS Standards Harmonisation - copy of ISO 15223-1 EU Medical Device Regulations 3
K Does anyone have a copy of a GM 5 Phase Problem solving form Problem Solving, Root Cause Fault and Failure Analysis 1
W Is it required to stamp obsolete hard copy DHR's "obsolete"? ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 6
V IATF 16949 - Buy PDF copy IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 11
R Please help me with attached copy of AS 9100D internal audit check sheet AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 2
A Alternative to keeping hard copy records that is 21 CFR part 11 compliant Document Control Systems, Procedures, Forms and Templates 0
S Looking for English Copy of MHLW 169 regulation Japan Medical Device Regulations 5
D Need a copy of IATF 16949 IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 2
M I am looking for a copy of the ISO 16232 standard Other ISO and International Standards and European Regulations 2
C PDF Copy of IATF 16949:2016 IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 1
A Where to find a Draft Copy of IATF 16949:2016? IATF 16949 - Automotive Quality Systems Standard 23
M Where to buy ISO 3951-1 and ISO 3951-2 standard copy Other ISO and International Standards and European Regulations 1
N Can anyone provide me a copy of uncertainty in excel file? Excel .xls Spreadsheet Templates and Tools 4
J Legal source to purchase a copy of the 9001:2015 Draft ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 3
F How to copy a Minitab graph template Using Minitab Software 3
Wes Bucey Code of Federal Regulations Electronic Copy Searchable Database Quality Manager and Management Related Issues 1
G Could I destroy my DHR hard copy after 2 years after pdf'ing them ? ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 4
A Minitab - Using the INSERT command to copy-paste text from and to a worksheet Using Minitab Software 6
A Copy-Paste in Minitab using Session Commands Using Minitab Software 5
H Layered Process Audit Hard Copy Records Retention Records and Data - Quality, Legal and Other Evidence 6
I Electronic vs. Paper Copy Document Approval Process Document Control Systems, Procedures, Forms and Templates 9

Similar threads

Top Bottom