IA202616 — Customer Satisfaction

Audit Record

Field	Value
Audit reference	IA202616
Area audited	Customer focus and customer satisfaction
Audit criteria	ISO 9001:2015 clauses 5.1.2, 8.2.1 and 9.1.2 · SOP 2.1 · SOP 7.1
Audit date	13/05/2026
Auditor	Sean Ashton, HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd
Auditees	Aaron Mason (Director), Leanne Mason (Director)
Result	Conforms. 0 non-conformities, 1 observation
Previous audit of this area	IA202516, 2025 cycle
Form	FORM_INTAR001 Rev 1 ID 01/09/2025

1. Scope, criteria and independence

1.1 Scope

How AMWS communicates with its customers, how it monitors their perception of the service delivered, and what it does with what it learns.

Clauses examined: ISO 9001 9.1.2 customer satisfaction, together with 5.1.2 customer focus and 8.2.1 customer communication, which are the clauses 9.1.2 depends on. The remainder of clause 8.2 is outside this audit and is carried on the programme at APP_20.

1.2 Independence

The auditor is an external HSQE consultant engaged through Onyx Operations Ltd. He is not an employee of AMWS and holds no line responsibility for the work audited. SOP 6.2 requires that an auditor does not audit work for which they are also responsible; AMWS has no second competent auditor, and the consultant drafted much of the documented system. The mitigation applied is that no document is tested against its own wording. Each clause is tested against records, against what the people responsible describe doing, and against what can be produced on request. Findings are reviewed and countersigned by a Director, who holds the authority to accept or reject them.

2. Method and sample

Method	What was covered
Document review	SOP 2.1 Customer Focus & Satisfaction Issue 3 (01/05/2026) · SOP 7.1 Complaints, NCR & Corrective Action Issue 3 · SOP 6.1 Analysis & Evaluation Issue 3 · MAN_01 Rev 3 (30/04/2026) section 8.1
Registers examined	APP_11 HSQE Objectives & KPIs at Issue 2 · APP_19 Approved Supplier Register at Issue 4, completed 16/04/2026, for the supplier side of the same relationship
Records sampled	The minuted management review of 27/09/2025, section 4.1 · the complaint position across the framework relationships for the period under review · the three corrective action reports raised on this clause in the 2025 cycle · CAR-2026-006 raised 04/05/2026 under IA202605
Interview	Both Directors, on how client contact happens, who holds each relationship, what a dissatisfied client would do, and what would reach a record

3. Result against each clause

Clause	What the standard requires	Objective evidence examined	Result
5.1.2 Customer focus	Top management demonstrates leadership with respect to customer focus by ensuring customer and applicable requirements are determined and met, that risks and opportunities affecting conformity are addressed, and that the focus on enhancing customer satisfaction is maintained	SOP 2.1 Issue 3 places the relationship with the Directors and describes what is done with what comes back: "Feedback is consolidated and analysed at least annually at the Management Review (SOP 6.4) and used to refresh three core registers: the Legal & Compliance Register (APP_10), the Risk & Opportunity Register (APP_05), and the Context & Interested Parties record (APP_01)." Tested against the 27/09/2025 minutes, which take customer satisfaction as a distinct input and record a conclusion on it	Conforms
8.2.1 Customer communication	Provide information relating to the service, handle enquiries and contracts, obtain customer feedback including complaints, handle or control customer property, and establish requirements for contingency actions where relevant	SOP 2.1 Issue 3 sets out both directions: "Inbound channels: client surveys, customer feedback on delivered work, formal and informal complaints, satisfaction with quality and timeliness of repairs, ad-hoc correspondence, and trends in repeat-business KPIs. Outbound communication: providing service information, handling enquiries and contracts, obtaining feedback on completed work, controlling customer-supplied property, and establishing requirements for emergency or out-of-hours response. Both directions are evidenced at the annual Management Review." Each named channel was tested by interview against how the framework relationships actually run	Conforms
9.1.2 Customer satisfaction — monitoring	Monitor customers' perception of the degree to which their needs and expectations have been fulfilled	SOP 2.1 Issue 3: "A M Water Services monitors customer satisfaction continuously through structured feedback channels: client meetings, monthly KPI reporting, calls and emails from customers, and any formal complaints (which route via SOP 7.1)." SOP 6.1 Issue 3 carries customer satisfaction signals into the standing monthly dataset as a named category. The measure sits in APP_11 as complaints per thousand against a target of fewer than two	Conforms
9.1.2 Customer satisfaction — methods of obtaining and using the information	Determine the methods for obtaining, monitoring and reviewing this information	The methods in use are complaint volume, continuity of the framework relationships, and direct client contact held by the Directors. The complaint route is defined and controlled: SOP 7.1 Issue 3 states "Customer complaints route to the Directors for substantiation; substantiated complaints become NCRs and follow the same flow as any internally-raised non-conformance." The position across the review period is nil complaints, which the 27/09/2025 review recorded and evaluated. These methods evidence the absence of dissatisfaction rather than the presence of satisfaction — the subject of OBS-01	Conforms — see OBS-01
9.1.2 Review of the information	The information obtained is reviewed, not merely collected	Customer satisfaction is a standing input to the management review and was minuted as such on 27/09/2025: "Customer satisfaction levels remain exceptionally high with positive feedback received consistently from water company clients." The KPI was reported against target in the same record. Supplier-side performance across the same relationships was separately reviewed and recorded at APP_19 Issue 4 on 16/04/2026, with no complaints logged during the review period	Conforms

4. Findings

4.1 Non-conformities

None.

4.2 Observations

Ref	Clause	Observation	Owner	Target	Corrective action
OBS-01	ISO 9001 9.1.2	The methods in use — nil complaints, framework continuity, no contract terminations or cure notices — are sound negative indicators but carry no positive-signal capture. A client can be satisfied, indifferent or quietly looking elsewhere and all three produce the same reading. CAR-2026-006, raised under IA202605 on 04/05/2026, already carries a short structured question set to the client project manager at job close-out. This audit confirms that observation and its target; no separate corrective action is raised here	Aaron Mason	30/09/2026	Cross-referred to CAR-2026-006

4.3 Status of the previous audit of this area

IA202516 raised one observation on the absence of a structured feedback mechanism, carried as CAR-2025-022. It is rolled forward into CAR-2026-006 rather than closed. The 2025 cycle also raised CAR-2025-007 and CAR-2025-023 on the same clause; all three converge on the same open item and are consolidated into CAR-2026-006 rather than tracked separately.

5. Conclusion

Customer focus and customer satisfaction monitoring conform to ISO 9001 clauses 5.1.2, 8.2.1 and 9.1.2. The channels are defined in both directions, the complaint route is controlled and connects to the nonconformity procedure, a measure exists with a target, and the information is reviewed annually at management review rather than collected and left.

The substantive position is strong: no formal complaints across the review period, framework relationships sustained, and supplier-side review of the same relationships completed in April 2026 with nothing logged against AMWS.

One observation was raised, on method rather than on outcome. What the current methods cannot do is distinguish a satisfied client from a quiet one, and that is what CAR-2026-006 addresses.

6. Recommendations

1. Put the structured question set to the client project manager at handback on the next several framework jobs and close CAR-2026-006 on the returns.
2. Consolidate CAR-2025-007, CAR-2025-022 and CAR-2025-023 into CAR-2026-006 on the register, so one open item is tracked rather than four.
3. Where a client volunteers positive feedback in writing or by voice, keep it with the job reference. Unsolicited feedback is the strongest form of this evidence and is the easiest to lose.

7. Sign-off

Role	Name	Position	Signature	Date
Auditor	Sean Ashton	HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd	S. Ashton	13/05/2026
Reviewed and accepted	Aaron Mason	Director	A. Mason	13/05/2026

8. Related

• CAR-2026-006
• IA202605 — Performance Evaluation
• APP_11 — HSQE Objectives & KPIs
• APP_19 — Approved Supplier Register
• SOP 2.1 — Customer Focus & Satisfaction