Does ISO 9001:2008 QMS Standard mention specific frequency of internal audit?

Does ISO 9001:2008 QMS Standard mention specific frequency of internal audit? How frequently does an organization need to perform internal audits? Is it fair to conduct internal audit once in two years?
ISO 9001:2008 QMS Standard does not mention specific frequency of internal audit. Requirements of ISO 9001:2008 QMS Standard say conducting internal audit at planned intervals. As such the Standard binds the organization to conduct internal audit at planned intervals. It is up to the organization to decide the frequency of internal audit.

How frequently does an organization need to perform internal audits? It is very relevant question. Internal audits need to be performed to cover all quality management system activities the organization undertake and all the ISO 9001:2008 Standard requirements. In deciding the frequency of internal audits, the organization should consider following factors:
- Complexity of procedures and processes
- Maturity level of the organization’s quality management system
- Nature of business activity
- Problematic aspects and areas as per history
- Organization approach for monitoring and improvement
- Frequency of management review

Jan A. de Ridder, Senior Consultant, QA en Lean professional, says, “Frequency depends on many things. In my opinion it is fair to audit Clause 5.5 every two years, unless there are changes in the organization. Clause 8.3 should be audited more or less continuously. When requirements are not met, frequency should increase. I used to audit the whole system and every area in a 3 year cycle. Some places were visited more often than others. One should wonder how audits can be performed effectively, but also efficiently. I used to discuss frequency with the responsible manager. Is he/she happy with the outcome and the number of audits? After all he is the internal customer of the auditor.”

Richard Sledgister, an Engineer, says, “The frequency of a company’s internal audits should accomplish the following goals: 1) assess standard conformance, 2) drive RCCA (Root Cause Corrective Action) and 3) drive continuous improvement. Audits should measure the overall effectiveness of a QMS (Quality Management System) in a company and or a specific facility within a company. Audits should also focus on specific areas in which the planned method (standard work) is not being executed properly, high warranty costs are being incurred, a high scrap rate exists, processes are not in statistical control and or other performance metrics are not being achieved. These are all signs of poor quality. The audit frequency should be adjusted to focus on areas needing continuous improvement as this is an efficient use of resources. The cost of poor quality will be reduced and profitability will be enhanced.”

Sandeep Sharma, a Quality engineer, says, “I think it must be finished just before the external audit, if we will get the NC's, there will be time to resolve all the issues.”


On considering above points, it is now clear that it will be unfair to conduct internal audit once in two years as the time gap between two internal audits will be too long.

What should be done after getting results of internal audit?
The organization gets information about the areas which need correction and/or improvement from the results of internal audit. The information from internal audit results becomes input for the