Auditor Competence and Evaluation

There are three different aspects of auditor competence that are identified in the ISO 19011 standard for management system auditing – personal behavior, technical competence, and auditing competence.

Auditors are required to have the relevant characteristics, knowledge, and abilities in each of these three domains. The key step to determining auditor competence is to determine which traits, knowledge, and abilities are required for each individual auditor for them to accomplish the goals that have been set for the audit and the audit program.

The required competency of an audit team can be determined based on a few factors, including the nature of the organization being audited, the nature and level of complexity of the audit that will be performed, the composition of the audit team, and any specific requirements that have been imposed by stakeholders.

It is not necessary for every auditor to possess the same level of expertise to...