IATF Rule 6th Edition: 8 Important Changes You Need to Know

The 6th edition of the IATF Rules—the requirements for achieving and maintaining compliance with the IATF 16949 certification—was published on March 31, 2024, and will take effect on January 1^st, 2025.

The 6th edition aims to strengthen and clarify various processes, approaches, requirements, and IATF intentions. In this article, we explain the eight most important changes for OEMs and automotive suppliers along with some important notes.

The 6th edition redefines the requirements for additional sites to be considered an Extended Manufacturing Site (EMS) and be included in the scope of the certification of the main site. As per the new requirements, an EMS:

• Is part of the same legal entity
• Has the sole purpose of providing support to, or receiving support from, the main site
• Is located within 10 miles (16 km) and no more than 60 minutes of driving distance from the main manufacturing site
• Operates under the same quality management system of the main site.

While in the previous Rules, requirements for EMS were included in Appendix 4, now this has been removed and replaced by the new Section 1.1.

Important note: client sites that are currently designated as EMS that do not meet this definition will be identified for redesignation.

Under the previous rules, the initial audit could be followed by 5, 3, or 2 surveillance audits at regular intervals (with some tolerance regarding timing) during the 3-year cycle.

The new edition brought the following changes:

• There will be 2 surveillance audits in a 3-year cycle at 12-month intervals. There is an allowed tolerance of -3/+3 months from the due date based on the date of the last audit, whether it was an initial, transfer or recertification audit.
• If the surveillance audit timing is exceeded, the certificate will be cancelled. The certification body will have to inform the client of the cancellation and update the status in the IATF database within 7 calendar days.

Important note: clients with 6- or 9-month contracts will be transitioned to 12-month contracts.

There are no changes regarding the recertification audit. The allowed timing is still -3 months / +0 days from the due date. Sufficient time must be allowed to ensure that any non-conformities (NC) are closed, and the report is approved before the certificate expires.

Important note: it’s crucial that clients respond in a timely manner to scheduling communications to ensure we can partner to meet this requirement.

The new Rules define “audit duration” as the result of minimum audit days plus additional audit time. The definition of “additional audit time” is also new and includes activities such as:

• Non-conformity verification
• Translations
• Investigation of significant changes
• Investigation of OEM quality and delivery issues
• Scope expansion
• Relocation impacts.

As for NC verifications, the minimum additional audit time is quantified as:

• 30 minutes for each of the minor nonconformances (conducted at the next regular audit)
• 1 to 3 hours for each of the major nonconformances (conducted at the next verification audit).

At manufacturing sites, a minimum of 1.5 days for the stage 1 readiness assessment audit is required. At least 30% of that time must be dedicated to the client’s manufacturing process.

For corporate audit schemes, the previous Rules granted a reduction between 20% and 40% of audit days for initial and recertification audits, depending on the number of sites. The Rules 6^th edition adopts a uniform 15% audit day reduction for all corporate clients and extends it to surveillance audits.

Important note: audit day recalculations will take place to ensure we are aligned with this new requirement.

The 6^th edition introduces specific deadlines for some of the steps of audit planning. Namely:

• Dates for surveillance, recertification and transfer audits must be confirmed with the client no less than 90 calendar days prior to the audit.
• Clients are required to submit audit preplanning information to the auditor at least 30 calendar days before the audit. If preplanning is not received the audit may be postponed or even cancelled.
• The auditor is required to submit the audit plan by 14 calendar days before the audit.

Important note: audit cancellation will result in a cancellation fee and may lead to loss of your certificate.

In cases of major NC, clients are now required to submit more information. In addition to evidence of the implemented correction and root-cause analysis, the list includes evidence regarding the implemented containment actions and the systemic corrective action plan.

The timeline to submit this evidence is 15 calendar days from the audit closing meeting date (5 days less than in the 5^th edition).

The other timelines haven’t changed. Clients still have 60 calendar days to:

• Submit evidence of the implementation of corrective actions on major NC and verifying their effectiveness
• Submit evidence of management of minor NC.

Under the 5^th edition, the certification body had 90 calendar days to decide on acceptability of all the submitted information.

The new edition introduces stricter response times for the information under the 15-day timeline: the response of the certification body to the evidence submitted by the client and, in case of rejection, the resolution of the rejection must be completed within 30 calendar days from the audit closing meeting date.

Important note: failure to meet these timelines will result in certificate withdrawal.