IRCA courses

IRCA courses are used worldwide by people seeking to qualify as auditors. They are enjoying increasing popularity within the TÜV NORD GROUP. In 2018 alone, more than 3,000 participants attended IRCA-certified courses organized by TÜV NORD. But what exactly is behind them? When are there IRCA courses at TÜV NORD and how will the topic develop in the future?

TÜV NORD has been offering IRCA courses for 20 years, however usually not under its own name, but mainly as a training partner of NBA Ltd. Since 2014, TÜV NORD CERT has had its own IRCA certification and is therefore in a position to offer IRCA courses under the TÜV NORD logo. Katja Beyer, Head of CQI and IRCA-registered auditor training courses at TÜV NORD CERT in Essen, has been responsible for this topic ever since. Since the end of 2015, she has been actively supported by Hrvoje Jagnjic from Slavonski Brod. TÜV Asia Pacific - until then also a recognised IRCA-holder - gave up its accreditation in 2017 and handed over its two courses to TÜV NORD CERT. Thus all IRCA certified courses available in the TÜV NORD GROUP are now offered from a single source. This has the advantage that there is only one contact person for all courses, the procedures are always identical and, of course, accreditation costs are saved.

Over the years, the product portfolio has grown to 9 standards and 14 courses and currently includes: lead auditor training for standards 9001, 14001, 18001, 20000, 22000, 22301, 27001, 45001 and 50001, transition/migration training for standards 9001, 14001, 45001 and Annex SL, as well as an auditor conversion training for ISO 50001.

"From 2015 to 2018 we were able to more than double our number of participants - from 1,462 to 3,280", Katja Beyer reports. "Particularly in India and the Middle East, we saw an enormous increase in the number of participants. Smaller companies such as Croatia, Indonesia, Egypt and Iran have also seen growth in demand for these courses. Without the great work of our training partners - mainly TÜV NORD companies - this success story would not have been possible. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all the training managers and trainers who have done a great job for the participants".

In addition to the qualification of their own auditors, many national companies also see a cross-selling effect in the IRCA courses: the participants are often management system representatives for a standard or internal auditors and thus always potential customers for the certification business. In times when there is a shortage of qualified staff, IRCA courses also create contact to potential new employees or external auditors because every successful participant is a potential auditor.

In the future not only the number of "blank spaces" on the TÜV NORD map should be further reduced, but work will also continue to expand the range of standards offered by existing training partners. In addition, the model is to be transferred to other services in the area of training and personal certification. The integration of the "IRCA" department into Steffen Rossbergs personal certification department has created the best conditions for this.

If you have any questions, please contact Katja Beyer: +49 201 825 2755 or send an e-mail to kbeyer@tuev-nord.de