About This Publication

From the January 1^st, 2017, this 6^th edition replaces the 5^th edition of the Volume 6 "Basis for quality audits - auditing and certification" from 2008. From July 1^st, 2017 at the latest, all 3rd-party audits according to VDA Volume 6 Part 1, VDA Volume 6 part 2, VDA Volume 6 part 4 will be carried out according to this 6^th edition.

Contained within this current VDA volume are all changes which affect VDA audits and VDA certifications that were made until the publication deadline:

• Amendments, findings and comments from the certification bodies
• Supplementary information and findings from the VDA working groups
• Expanded to include other VDA standards
• “Sanctioned interpretations” (SI)
• “Frequently asked questions” (FAQ)In this edition, the certification requirements are given for VDA Volumes 6, Part 1, VDA 6, Part 2 and VDA 6, Part 4, (also referred to as "VDA 6.1, VDA 6.2, VDA 6.4 or VDA 6.x standards").The requirements for certification bodies are set out in ISO/IEC 17021. ISO/IEC 17021 is therefore applicable for the VDA 6 standards and defines special or further requirements for VDA 6.1, VDA 6.2 and VDA 6.4. These requirements are to be met in respect to the VDA 6.x certificates.The evidence of the fulfilment of the requirements from one of the respective VDA 6.x standards is shown by a VDA 6.x certificate.The applicable documents relating to these requirements are, when necessary, specified in the following rules: Sanctioned Interpretations (SI) and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). These are issued as required by the VDA QMC in consultation with the working group 6:

• A “sanctioned interpretation” (SI) changes or amends the requirements
• A “frequently asked question” (FAQ) is an explanation of an existing rule or requirementThese regulations (SI/FAQ including the examples for audit day calculation) will be made available on the VDA QMC homepage after publication of this volume and will be binding from the date of publication.

Format – English