1. Purpose of the gate
This gate closes each surveillance audit. The organisation confirms that the audit is complete, that every new nonconformity has an accepted response, that earlier findings are closed and verified effective, and that the certificate remains valid. It also takes the lessons from the audit into the internal audit programme and the next management review.
Surveillance findings are often about drift: a process that was strong at certification has weakened, an action that was implemented has not held, or a change was made without the controls the system requires. Closing them well means looking for why the system did not catch the drift itself.
Because the gate repeats through the cycle, its record also builds the history recertification will rely on. Each closure, with its evidence, should be easy to find at the end of the cycle.
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