Service
Certification Audit Support
Certification audit support is hands-on preparation and representation for your ISO/IEC 42001 Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits, including evidence assembly, a mock audit, interview coaching, live support during audit days, and nonconformity remediation afterwards. ai42001 runs this over 4–8 weeks: we assemble the audit pack against the certification body's own checklist, run a full mock audit with the same questioning style the auditor will use, and prepare each interviewee for the questions they will personally be asked. Our team handles auditor interpretation disputes over clause wording and demonstrates the technical controls live, which is where unprepared teams most often stumble.
- Timeline
- 4–8 weeks, plus audit days
- Your effort
- Interview prep sessions for 4–8 named people
- Pricing
- Fixed fee per audit stage
Fit
Who this is for
This is for you if
- You have an AIMS in place — built by us or anyone else — and a certification audit on the calendar.
- Your Stage 1 audit produced findings you need to clear before Stage 2.
- Your team has never been through a management-system audit and you would rather they rehearsed first.
- You need someone who can defend a clause interpretation to an auditor without conceding scope you do not owe.
This isn't for you if
- You do not have an AIMS yet — start with the Gap Assessment or Full Implementation.
- You want us to act as your certification body. We cannot: consultants and certification auditors must be independent.
Scope
What's included
Every item below is delivered by our team working in parallel — the legal analysis and the technical work happen together, not in sequence.
- Certification body selection support
- We help you choose an accredited certification body, compare quotes and scopes, and review the audit plan before you sign — including checking that their accreditation actually covers ISO/IEC 42001.
- Audit pack assembly
- Every document and record the auditor will request, organised against their checklist and cross-referenced to clauses and Annex A controls, so nothing is hunted for during the audit.
- Full mock audit
- We audit you the way the certification body will — same clause order, same evidence sampling, same follow-up questions — and give you a findings report with time to fix things.
- Interview coaching
- Role-specific preparation for each person the auditor will interview: what they will be asked, what "good" sounds like, and what not to volunteer.
- Live audit-day support
- We attend Stage 1 and Stage 2 with you, manage evidence retrieval in real time, and handle clause interpretation questions as they arise.
- Nonconformity remediation
- If findings are raised, we write the root-cause analysis and corrective action plan, implement the fixes, and manage the closure evidence back to the auditor.
Deliverables
What you actually receive
- Certification body shortlist and audit plan review
- Indexed, cross-referenced audit evidence pack
- Mock audit findings report with remediation time built in
- Role-specific interview preparation briefs
- Attendance and live support across Stage 1 and Stage 2
- Corrective action plans and closure evidence for any nonconformities
The outcome
You walk into the audit knowing what will be asked, who will answer it, and where the evidence lives — and you walk out with a recommendation for certification.
Usually followed by
Fractional AI Governance Retainer
Ongoing senior AI governance capacity — legal and technical — for companies that need the function but not two full-time hires.
Fractional Retainer detailOther engagements
- 3–4 weeksGap AssessmentA 3–4 week diagnostic that tells you exactly how far you are from ISO/IEC 42001 certification, and what it will cost to close the distance.
- 3–6 months, depending on scope and AI system countFull ImplementationA 3–6 month engagement that builds your entire AI Management System — documentation, technical controls, and automated evidence — to the point where you are audit-ready.
- Monthly, 3-month minimum, cancel with 30 days' noticeFractional RetainerOngoing senior AI governance capacity — legal and technical — for companies that need the function but not two full-time hires.
Next step
Talk to us about audit support
A 30-minute call with our team. We will scope it properly, tell you what it costs, and tell you if a different engagement is a better fit for where you actually are.