vdoc

308 Part IV: Quality Assurance
Terms and Definitions
auditee—The person or organization being audited.
auditor—The person or organization conducting the audit.
client—The person or organization requesting the audit.
interested party—A stakeholder in the audit process or results.
internal quality audit—Also known as a first-party audit. An audit conducted
within a company or organization by one or more employees of that company
or organization.
external quality audit—Also known as a second-party audit. An audit conducted
within a company or organization by one or more employees from a different
company or organization.
third-party audit—An audit conducted by a regulatory agency or registrar.
Types of Audits
Part IV.C.3
Quality audits may be classified according to the party conducting them or by
their scope.
When the auditor is an employee of the organization being audited (auditee),
the audit is classified as an internal quality audit. For the purposes of maintaining
objectivity and minimizing bias, internal auditors must be independent from the
activity being audited. When the auditors are employees of the client or an independent
organization, that is, a third party hired for the purpose, the audit is
termed an external quality audit. In this case, the auditors are clearly independent
of the auditee and are in a position to provide the client with an unbiased, objective
assessment. This is the type of audit required to permit listing in a register or
to meet mandatory quality requirements. However, the time required and costs
involved in an external audit are much higher as compared to internal audits.
Another way to classify quality audits is by scope. An audit may be as comprehensive
as needed or requested by a client. Arter (2003) identifies six types of
audits, each with a different scope, as described in Table 20.1.
Table 20.1 Audit types and scope.
Compliance audit
Performance audit
System audit Consistent implementation of a Ability to achieve organizational
defined system. Promotes stability. goals. Promotes change.
Process audit Performance of the ability in Ability of the processes to achieve
accordance with defined processes. desired characteristics.
Product audit Production of goods or services to Suitability of the goods or services
defined requirements.
for intended use.