CQI IRCA ISO 9001:2026 Lead Auditor (QMS)

Quality professionals, management-system auditors, QMS managers, consultants, certification personnel, and professionals who need to lead first-, second-, or third-party ISO 9001:2026 audits.

Participants should understand the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle; the core elements of a management system; top-management responsibility; policy, objectives, planning, implementation, performance evaluation, and continual improvement.

Participants should also understand the seven quality management principles, the relationship between quality management and customer satisfaction, and the requirements, terms, and definitions of ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 9000:2026.

Evidence of equivalent prior learning may support a waiver from the pre-course evaluation. Without such evidence, learners must complete the evaluation and score at least 60%. Holders of ISO 9001:2015 Foundation training should review the 2026 changes before attending.

Continuous assessment covers attendance and individual outputs from exercises, document review, audit planning, checklists, role-play, nonconformity reports, the audit report, and corrective-action evaluation. Learners must average at least 7/10 for each learning objective and achieve at least 7/10 in each of six critical tasks.

The final assessment is the CQI and IRCA QMS Lead Auditor online examination: 1 hour 45 minutes and 40 questions. Full attendance and a pass in continuous assessment are required before the final assessment.

Successful learners receive a Certificate of Achievement. Learners who do not pass the continuous assessment or final examination receive a Certificate of Attendance.