QMS Auditor QB

CERTIFICATION

REQUIREMENTS

QUALIFICATION-BASED

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (QMS)

AUDITOR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

RABQSA International Personnel Certification Programs

Document Ref: PCD28 QB-QMS Certification Requirements © Edition: 9 Issued : November 2013

Page 2

RABQSA International, Inc. (RABQSA) is accredited by the Joint

Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand

(JAS-ANZ) and InMetro as meeting the requirements of the International

Standard for Personnel Certification Bodies, ISO/IEC 17024:2012 ‘General

requirements for bodies operating the certification of persons’.

This program is not covered under RABQSA’s scope of accreditation with

JAS-ANZ or InMetro.

Disclaimer

While every effort is made to ensure that the process for evaluating applications for certification

is effective, Exemplar Global does not accept liability for the performance, conduct or services

provided by the certified person or organisation.

© Copyright Exemplar Global

This Certification Program and associated Intellectual Property is subject to Exemplar Global

Copyright©. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of application, review or reference, as

permitted under the Australian and United States of America Copyright Acts, no part of this

Program may be reproduced by any process without the written permission of the Chief

Executive Officer of Exemplar Global.

Document Ref: PCD28 QB-QMS Certification Requirements © Edition: 9 Issued: November 2013

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Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................. pg.4

Grades of Certification ................................................................................................. pg.5

Scopes of Certification ................................................................................................ pg.6

Knowledge Requirements ........................................................................................... pg.7

Qualification Requirements ........................................................................................ pg.8

Audit Experience Requirements ................................................................................. pg.9

Re-Certification ............................................................................................................ pg.10


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Introduction

The Qualification-Based (QB) Quality Management System (QMS) Auditor Certification

Program has been developed by RABQSA International, Inc. (RABQSA) in liaison with

industry representatives.

The program provides international recognition for auditors who conduct quality

management system audits using national or international management system standards,

or other management system standards and normative and industry references recognized

by RABQSA.

Confidence and reliance in the audit process depends on the competence of personnel

conducting the audit.

This personnel certification program has been developed to meet the following key

objectives:

To achieve the requirements of the International Standard for personnel certification

ISO/IEC 17024:2012;

To ensure that auditors meet or exceed the qualification guidelines for management

system auditors described in ISO 19011:2011 and are assessed as competent to perform

quality management system audits;

To assist organizations in selecting appropriately qualified auditors; and

To enhance the professional recognition of qualified auditors.

Auditors who wish to become certified by RABQSA should review this document and the

Personnel Certification Guide to better understand the certification requirements prior to

applying for certification.

If you have any remaining questions regarding personnel certification, please contact an

Examiner in your region’s Principal Office. Exemplar Global Principal offices are located in:

Milwaukee, USA

PO Box 602

Suite 301

600 N Plankinton Ave

Milwaukee, WI 53201-0602

+1-888-722-2440; or

+1-414-272-3937

Fax +1-414-765-8661

Seoul, South Korea

IATC Co., Ltd.

Room 406

ACE Techno Tower III 197-48

Guro3-dong, Guro-Gu

Seoul, South Korea

+82-2-855-7017

Sydney, Australia

PO Box 347

Suite 12

308 High Street

Penrith, NSW 2750

+61-2-4728-4600

Fax +61-2-4731-6466

http://exemplarglobal.org/documents/Personnel_Certification_Guide.pdf


Page 5

Grades of Certification

There are five grades of QMS Auditor certification:

Associate QMS Auditor

QMS Auditor

Principal QMS Auditor

Lead QMS Auditor

Business Improvement QMS Auditor

The Associate Auditor grade recognizes that an applicant has met the formal education,

training, and work experience requirements, but has not yet demonstrated the ability to

conduct QMS audits.

The Auditor grade recognizes that an applicant has demonstrated the qualifications to

conduct a QMS audit and perform as a member of an audit team.

The Principal Auditor grade recognizes that an applicant has demonstrated the

qualifications to conduct a QMS audit and perform either alone or as a member of an audit

team.

The Lead Auditor grade recognizes that an applicant has demonstrated the qualifications to

conduct a QMS audit and can lead an audit team.

The Business Improvement Auditor grade recognizes that an applicant has demonstrated

Lead Auditor qualifications and has knowledge of the application and benefits of business

improvement and risk management tools.


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Scopes of Certification

There are five scopes under QMS Auditor certification. These scopes are in addition to the

certification requirements shown within this document.

Applicants for scopes must provide evidence with their application related to their combined

indirect education, direct education, work experience, and audit experience specific to the

scope they seek. The following ratings are assigned for each type of evidence submitted,

and a final rating is calculated to determine the approval of a scope. A strong rating is

considered a 7 and a minimum rating of 4 is required before the scope can be awarded.

Indirect education: high/secondary school (1), technical/TAFE (1), university (2),

postgraduate (2)

Direct education: training (1), technical/TAFE (2), university (3), postgraduate (3)

Work experience: indirect (non scope-related) (1), direct 1-3 years (2), direct 4+

years (3)

Audit experience: 1-3 audits (1), 4-6 audits (2), 7+ audits (3)

Additional information on the Cattlecare or Flockcare Audit Scopes is available from

Example Global or the Australian National Cattlecare or Flockcare Coordinators.

SCOPE TRAINING WORK

EXPERIENCE

AUDITING

EXPERINCE

1. ISO 9001:2008

Audit

NA NA At least 16 audit days

using ISO 9001:2008

as the referenced

standard.

2. ISO 13485:2003

Audit*

ISO 13485:2003

Training

NA At least 10 audit days

using ISO

13485:2003 as the

referenced standard.

3. ISO/IEC

17025:2005

Assessment*

ISO/IEC 17025:2005

Training

NA At least 10 audit days

using ISO/IEC

17025:2005 as the

standard.

4. Cattlecare Audit* Cattlecare Course Relevant agricultural

industry experience

NA

5. Flockcare Audit* Flockcare Course Relevant agricultural

industry experience.

NA

http://www.exemplarglobal.org/


Page 7

Knowledge Requirements

Applicants for each grade of QMS Auditor certification must provide evidence of

knowledge competency defined in the following TPECS Competency Units:

Associate, Auditor, and Principal QMS Auditor:

Management System Auditing (RABQSA-AU)

Auditing Quality Management Systems (RABQSA-QM)

Lead QMS Auditor:



Leading Management System Audit Teams (RABQSA-TL)

Business Improvement QMS Auditor:



Leading Management System Audit Teams (RABQSA-TL)

Advising on Organizational Improvement and Risk Management (RABQSA-OI)

EVIDENCE OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED COMPETENCY

All QMS Auditor Grades:

A certificate/s of attainment for the above Competency Units from a Certified TPECS

Training Provider, issued within the three years prior to application, is required. Applicants

whose Certificate is older than three years may be eligible to complete the RABQSA-QM e-

based knowledge examination to demonstrate current knowledge.

Alternately, a Certificate of Successful Completion of a Certified QMS Auditor course (or

other certified QMS Auditor course recognized by RABQSA), together with successful

completion of the RABQSA-QM Gap Examination, will be accepted as evidence of the

knowledge requirements for the RABQSA-AU and RABQSA-QM Competency Units. For

Lead and Business Improvement Grades, the successful completion of the RABQSA-TL

Knowledge Examination will be accepted as evidence of the knowledge requirements for

RABQSA-TL and RABQSA-OI Competency Units.

Refer to the Personnel Certification Guide for details on knowledge examinations, TPECS

and TCC Training Providers and other certified training courses recognized by Exemplar

Global.

A register of Certified Training Providers is available at www.exemplarglobal.org.

http://www.rabqsa.com/docs/downloads/TCD32.pdf

http://www.rabqsa.com/docs/docs/downloads/TCD40.pdf









http://www.exemplarglobal.org


Page 8

Qualification Requirements

Applicants for QMS Auditor certification must provide evidence of qualifications defined by

RABQSA in the following categories:

EVIDENCE OF EDUCATION:

Applicants for all QMS Auditor grades have completed secondary education or national

equivalent.

EVIDENCE OF WORK EXPERIENCE:

Applicants for all QMS Auditor grades must provide evidence of:

At least eight years work experience with secondary education; or

At least six years work experience with post-secondary (non-university) education; or

At least four years work experience with a University degree (Bachelors or higher).

In addition to the above work experience requirements, the following specific requirements

apply:

QMS Associate Auditor Grade:

Applicants must provide evidence of at least two years quality assurance work experience,

obtained in the four years prior to application.

QMS Auditor, Principal, Lead, and Business Improvement Auditor Grades:

Applicants must provide evidence of at least two years quality assurance work experience,

obtained in the four years prior to Application, in a technical or managerial position with

direct QMS management responsibilities.

Evidence of work experience must be verifiable and include:

Employer (including contact details);

Dates of employment; and

Roles, responsibilities (job description) and achievements.

ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF EVIDENCE:

Acceptable evidence of education and work experience will be in the form of a copy of the

applicant’s educational certificate and/or degree and a work resume or curriculum vitae. This

documentation is submitted with the application.


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Audit Experience Requirements

Applicants for QMS Auditor certification must provide evidence of audit experience defined

by RABQSA for each specific grade.

All audit days must be in accordance with the conditions for audit experience as described in

Personnel Certification Guide.

Associate QMS Auditor:

None

QMS Auditor:

Applicants for Auditor grade shall demonstrate twenty audit days. A maximum of six days

of off-site audit activity is allowed in these twenty days.

Included in the twenty audit days, an Applicant must demonstrate:

At least four complete QMS audits as a member of an audit team.

Principal QMS Auditor:

Applicants for Principal Auditor grade shall demonstrate twenty audit days. A maximum of

six days of off-site audit activity is allowed in these twenty days.

Included in the twenty audit days, an Applicant must demonstrate:

At least four complete QMS audits; and

At least ten audits days and two complete QMS audits as a solo auditor or a Team

Leader.

Lead or Business Improvement QMS Auditor:

Applicants for the Lead or Business Improvement Auditor grades shall demonstrate thirty-

five audit days. A maximum of ten days of off-site audit activity is allowed in these thirty-

five days.

Included in the thirty-five audit days, an Applicant must demonstrate:

At least seven complete QMS audits; and

At least fifteen audit days and three complete QMS audits as a Team Leader of

an audit team of at least one other auditor.



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Re-certification

To maintain certification, all certified auditors are required to demonstrate continuing

conformity with the current certification requirements for the grade of certification awarded.

Exemplar Global will provide reminders with an invoice for the Annual Certification Fee.

Every four years from the date of initial certification and each subsequent re-certification,

auditors must provide:

Evidence of 45 hours of Continual Professional Development (CPD) activities. CPD

logs are available www.exemplarglobal.org. Guidance is provided in the Personnel

Certification Guide.

Confirmation that the Code of Conduct has been adhered to and any complaints

against performance have been resolved.

Audit experience in accordance with the following:

Associate QMS Auditor: No audit experience required.

QMS Auditor: At least 6 QMS audits that total at least 15 audit days. At least

2 of these audits must be complete QMS audits.

Principal QMS Auditor: At least 6 QMS audits that total at least 15 audit

days. At least 2 of these audits must be complete QMS audits. At least 2 of

these audits must be performed either solo or as an audit team leader.

Lead or Business Improvement QMS Auditor: At least 6 QMS audits that

total at least 15 days. At least 2 of these audits must be complete audits. At

least 2 of these audits must be performed as an audit team leader.

For all grades that require audit experience at re-certification, a maximum of 6 days off-site

will be accepted in each re-certification period.

All audit days must be in accordance with the conditions for audit experience as described in

Personnel Certification Guide.

http://www.exemplarglobal.org/



http://www.rabqsa.com/docs/downloads/PCF09.pdf


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QMS Auditor QB