How is audit duration calculated under Version 7?
Still by adding a base duration and an FSSC time, but with new thresholds and no reduction allowed. Part 3 of the Version 7 scheme defines the duration of a single-site audit as Ds + TFSSC. Ds is the duration calculated under ISO 22003-1:2022 from the category, the number of HACCP studies and the headcount in full-time equivalents (FTE). TFSSC is the time specific to the scheme. An audit day counts 8 effective hours, 10 at most in exceptional cases.
The table compares the rules of the two versions, as they appear in the April 2023 Version 6 scheme and in Version 7.
Parameter | Version 6 | Version 7 |
|---|---|---|
TFSSC, fewer than 100 FTE and no more than 2 HACCP studies | 1 day | 0.5 day |
TFSSC, 100 to 249 FTE and no more than 2 HACCP studies | 1 day | 1 day |
TFSSC, 250 FTE or more, or 3 HACCP studies or more | 1.5 days | 1.5 days |
Reduction of Ds | Up to 0.25 day, justified, never below 1 day | No reduction of Ds or TFSSC |
Minimum duration | 2 days for all categories | 1.5, 2 or 2.5 days depending on TFSSC; never less than 2 days in C, D and K |
Small-site exemption | Simple process, fewer than 20 FTE, 1 HACCP study: 1.5 days | Fewer than 20 FTE, no more than 2 HACCP studies: 1.5 days, all categories |
Reporting time | At least 1 day | At least 1 day; 0.5 day if the audit lasts 1.5 days |
Rounding | Up to the next half day | Up to the next quarter day |
Surveillance audits are still calculated as one third of Ds plus TFSSC, recertification audits as two thirds of Ds plus TFSSC. Preparation time of at least 0.25 day is added in both versions.
Will your audit be shorter or longer?
That depends on your headcount and your number of HACCP studies. For the same base duration, here is the direction of change for the most common profiles in Morocco.
Site profile | Effect of Version 7 | Why |
|---|---|---|
Fewer than 20 FTE, 2 HACCP studies | Possible decrease | The 1.5-day exemption becomes available; the certification body may refuse it if the site is complex |
20 to 99 FTE, no more than 2 HACCP studies | Decrease or no change | TFSSC drops by 0.5 day, but the Ds reduction disappears; 2-day floor in C, D and K |
100 to 249 FTE, no more than 2 HACCP studies | No change or slight increase | TFSSC unchanged; the Ds reduction disappears |
250 FTE or more, or 3 HACCP studies or more | No change or slight increase | TFSSC unchanged; the Ds reduction disappears |
Trading without physical handling (FII) | No change | 1.5-day minimum unchanged |
One point is often misunderstood: TFSSC is added in full to every surveillance audit, whereas Ds only counts for one third. A half-day drop in TFSSC therefore weighs proportionally more on your two surveillance audits than on the initial audit.
Take a fish cannery in Safi, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, with 80 FTE and two HACCP studies. Its base duration does not change, but its FSSC time falls from 1 day to 0.5 day. If its certification body applied the 0.25-day reduction to Ds under Version 6, the net saving is a quarter of a day; if not, half a day, subject to the 2-day floor for category C. Only the certification body’s calculation, based on ISO 22003-1:2022, gives the exact figure.
Which other parameters affect duration?
Those that do not depend on the version, and that you should check in every quote. Most of them existed in Version 6; Version 7 clarifies some.
- Interpreter: at least 20% more time for the part of the audit concerned. An auditor who speaks French or Arabic avoids this extra cost on a Moroccan site.
- Combined audit: when FSSC 22000 is audited together with another food safety scheme, the total duration must exceed that of FSSC 22000 alone.
- Separate head office: at least 0.5 day if it is audited separately; up to 20% reduction of Ds for each site attached to it.
- Off-site storage: at least 0.25 day per off-site warehouse or cross-docking platform; simple transhipment is not covered.
- Satellite site: separate calculation, with a possible 50% reduction of Ds, plus travel time between sites.
- Multi-site: the central function is calculated on Ds, one third at surveillance and two thirds at recertification, never less than 1 day; each site never less than 1.5 days. Version 7 opens multi-site certification to packhouses (BIII).
The time of a technical expert, an interpreter or an observer never counts towards audit duration: only FSSC 22000 qualified auditors make it up.
What does Version 7 require of certification bodies?
A complete upgrade before 1 May 2027. The upgrade process document sets out the obligations:
- review the audit duration of every certified site under the v7 rules and issue a new contract or an addendum;
- inform certified sites within 3 months of publication;
- train and examine every auditor on Version 7, then on ISO 22002-100:2025 and the sector parts for their categories;
- requalify auditors for their sub-subcategories, with the register up to date by 1 May 2027;
- have the ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO 22003-1 accreditation extended to Version 7 before 1 May 2027; no non-accredited v7 certificate is accepted from a body that is already accredited.
The scheme adds permanent rules. The certification body documents its calculation, communicates it to you and uploads it, formula and steps included, to the Foundation’s platform. It has a written procedure for technical review and certification decisions. All its relevant personnel complete the Foundation’s mandatory training.
These requirements have an indirect effect on your schedule. A certification body must send you an auditor qualified in your sub-subcategory, for example CIV-1 for canning or I-3 for metal packaging. Ask for this before you sign.
And artificial intelligence?
It concerns only the certification body. Section 9 of Part 3 applies where the body uses AI in the certification process: governance framework, risk assessment of each system, testing and validation before use, continuous monitoring, defined roles, trained personnel. AI can help, but it replaces neither human judgement nor the certification functions defined by ISO 22003-1:2022.
For your site, this rule creates neither a requirement nor a direct cost. It gives you a right to information: the certification body must communicate its use of AI to certified organisations. Ask the question in writing, especially if your reports are drafted or reviewed with an automated tool.
What is the impact on your budget, and what should you check before signing?
An impact measured, for the same base duration, in quarter or half days of audit, which only your certification body’s quote puts a figure on. The scheme sets the duration and the minimum preparation and reporting times; fees and travel costs are a matter for each certification body. The rest of the certification budget is described in our article on FSSC 22000 certification cost in Morocco.
For Moroccan companies, training your internal auditors on Version 7 may fall under the special training contracts (contrats spéciaux de formation, CSF) of OFPPT, Morocco’s vocational training office, under its own rules: see our CSF and OFPPT funding page for a simulation, with no amount promised. The changes in the scheme are detailed in our guide to FSSC 22000 Version 7 changes.