FAQs

• International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA) is the leading professional body for management system auditors.
• CQI and IRCA Certified Training courses are independently assessed by the CQI and IRCA, the leading professional bodies for quality and auditing.
• IRCA registration is recognized around the world and helps allow auditors to promote themselves internationally. IRCA auditors work in over 150 different countries across different industries.
• IRCA members are slightly more confident about their chances of developing their career in their current role.
• IRCA members earn 23% more than non-IRCA members.
• 44% of IRCA auditors use IRCA to market their services. You receive a membership card and logo to use on your documents.
• IRCA auditors are listed on the IRCA online register of auditors, which is used by employers globally to find professionals.

for more Information, please visit www.quality.org

Please contact our head office via irca-courses@tuev-nord.de. We will check out alternative possibilities for you.

We have two types of certificates, issued to all delegates who have participated in a CQI and IRCA certified Training Course:

• A Certificate of Achievement will be issued to all delegates who have participated in a course for the full duration and passed successfully the assessments during the course as well as final examination.
• A Certificate of attendance will be issued to all delegates who have completed a course, but not passed the final exam.

The costs vary between the countries and courses. Please contact our local Office for your personal offer: https://www.tuev-nord.de/en/irca/contacts-and-locations/

Each delegate who has completed a full course and passed the continuous assessment but failed the examination is allowed to write one resit examination.

The Certificate will be issued by TÜV NORD CERT GmbH, your course provider, via the local Training Partner to you.

The minimum number of delegates in one course held by one tutor is 4, the maximum number is 12. For a delegate number of 13 – 20 two tutors will hold the course (one Lead Tutor and one Support Tutor), so that it is ensured that during the exercises and role plays you get sufficient support. 

Please note that the maximum number of delegates in courses provided in VILT format is 10.

Please write an e-mail to irca-courses@tuev-nord.de. Include a scan of your certificate or give us your name and course details. We will check out with our database the correctness of your certificate.

Your certificate is valid for 5 years after the last day of the course for registration as auditor with IRCA.

Please check out the document IRCA/1000. It describes all standard specific requirements for your registration as auditor for the different grades. The document is available on www.quality.org.

There are several differences between both exam types. Online exams have to be written online within a 30 days period of last day of the course under video proctoring, while paper exams have to be written on last day of the course. The question set is different, paper is closed book, while online is open book. However, during the course, you get practice exams, so that you have an overview about the nature of the exam and you will be trained in the same excellent way, independently from the type of exam.

The TUV NORD online exam is a conversion of the paper exam, which was allowed during the pandemic situation to have the opportunity to offer exams to learners not able to travel around. The TUV NORD online exam is equivalent to paper exam. The TUV NORD online exam is only available for standards, not covered by the new CQI and IRCA online exam scheme or for languages not covered by the new scheme.

Refer the CQI & IRCA online exams: Learner Guide document for all details.

Your local training partner is requested to submit your data first to the TÜV NORD CERT GmbH as the IRCA Approved Training Provider. TÜV NORD CERT GmbH has to forward your data to IRCA. You are requested to send a declaration of consent as a signed document or as e-mail. Read the privacy policy of IRCA.

All Lead Auditor courses for the standards ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 provided in English language and starting on or after 7^th of November 2022 must be finalised with the new online exam scheme. From February 2023 onwards the ISMS Lead Auditor, ISO 22000 and FSSC Lead Auditor schemes will be added. Between May and July additional languages will be rolled out.

Yes, please refer the Reasonable Adjustment Policy for further information, available in the Learner Guide document. If you have a request for reasonable adjustment, please get in touch prior to the start of the course with your local training provider.

No, the course date is relevant for the exam scheme to be used. If you have written your first attempt as paper exam, your resit will be paper exam as well.

If you feel, that your performance during your exam was significantly affected by an unexpected or temporary illness or an event outside your control, you may apply for CQI apecial consideration. Please refer the CQI and IRCA Learner Guide for more details on the special consideration policy. Please use the form for special consideration request.

You want to make a formal request for a review of a decision w.r.t. fail result malpractice decision? Please consider the appeals policy of CQI and IRCA in the Learner Guide document.

Please follow the Appeals Policy to submit an appeal.

Not only in pandemic situations VILT courses are an alternative for learners to participate in a Training Course organised in a virtual environment. Reasons can be availability of a course in a specific country or also long distances within one country. Pandemic situations are a special case – with clear travel restrictions or meeting restrictions it might be the only option to participate in a course and increase the personal knowledge and skills.
In case a learner is participating in a VILT course in another country, it might be that local legal legislation of the individual cannot be covered within the course. In those cases it is the responsibility of the learner to cross check the relevant local legal requirements by him-/herself.

Generally all IRCA certified training courses of TÜV NORD are designed in a way that they can be provided in a virtual class room. In the VILT format you will have an experienced tutor available the whole time.

Naturally your data will be handled just as confidential in a VILT course as in a class room course. It is not TÜV NORDs policy to record any training session. The identity of learners will be checked in separate break out rooms, so that only the tutor can check your private details on identity card.

Basically there is no difference between a VILT course and a class room course. The discussions and exercises on site are replaced by an interactive web-supported video conference. It is important that all those taking part in the course should check the technical equipment before the course. A good way to do this is to have a test video conference. The final details of the course can also be discussed with the trainer or supporting staff during this test conference.

In order to be able to participate in a VILT course successfully, suitable hard- and software (laptops, desktop PCs, headsets, webcams, stable Internet connection) have to be present with the learner. The appropriate tool for the virtual environment (MS Teams, WebEx or alternative) will be provided by the training organisation and can be accessed via browser. Since the courses are highly interactive and involve all learners in discussion, exercises, group work and role play games it is precondition, that you can cover the technical requirements.

Yes, all documents, beside the standard itself (needs to be organised/bought by the learner), will be provided in a digital format. You can use them digitally only, however, sometimes several documents are needed. Therefore it is recommended to use a second monitor or print the respective documentation. If none of these options is available to you, please contact your local training partner for support. Additionally it is necessary to sign the attendance register. Digital signatures are accepted.

No, the nature of a VILT course is that you participate in a virtual classroom in parallel with other learners and with an experienced tutor available all the time. Therefore, the program of our VILT courses follow the normal schedule and are fixed to the specific schedule, offered for your course.

The VILT format is comparable to a classroom session: you have to conduct group exercises and roleplay games. For group exercises, the learners will be divided in groups and shifted in so called break out rooms. Afterwards the groups present their work. The tools used ensure that you are able to work without disturbance in your group room and share your screen with others. The VILT format provides you the same knowledge and skills than classroom format, both course types can be considered as equivalent.

The examination can be provided currently in English only in an online format. The invigilation process follows the strict IRCA requirements and some software needs to be installed locally on your computer. Additionally we are requested by IRCA to record the examination. Please contact our local training partner for more detailed information and clarify whether they can support our IRCA exams in an online format.

Alternatively, all learners have the opportunity to write the exam in one of our training center worldwide. In any case the exam must be completed within 30 days of the last day of the course. 

Rooms

• Best: Quiet conference room
  Alternative: Quiet office room

Infrastructure

• Stable Internet connection
  Usual web browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer
  Best: connection via network cable
  Alternative: Connection via WLAN
• Desktop computer/Laptop/Tablet/Whiteboard for connection
• Camera for video transmission
  Best: Conference cam (with at least 2 megapixel)
  Alternative: Webcam
• Audio equipment for sound transmission
  Best: Audio conference system
  Alternative: Headset with microphone
• You must have an email address. The email address is necessary in order to invite the participants to attend the VILT course.

Software

• Best: web based video conference software will be provided by your training organisation

Documentation

• Best: All necessary documents (beside the standard) will be provided in a digital form. Please use a second monitor during the course to compare documents. Some documents must be send back after filling in.

• Alternative: print documents and scan or camera to photograph them must be available. Please contact your local training provider in case of any problems.