© QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIANA INTRO-1 (1)

CQA 2012

THE
QUALITY AUDITOR
PRIMER

Eighth Edition - June, 2012

© by Quality Council of Indiana - All rights reserved.

Bill Wortman
Quality Council of Indiana
602 West Paris Avenue
West Terre Haute, IN 47885
TEL: 800-660-4215
FAX: 812-533-4216
qci@qualitycouncil.com
http://www.qualitycouncil.com

007
 © QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIANA INTRO-7 (2)
CQA 2012

CQA Primer Content Outline

I. CERTIFICATION OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-1
CERTIFIED AUDITOR EXAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-2
CQA BODY OF KNOWLEDGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I-5
CQA PRIMER CONTENT VS BOK . . . . . . . . . . . . I-16

II. AUDITING FUNDAMENTALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-1

QUALITY & AUDITING TERMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-2
AUDIT TYPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-12
METHODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-12
RELATIONSHIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-18
PURPOSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-20
COMMON ELEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-24
AUDIT PURPOSE & SCOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-25
AUDIT BENEFITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-26
AUDIT CRITERIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-27
AUDIT RESPONSIBILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-35
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-36
LIABILITY ISSUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-34
ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-36
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-45
AUDIT CREDIBILITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-50
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-52
QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II-55
 © QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIANA I-1 (8)
CQA 2012

I. CERTIFICATION OVERVIEW

Professionalizing Quality Education

AN INVESTMENT IN KNOWLEDGE
ALWAYS PAYS THE BEST INTEREST.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
 © QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIANA I-2 (9)
CQA 2012

I. CERTIFICATION OVERVIEW

Certified Quality Auditor Exam

The Certified Quality Auditor

Is a professional who understands the standards and

principles of auditing and the auditing techniques of
examining, questioning, evaluating and reporting, in
order to evaluate a quality system’s adequacy and
deficiencies.

Exam Duration

The current test will last 5 hours and will begin at an

advised time (typically 8:00 or 9:00 a.m.). Exams
occur twice per year.

Eligibility

CQA participants must register with ASQ

Headquarters. Eligibility entails a combination of
eight years work experience and/or higher education.
Three years of this requirement must be in a decision
making position.
 © QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIANA I-3 (10)
CQA 2012

I. CERTIFICATION OVERVIEW

Bibliography Sources

(1) ANSI/ISO/ASQ 19011 (2011): Guidelines for

Auditing Quality Systems - Auditing.

(2) ISO 9001:2008. Quality management systems –

Requirements. ISO.

(3) ISO 9001:2008 Pocket Primer (2009). Greg Wies

- Quality Council of Indiana.

(4) Juran Quality Handbook, Sixth Edition. Juran

and De Feo (2010) - McGraw Hill.

(5) Management Audits 3rd edition (1997) - Allan J.

Sayle.

(6) The ASQ Auditing Handbook, 3rd edition - J. P.

Russell, Editor (2005) - ASQ Quality Press.

(7) The Management System Auditor’s Handbook.

Kausak J. (2006) - ASQ Quality Press.

(8) Quality Audits for Improved Performance,(2003)

- Dennis R. Arter - ASQ Quality Press.

(9) Quality Dictionary (2010). Omdahl - QCI.