6. Mistakes to avoid

6.1 Don't confuse different types of audit

It may be tempting to combine a regulatory compliance audit with a voluntary management system audit aimed at improvement. However, the two adopt different postures that are difficult to reconcile at the same time, for both the auditor and the auditee.

Similarly, it is often difficult to combine a management system or process audit approach with a job audit or product or service audit approach in the same audit (see Differentiating between system, process and product audits