Supplier audit or management-system certificate: keep the evidence separate
A site visit, customer audit and accredited certification are different activities. A directory that labels each “audited supplier” hides who performed the work and against what criteria.
What the primary source can establish
The ISO certification explanation is the first-party reference for this guide. ISO says it does not perform certification or issue certificates; external certification bodies do that work. It does not investigate or endorse any named supplier on Source Ledger. The steps below are our editorial method for making a buyer-facing field more precise.
A field-level check
For an audit, record the auditor, criteria, site, date, findings and follow-up. For a certificate, record issuer, standard, holder, scope and status. A buyer should compare the actual scope to the relevant product or process.
Write down the exact field, the party that supplied the information, the original document or page, the date seen and the scope of the check. If a reviewer took an action, record that action rather than a general “verified” label. Reopen the source when the transaction or underlying document changes.
Where the inference stops
A clean visit report does not create a certification. A certificate does not prove that every production batch was inspected. Neither automatically covers a different legal entity or plant.
A missing answer is a question to resolve, not permission to substitute a guess. Separate a statement by the supplier from a public record and from a documented human review. No source in this article proves a quality ranking or an existing buyer relationship.
What to record before deciding
Use the precise label that the evidence supports. If no independent record exists, attribute the statement to the company rather than imply assurance.
This entry describes how to evaluate evidence. It is not a dossier for a real company, an approval decision or a substitute for transaction-specific professional review.
Common question
Can a buyer's factory visit be shown as ISO certification?
No. A visit report and a certification have different issuers, criteria and meanings.
Related guide
Continue with How to connect a product test report to the item being bought for another field-level check.