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Building the questionnaire: sections, clauses and numbering

How to build the actual content of the audit.

Written by Caim Hermoso

Who this is for: Needs Manage My Audit Templates.

The questionnaire is built in the left-hand preview panel, under the Questionnaire section — not in the right-hand configuration panels. This catches people out.

  1. Expand Questionnaire in the live preview.

  2. Add a section. Sections group related clauses and appear as collapsible blue-headed panels during the audit. For an ISO 9001 audit these would be 4. Context of the Organisation, 5. Leadership, 6. Planning and so on.

  3. Add clauses within each section. Each clause is one thing the auditor assesses.

  4. Give each clause a reference and the requirement text — what is being checked.

  5. Reorder sections and clauses by dragging. Remove them with the delete control.

Section and clause numbers increment automatically. You can override any number if your standard uses a numbering scheme that does not run sequentially.

Writing good clause text. Write the requirement as a statement of what should be true, not as a question. "The organisation has determined external and internal issues relevant to its purpose" works better than "Have you determined your issues?" — it gives the auditor something concrete to test against.

If this doesn't work

  • Clause numbers are wrong — override them individually; automatic increment is a convenience, not a constraint.

  • A section will not move — sections drag by their header, not their body.

Related: 3.10 ③ Checklist Columns · 3.13 Setting evidence requirements per template and per clause

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