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The business continuity audit
How to audit a continuity programme against ISO 22301, what auditors actually look for, and how to arrive at certification with no surprises.
A business continuity audit tests whether the capability an organisation claims on paper exists in practice. Resilience Guard delivers internal audits, gap assessments and certification readiness reviews against ISO 22301, drawing on senior practitioners who have sat on both sides of the audit table since 2014.
What a rigorous audit covers
- Governance and leadership. Policy, objectives, resources and evidence that senior management owns the programme, not just signs it.
- Analysis. A business impact analysis and risk assessment that are current, approved and actually drive the strategies chosen.
- Plans and procedures. Continuity plans that are executable, owned, version controlled and consistent with the analysis.
- Competence and awareness. Whether the people named in the plans know their roles and have been trained and exercised in them.
- Exercising and testing. An exercise programme with results, corrective actions and closure evidence, not a single annual walkthrough.
- Performance evaluation and improvement. Internal audit, management review and a living corrective action log, clauses 9 and 10 of the standard.
The output you should demand
Not a traffic light slide. A findings register that separates nonconformities from opportunities, each finding tied to a clause and to evidence, with a prioritised, costed corrective action plan the board can act on.
Certification readiness in one line: if your last exercise, your internal audit and your management review all happened in the past twelve months and their actions are closed, the certification audit becomes an administrative event.
What is a business continuity audit?
A structured, evidence based assessment of a business continuity programme against a defined reference, usually ISO 22301, the organisation's own policy, or a regulator's expectations. It examines documentation, interviews the people who would respond, and tests whether the claimed capability actually exists.
What do auditors look for first?
Leadership and evidence of life: a current business impact analysis, plans with named owners, a recent exercise with corrective actions closed, and management review minutes. A programme with a beautiful plan and no exercise record fails the first hour of a serious audit.
What is the difference between an internal audit and certification?
An internal audit is your own check, required by ISO 22301 clause 9.2, and can be delivered by an independent internal function or an external specialist such as Resilience Guard. Certification is a third party audit by an accredited certification body that results in an ISO 22301 certificate. A good internal audit six months before the certification audit removes most surprises.
How often should we audit?
At least annually for the programme as a whole, with a risk based rotation so that every critical site and activity is covered across the cycle, plus a focused audit after significant change or a real incident.
Know where you stand before the auditor tells you.
We deliver internal audits and certification readiness reviews against ISO 22301. Tell us your timeline and we will respond within 24 hours.
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