I know that there are many different opinions on auditors reporting OFI's, but, in my experience, for management system audits to add real value to the organizations, it is imperative that such audits go beyond the mere exercise of verification for conformance and/or compliance. Most processes and practices are not binary; i.e., either good or bad. They occupy the whole spectrum from mediocre to excellent.Another aspect to address: When is an "opportunity for improvement" an outright opinion, and are such opinions relevant?
As a management system auditor involved with very large, multi-site organizations, one of my attention areas was to identify possible "best-in-class" practice among the sites for critical processes. And to report such identified best practice to the corporate people for further evaluation and, potentially, disseminating the practice to all of the remaining sites. Corporate people truly appreciated that type of noteworthy finding which could mean significant savings and/or process robustness.
It should go without saying that such reporting does NOT violate any aspect of third party auditing.