My Reading on ASQ CQA HB Part I-IA~IE-s

Part IE2
The Auditor as an Agent
As a representative of a company, an individual auditor can
unknowingly acquire legal liability in several areas.
• Auditor Making Empty Statement (refrain from)
First, the auditor might make statements that an auditee uses to
make decisions. If these statements are later shown to be
untrue, the auditee might have recourse against the auditor’s
company for damages. For example, if a third- party auditor told
the auditee that the auditee’s company would get a discount on
insurance if it were compliant with ISO 9001, and the auditee
used that information as a reason for deciding to implement ISO
9001, then the auditee might recover damages if no discount
was forthcoming.
• Telling Auditee How to Do His Work (refrain from)
An auditor also has to be careful not to tell the auditee how to
do his or her work or what decisions to make. If an auditee relies
on the auditor’s words and subsequently fails to provide a good
product or service, ensure compliance to governmental
regulations, or obtain registration, the auditee might recover
damages. Also, if an auditor provides guidance, even if the
guidance fixes the problem, the auditor still owns the solution. If
the recommended solution is not the best, there may be
malicious compliance that will reflect back on the auditor.
Charlie Chong/ Fion Zhang