Quality Audits: First-, Second- and Third-Party

A quality audit is a systematic, independent examination to determine whether activities comply with planned arrangements. The three party types define who conducts the audit and why.

Three audit parties

Party	Conducted by	Purpose	Example
First-party	The organization itself	Internal self-assessment	Manufacturing plant auditing its own lines against ISO 9001
Second-party	A customer or interested party	Supplier qualification or surveillance	OEM auditing a Tier-1 supplier before qualification
Third-party	An independent certification body	Certification or regulatory compliance	Registrar auditing for ISO 9001 certification

Audit process steps

Initiation: scope, objectives, criteria
Document review: procedures, records
On-site audit: interviews, observation, sampling
Findings: conformances, nonconformances (major/minor), observations
Report: written, distributed to management
Follow-up: verify corrective actions closed

CQE exam tips

A major nonconformance is a complete system failure or absence; a minor is an isolated lapse.
Second-party audits do NOT grant certification — only third-party registrars do.
Auditors must be independent of the area being audited (objectivity requirement).

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