BRCGS Audit Grades: Clear Guide to AA to D Scoring

BRCGS audit grades turn the findings of one audit into a certificate decision, an audit frequency and a close-out route. The grade comes from three numbers: critical, major and minor non-conformities. Learn the table and you can predict your own result within minutes of a closing meeting.

This guide gives the table in plain English, then tests it with worked examples at every grade and at the boundaries between them. It is independent of BRCGS, and the Standard itself is at brcgs.com. For the wider process, see BRCGS certification.

The three levels behind BRCGS audit grades

Part III 2.3.1 defines three levels of finding. In our words:

• Critical: a critical failure on a food safety or legal issue.
• Major: a substantial failure against a statement of intent or any clause, or evidence that raises significant doubt about the product supplied.
• Minor: a clause not fully met, where there is no doubt about product conformity.

Three rules stop the count being gamed. The auditor can raise repeated minors on one clause as a major. Grouping many findings into a single minor is barred. And if a report has more than 20 minors with no more than one major, the certification body must justify that in the report.

The BRCGS audit grades table

Announced audits grade from AA to D. All unannounced audits use the same bands with a plus: AA+ to D+. A shaded cell in the Standard’s table means zero. Every row below reads as: this many criticals, this many majors, this many minors.

Two patterns help you remember it. Each major shrinks the minor allowance at every grade. And no site with a major can reach A or AA, because a single major caps the grade at B.

BRCGS audit grades worked through example by example

Here are fifteen results, each checked by hand against the table. The grade shown is for an announced audit. Add a plus for any unannounced audit.

Look at the boundaries. A site with one major and ten minors is B and audited again in 12 months. Add a single minor and it is C, audited in 6 months. One finding changes the calendar for the year. That is why the last day of the audit, when minors are still being debated, deserves your best people.

What audit frequency means in BRCGS audit grades

Grades AA, A and B give a 12-month cycle. C and D give 6 months. The cycle counts from the first day of the initial audit, then from each prior due date. An announced audit takes place in the 28 calendar days up to the due date.

The mandatory unannounced audit replaces the scheduled audit in its year. Under the announced option, it must happen at least once in every three years, and a failed audit or a change of certification body does not reset that. The window is the last four months before the due date. See BRCGS unannounced audit.

Evidence or revisit: closing BRCGS audit grades findings

The right-hand column of the table tells you how findings are closed. Both routes have the same limit: 28 calendar days, counted from the end of the audit.

• Evidence: you send the certification body proof of correction, the root cause and the plan to stop it recurring.
• Revisit: the certification body verifies the correction itself, physically or remotely at its own assessment, again within 28 days.

The certification decision and the certificate follow within 42 calendar days of the audit, and the report must be in the BRCGS Directory 49 days after the last audit day at most. If you appeal, the 28 days does not pause. An appeal should be lodged within 7 calendar days and is finalised within 30.

Without satisfactory evidence inside the 28 days, no certificate is granted. The principles in HACCP corrective action carry across: say what was wrong, what you did, why it happened and what stops it happening again.

Fundamental clauses override BRCGS audit grades

A major against the statement of intent of any of the 12 fundamental clauses means no certificate at an initial audit, and withdrawal at a later one, whatever the counts. A re-audit cannot take place sooner than 28 calendar days after the audit. A site with zero other findings still fails. See BRCGS fundamental clauses for all twelve.

Grades for blended audits

A blended audit has a remote part and an on-site part. The grade sums both parts, including any finding that was closed before the on-site part. A finding you fixed in the gap still counts toward the total. For that reason, do not treat the remote part as a rehearsal. Evidence and the certificate run for 28 and 42 calendar days from the on-site part.

A note on reading BRCGS audit grades after a bad day

A poor grade is a prompt to look at causes, not at the count. Sort the findings by clause. If four of your twelve minors sit in one section, the system has a gap, and the auditor may see it that way too. If a clause fails again because the earlier action did not work, expect a non-conformity against clause 1.1.12.

Write the answer to three questions for every finding: why did our checks not catch this, what is the same weakness elsewhere in the site, and who will verify the fix is still working in three months? Those answers are what the certification body reads when it reviews your evidence, and they are what stops the grade slipping at the next audit.

How to protect your grade

• Run an internal audit against all clauses before the certification body arrives. Our BRCGS audit checklist post shows a method.
• Fix the fundamentals first. They carry the heaviest consequence.
• Look for repeat findings. A clause that fails more than once can be raised to a major.
• Close every non-conformity with evidence, not just a note that it was done.

The BRCGS Food Safety Toolkit has 123 templates, 78 in Word and 45 in Excel, for $149. Three documents bear directly on grades: the Audit Grade and Recertification Calendar, the Audit Non-Conformity Close-Out Tracker and the Audit Preparation and Audit Day Procedure.

Sample pages from the toolkit: Audit grade and recertification calendar; Corrective and preventive action; Issue 9 self assessment.

BRCGS audit grades FAQ

What is the best BRCGS audit grade?

AA on an announced audit and AA+ on an unannounced audit. Both need no criticals, no majors and no more than five minors.

Can I get grade A with one major?

No. The best grade with one major is B, and only with ten or fewer minors.

How many minors fail an audit?

It depends on the majors. With no majors, 31 or more. With one major, 25 or more. With two, 17 or more. Three majors fail on their own.

Does a grade C or D mean I lose the certificate?

No. You are certificated, but audited every 6 months instead of every 12.

Do grades differ for unannounced audits?

The counts are the same. Only the label changes, with a plus added.