Sometimes this is conducted as a desktop audit and is carried out at the external auditors office and not at the site being audited, as it saves time and money. In this case, a copy of relevant EMS documentation such as the EMS manual is sent to the external auditor. The contents of the documentation are compared with the requirements of the selected standard. If the documentation is incomplete, there is no point in going on with the certification process. The external auditor will notify the company of the problems, and give then time to put things right.

If the document review is being undertaken on site, the auditor will stop the audit, which can be costly. It is therefore important to ensure that all the documentation requirements are checked and complete before a company embarks on the certification process.