Three legs
- Knowing the standard — what each clause asks for, and which evidence satisfies it.
- Knowing audit technique — questioning, gathering evidence, sampling, writing findings, handling disagreement.
- Understanding the work — how the audited process runs, its typical risks and its shortcuts.
Why the third leg is skipped
The first two are acquired through training and come with a certificate; the third takes time. So competence assessment usually stops at the line “attended the course”. The result is audits that produce formal findings and never touch the system's real weakness.
How competence is built
- attending as an observer alongside an experienced auditor,
- running the first audits under supervision,
- feedback afterwards: finding wording, time management, interview technique,
- rotating areas — an auditor who always audits the same unit eventually sees it through that unit's eyes.
The competence record
Who may audit which area should be written down. An arrangement where “everyone audits everything” leaves competence to chance and makes audit quality vary from auditor to auditor.
Technical experts
Where a technical field is outside the auditor's knowledge — explosion protection, pressure equipment, a chemical process — a technical expert joins the team. The expert is not an auditor; they do not raise findings, they explain the field to the auditor.