Certificate of Quality Audit Compliance

The Certificate of Quality and Audit Compliance certifies that an organizational unit has met or exceeded one or more third-party quality standards.

a. Use this DID for certificates resulting from quality audits (not individual process reviews) of organizational units carried out by contractors or governmental entities. The term audit shall be used herein to encompass any inspection, review, evaluation, assessment, analysis, or similar activity involving an examination relative to a fixed standard. Any reference to an auditor shall be understood include an inspector, reviewer, evaluator, assessor, analyst, or examiner. All references to standards shall be understood to mean specific, identified, codified, published quality standards. Associated measures of value or worth are also included within the scope of quality, such as, but not limited to, reliability, effectiveness, utility, surety, feasibility, practicability, maintainability, producibility, or sustainability.

b. This DID applies when an organization that is external to the audited unit (outside its chain of command or contracted) issues a certificate validating conformance or compliance to a third-party standard. This DID shall not apply to an organization that self-certifies compliance or conformance to a third-party standard.

c. This DID applies to a certificate that offers documentation (proof) of certification at meeting or exceeding one or more relevant quality standard(s). The term certification shall be understood to include accreditation and validation as well as any equivalent or similar terms used by relevant standard(s). The term certificate shall be construed to include terms such as affidavit, credential, endorsement, or warrant that are used in a similar or equivalent fashion in relevant standard(s).

d. This DID can be achieved only when auditors or their certification bodies (also called registrars) possess those certifications, accreditations, or other credentials required pursuant to the relevant standard(s). Likewise, the employing firm or agency (the certification body) must also have the certification, accreditation, or other credentials requisite for the audit.

e. This DID is applicable when a Government organizational unit enters into a contract, interagency agreement, or other formal relationship where the unit is audited to an identified standard and requires documentation that a specific third-party standard has been met or exceeded. All references to a contract herein shall be understood to mean any agreement made in writing between the audited unit and the auditing entity.

f. Some examples of entities producing third-party standards to which this DID could apply are as follows: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), American Society for Quality (ASQ), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Audits in support of a third-party standard typically will not be carried out by the third-party organization creating or promulgating the relevant quality standard.

g. Some examples of third-party quality standards to which this DID would apply are as follows: ISO9001 (Quality Management Systems - Requirements), ISO/IEC17025 (General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories), ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9001 (Quality Management Systems - Requirements), and SAE AS9100 (Quality Management Systems: Aerospace Requirements).

h. This DID may be used alone or in conjunction with other DIDs.

i. This DID may be used when the Government requires proof of a quality audit certification for a non-governmental entity.

j. This DID is a first issuance and does not supersede any other DID.