In other words, it is a major breakdown or partial breakdown in the system. A nonconformity simply refers to non-fulfilment or partial fulfilment of a requirement. However, in practice, nonconformities are usually classified into either major or minor by virtually all certification bodies. This grading can be quantitative (e.g., 1 to 5) and qualitative (e.g., minor or major). Nonconformity in line with the ISO 19011:2018 standard can be graded depending on the context of the organization and its risks. In such a case, the risk assessment report serves as a reliable evidence to demonstrate conformity with the requirement of the audit criteria on risk assessment. For instance, clause 8.2 of ISO 27001:2013 mandates that risk assessment should be conducted and report of the outcome of risk assessment exercise should be available as documented information.

What does each finding mean?Ĭonformity is an audit finding that shows that the specific requirement of the standard has been sufficiently fulfilled within the audited process or area of the management system. These are all the possible approach to classifying audit findings i.e., conformity, nonconformity, observation and opportunity for improvement. In addition to classifying the audit findings as conformity or nonconformity, audit findings can also be classified as observations or opportunity for improvements.

Broadly speaking, audit findings can be graded as either a conformity or nonconformity. (guidelines for auditing management systems), audit evidence normally would be evaluated against audit criteria in order to determine audit findings.

New findings become seriously from