> I'm pretty sure ISO 9001 companies are audited every 4 years at their own expense Eh, kind of? I currently work for one and they haven't been audited in over

> I'm pretty sure ISO 9001 companies are audited every 4 years at their own expense Eh, kind of? I currently work for one and they haven't been audited in over a decade. The history goes: once upon a time, they were seeking certification because $potential_buyer asked about it. They failed the first audit quite miserably, and the next. By the third time, they squeezed by and were certified. The auditors came back 2 times in the next 2 years to make sure they were still compliant, and by the third year the auditors just asked if their processes had changed (without bothering to scrutinize everything again). They had not, and the auditors have not reached out ever since. The company is still certified. I think in theory they've "checked" since then but no one at the company can recall them actually showing up/auditing.