Sampling: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
Sampling (French: échantillonnage) means that the auditor examines only part of the available items, whether records, sites, suppliers or people, in order to draw a conclusion about the whole. In an ISO 53001 audit it is unavoidable: audit time never allows everything to be checked.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
The sample is built around risk and representativeness: activities with a strong effect on the priority SDGs, different sites, different periods. The auditor may also pick items at random so that the organisation cannot steer the selection. Sample size depends on what is at stake and how many items exist.
Because an audit relies on a sample, the absence of a nonconformity does not prove the absence of problems. For organisations with several sites, specific rules govern which sites are visited. See the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard.
Sampling several sites
When an organisation has several sites, the certification body may sample them under the applicable multi-site rules, provided the sites share one system under central control. Sites with the strongest effect on the priority SDGs, such as a production unit with high emissions, are more likely to be visited. The sample is recorded so that coverage over the cycle can be checked.
See also
- Audit evidence: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Audit evidence (French: *preuve d'audit*) is verifiable information, whether records, statements of fact or other material, relevant to the audit criteria.
- Certification audit: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)A certification audit (French: *audit de certification*) is the initial audit through which a certification body checks that an SDG management system meets ISO 53001 before a first certification decision.
- Audit finding: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)An audit finding (French: *constat d'audit*) is the result of comparing the evidence collected with the audit criteria.