Oxebridge has developed official rules for how currently-accredited ISO certification bodies can simultaneously offer Q001 Certification during standard ISO 9001 or AS9100 audits.
Through the use of formal “Q001 Bridge Audits,” current registrars can allow clients to opt for Q001 certification alongside their ISO or AS certification during any normal audit, whether initial certification audit, surveillance audit or 3-year recertification audit.
Bridge Audits require the CB to be fully accredited by an IAF member signatory accreditation body, and then add a few additional activities to their normal ISO or AS audit. The additional steps are:
- Conducting an Incident Investigation
- Conducting a Statistical Data Review of the client’s quality objectives / KPI data
- Completing a special Q020 Reciprocal Audit Report and submit this for authentication by Oxebridge.
It is expected the client will have to pay for the CB’s time in performing the additional steps.
During the normal practical audit fr ISO 9001 or AS9100, the CB would then be required to confirm the additional documents required by Q001 have been implemented as well.
In such cases, the client may then be granted a Q001 Quality System Certification Level 1 certificate alongside whichever certificates are issued by the CB.
CBs opting to provide this service do not need prior Oxebridge accreditation, provided they are already accredited by an IAF AB.
For clients wanting the higher Q001 Level 2, Level 3, or Level 4 with Honors certifications, they would have to utilize a separate Oxebridge-accredited certification body, and undergo a full Q001 audit. At this time, these cannot be combined with traditional ISO 9001 or AS9100 audits unless the CB is accredited for Q001 by Oxebridge.
The resulting Q001 certificates will be separate documents issued by the CB, and cannot be included on the ISO 9001 or AS9100 certificates. The Q001 certificates must be traceable back to official entries in the Oxebridge Directory.
The document Q019: ISO 9001 AS9100 Reciprocal Bridge Audits defines the rules for conducting bridge audits in detail; that document can be downloaded here.
CBs or clients interested in Q001 can learn more by contacting Oxebridge. In addition, the official FAQ page includes answers to common questions related to the Q001 scheme.
