The knowledge and skills of an audit team may need to be
supplemented by that of technical experts (under the supervision of an
auditor), in order to meet the audit objectives.
It is the responsibility of the CAB to select and appoint an
audit team (including the audit team leader) with the necessary knowledge and
skills needed to perform a competent audit, and to ensure the integrity,
confidentiality, and freedom from conflicts of interest.
In cases where the audit team needs to be complemented by a
technical expert, the following guidance should be considered.
In selecting a technical expert significant emphasis should
be placed on ensuring that there are no conflicts of interest (it is not
uncommon for technical experts to come from the same industrial sector as the
auditee, and they may have associations with the auditee’s competitors); consequently,
all technical experts should be required to sign a statement on avoiding
conflicts of interest and on ensuring confidentiality before participating in
the audit.
The time spent by technical experts should not to be
included in the required audit time calculations.
The audit team leader, in consultation with the audit team,
should assign each team member responsibility for auditing specific processes,
functions, sites, areas or activities. Such assignments should take into
account the need for competence, and the effective and efficient use of the
audit team, as well as the different roles and responsibilities of auditors and
technical experts. Auditors should receive instructions on the role of the
technical experts, including any limitations to their participation in the
audit.
Each technical expert should be assigned to the
responsibility of a specific auditor on the audit team.
If not otherwise agreed with the customer, the technical
expert should always be accompanied by the auditor to whom they are assigned.
If deemed necessary, the technical expert should be allowed
to perform interviews under the supervision of the auditor to whom they are
assigned.
Audit comments or findings by the technical
expert should only be communicated to the auditee via the auditor or audit team
leader. In case the auditor needs to clarify the comments or findings made by
the technical expert with the client, the auditor may allow the technical
expert to directly clarify the issue with the client, under supervision by the
auditor.
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