ISO 9001 clause 9.1.2 audit checklist: the customer satisfaction evidence auditors look for
For clause 9.1.2, an auditor is looking for four things: that you decided how to monitor customer perception, that you did it, that you analysed what you found, and that you acted on it. Each needs dated evidence behind it.
The checklist below turns that into items you can tick before the audit, followed by the questions auditors commonly ask and the places findings tend to come from.
The checklist
The method is defined · clause 9.1.2, 9.1.1
- You can describe how you find out what customers think: who is asked, how, when, and with which questions.
- The method covers the customers of every main product or service, and every site in the scope of your certificate.
- It says who reviews the results and how often.
- If you have set a customer satisfaction objective, it has a target, an owner and a date.
There are records · clause 9.1.1
- Each response is dated and can be traced to its period and site, and to the customer where you know who it was.
- You can pull the responses for any period or site the auditor names, in minutes rather than days.
- You have decided how long the records are kept.
The results were analysed · clause 9.1.3
- Results are trended over time, not just collected.
- Someone wrote down what the results mean: what improved, what got worse, and the likely reasons.
Something was done about them · clause 10.2, and 10.3 (2015) or 10.1 (2026)
- Individual unhappy customers were followed up, and there is a record of what was done and by whom.
- Complaints were assessed for whether they point to a nonconformity, and the ones that did went into your corrective action process.
- Recurring themes were raised as corrective actions or improvements in your QMS, not left in the survey tool.
Management reviewed them · clause 9.3.2
- Customer satisfaction appears as an input in the minutes of your last management review.
- The review’s decisions or actions refer to it where it mattered.
The method was followed · clause 9.1.2
- What you did since the last audit matches what your method says.
- Any change to the method, such as new questions, a new scale or a new channel, is recorded with the reason.
Questions auditors commonly ask
Every auditor works differently, but these come up often. Each one is really asking to see a piece of evidence.
| The question | What a good answer shows |
|---|---|
| “How do you know what your customers think of you?” | Your method, described in a sentence or two, without reaching for the manual. |
| “Show me the results for [a quarter / a site].” | The responses behind the score, for exactly that slice, not a summary made earlier. |
| “How has satisfaction changed since the last audit?” | A trend, and an explanation of any movement. |
| “This customer was unhappy. What happened next?” | A dated record of who followed it up and what was done. |
| “Who decides who receives the survey?” | A rule applied to every customer, not a hand-picked list. |
| “Where did this go into management review?” | The minutes, with satisfaction listed as an input. |
The fourth question matters most. It is where clause 9.1.2 meets clause 10.2, and a satisfaction score with no record of what was done about the unhappy customers behind it is hard to defend.
If you run an internal audit of 9.1.2 before the certification audit, the guidance for that is ISO 19011:2026, the guidelines for auditing management systems, revised this year. It is written mainly for internal audits and audits of suppliers; certification bodies work to their own standard, ISO/IEC 17021-1.
Where findings tend to come from
Whether something is raised, and at what grade, is your certification body’s decision. These are the gaps that most often give an auditor something to write:
- The written method and the practice do not match. The manual says quarterly surveys; the last one went out fourteen months ago.
- Results were collected but never analysed. Responses exist, but no one can say what they showed.
- Unhappy customers with no follow-up. A low score or a complaint in the data, and nothing to show it was dealt with.
- Satisfaction missing from the management review. It is a listed input, and the minutes do not mention it.
- Too little data to support the conclusion. A handful of responses, or responses only from customers someone chose, presented as “customers are satisfied”.
- Complaints kept somewhere else. Complaints handled in one place and satisfaction measured in another, with nothing connecting the two.
The week before the audit
If the checklist is in good shape, preparation is short:
- Export the responses for the period since your last audit.
- Write a one-paragraph summary: the trend, what moved it, and what you changed.
- Pick two or three unhappy responses and check each has a record of what was done.
- Check the management review minutes list customer satisfaction as an input.
- Read your method once more and confirm it still describes what you do.
If the evidence assembles itself
In Customer Feedback Simplified, steps 1 and 3 are one export: every response for the period and site you choose, with the record of who followed it up and what they did in the same file. It does not write your summary or your management review, and it is not a corrective-action system: root cause and corrective actions stay in your QMS. The ISO 9001 page sets out exactly where it fits and where it stops.
Questions about 9.1.2 audits
Can we get a nonconformity for a low satisfaction score?
The standard asks you to monitor customer perception and act on it, not to reach a particular score. Findings usually come from not monitoring, not analysing, or not acting. The exception is a satisfaction objective you set yourself under clause 6.2: missing it without doing anything about it can be raised.
Do auditors check response rates?
ISO 9001 sets no minimum. An auditor may still ask whether you have enough responses, from a fair enough spread of customers, to rely on what the results say. Continuous collection answers that better than a single annual send.
Is a customer satisfaction survey enough on its own?
It can be, if it is the method you decided on and it covers your customers. Many companies also count complaints, compliments and customer meetings as sources, and saying so in the method gives you more to show. Which questions to put in the survey is covered in the 9.1.2 survey template.
Related guides
- ISO 9001 clause 9.1.2 customer satisfaction evidence (2015 and 2026)
Where the product fits in your QMS, and what it does not do.
- Clause 9.1.2 customer satisfaction survey template
The questions to ask, on which scale, and why each one earns its place.
- How to write your 9.1.2 procedure
A method statement you can adapt: who is asked, how, how often, and what happens next.
- NPS and CSAT for ISO 9001
Whether an auditor will accept either score, and which suits a certified company.
Clause numbers on this page are the same in ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 9001:2026, except in clause 10: what was 10.3 (continual improvement) in 2015 is 10.1 in 2026, and the 2015 edition’s 10.1 (general) is merged into it. Nonconformity and corrective action is 10.2 in both. ISO 9001:2015 certificates are expected to remain valid until 30 September 2029 (subject to confirmation by the accreditation bodies). From around 31 March 2028, new certifications are issued to ISO 9001:2026 only. Confirm dates with your certification body.
Clause details are based on published summaries of ISO 9001:2026; verify against the standard before relying on them. Requirements are paraphrased on this page, not reproduced, and your certification body’s reading is the one that counts. Last reviewed 2026-09-30.
Evidence that collects itself
Customer Feedback Simplified runs your satisfaction questions continuously, per location, and keeps every response with its date. When a response matches a rule you set, a browser notification arrives with the customer’s words attached; you record what was done about it, and the export puts that record beside the score.
No card required.