How to calculate unannounced audit window?

Hello all,

I'm confused as to how to calculate the exact unannounced audit window.

Does it count from +-30 days on "Date of Decision", "Date of Audit", 'Date of Expiry" or 'Date of Next Audit'?? We have these four dates on the last SQF certificate and it varies from Feb to May 2019. Just want to be prepared.

Thanks!!

My understanding is that the +/- 30 days is from the last day of the onsite audit.  So, if your audit was Feb. 1, then the next audit would fall between Jan. 1 - March 1.

30 day buffer on each side of the audit anniversary date.  Thus if your last audit was March 1st - it would be 30 days before or 30 days beyond.

Don't ya just love surprises!?!

30 day buffer on each side of the audit anniversary date.  Thus if your last audit was March 1st - it would be 30 days before or 30 days beyond.

 

Don't ya just love surprises!?!

Glen, this is actually incorrect. The unnanounced window is +/- 30 days from your initial certification, not the most recent audit you had.

Actually, the way it was explained to me, the audit window is +/- 30 days from "DATE OF NEXT AUDIT".  This window does not change year to year, no matter if the audit was earlier the past year or later.  If "DATE OF NEXT AUDIT" is marked as August 1, 2020, then the auditor can come 30 days prior or after -- so theoretically the auditor can come between July 2 and August 31 unless a time period has been blocked off ahead of time when the audit is requested.  The date of the next audit is based on the  initial certification audit date for the site, not the last.

 

Hope this helps! 

Gotcha, so "date of next audit" is just the next calendar year from your inital certification.

Be wary, this stuff is written in the code, hence why I quoted it. Individual auditors and CB's are not always...reviewing the language of the code on a regular basis.

I did put the window around the date, you are saying the exact same thing as II said, only wording it a bit different, and I thought I was clear.

Two clients just had unannouced audits and it fell within 30 buffer one day and 30 buffer the other side.

2 n's

Thanks guys!!! I got it now... It's the window of "DATE OF NEXT AUDIT" because this date is based on the "initial certification date". I check all our certs in the past 7 years and this date remains the same, always "Mar 17, xxxx", no matter which date exactly the actual audit happened. 

This is our year for unannounced as well.  I thought I understood it to be 30 days before or after initial audit date.  This conversation lead to me checking my certifications to see when the "DATE OF NEXT AUDIT" was.  Can you believe all but the very last one have the date of Jun 19th, the very last one has a date of July 19th.  Now I am not confident I know the exact window myself.

This is our year for unannounced as well.  I thought I understood it to be 30 days before or after initial audit date.  This conversation lead to me checking my certifications to see when the "DATE OF NEXT AUDIT" was.  Can you believe all but the very last one have the date of Jun 19th, the very last one has a date of July 19th.  Now I am not confident I know the exact window myself.LO

LOL that I'm not sure either!! Maybe they put the wrong month last year...? Does switching CB affect this date??

I think this originally had to do with eliminating the creeping cycle. When I was a Maintenance Supervisor we had some companies that try to schedule all of our annual inspections. I always declined and did it myself because they would come in Sept one year, then late August the next, then early August then late July etc. so they "cheated" the year by a few weeks. Before you knew it they were already 3 months earlier than their initial inspection date. Annual is annual - not every 49 weeks

Our certification says "Dec 22, 2020"  So the -/+ 30 days would extend into 2021?  Doesn't make too much sense.  Date of Decision was Oct 27th.  Date of Audit was Sept 11th.  Date of Expiry Oct 08, 2020.  So which date?

Our certification says "Dec 22, 2020"  So the -/+ 30 days would extend into 2021?  Doesn't make too much sense.  Date of Decision was Oct 27th.  Date of Audit was Sept 11th.  Date of Expiry Oct 08, 2020.  So which date?

Yes the -/+30 days could extend into 2021 depending on your date of next audit.

If the date of your next audit is December 22, 2020 then your -/+30 days would fall between November 22, 2020 and January 21, 2021.

I went back and looked at 6 years of certificates to verify the code and they all state the same "Date of Next Audit" and "Expires" dates which for us are, November 7th (Date of Next Audit) and January 21st (Expires), every year. 4 of the audits were actually in November, one was in December and one in October. The next audit and expiry dates should not move around unless you make that change by scheduling it for a different, earlier date or switch certifying bodies and moving the date but that could also be an issue if you are pushing it back. If you have a disaster that interrupts the cycl you have to ask permission from your CB to extend your certification but it shouldn't change that initial date, the next cycle you would revert back to the initial certification date. Specifically section 4.3, para 2 of the "Implementing and Maintaining the SQF Food Safety Code" states "The re-certification audit shall be conducted within thirty (30) calendar days either side of the anniversary of the last day of the initial certification audit." The key is "either side of the anniversary of the last day of the initial certification audit." If it's your first certification, that sets the date for all future re-certifications unless you are granted a change in date in writing and then can only be an earlier date than the original, or as stated before, change of CB. hope this helps clear up some confusion.