BRCGS audit due dates and the audit window explained

What is the BRCGS audit due date?

The BRCGS audit due date is the last date on which a site's next audit can take place. BRCGS sets it from the site's initial audit, so the date keeps the same pattern year after year. It does not move because an audit happened a week early, and it is different from the certificate expiry date, which comes later.

This article follows the Global Standard Food Safety Issue 9, the unannounced protocol BRCGS079 (version 6) and the F926 position statements (version 4, effective 10 August 2026). The same logic applies to Packaging Materials and Storage and Distribution. Issue 10 is in development, so confirm the current Part III protocol before changing your procedures.

How often are BRCGS audits due?

Audit frequency follows the grade. Sites graded AA, A or B are audited every 12 months. Sites graded C or D are audited every 6 months, and BRCGS079 limits them to 5 non-audit days instead of 10 for unannounced audits. A site that drops to C therefore adds an audit to your programme within the year, and a site that improves removes one.

Unannounced audits add a plus sign to the grade, for example AA+. They do not change the frequency. At least one audit in every 3 years must be unannounced. See BRCGS unannounced audits for the full rules.

When can a BRCGS audit take place? The audit windows

Two windows sit in front of the BRCGS audit due date. An announced re-audit happens in the 28 calendar days before it. An unannounced audit can happen at any time in the 4 months before it, and that period includes the same 28 days. Neither window runs past the due date, apart from concessions for exceptional circumstances and, for unannounced audits at seasonal sites, up to 6 weeks.

Worked example: a site's due date is 12 March 2027. The announced window opens on 12 February 2027. If the audit is unannounced, the window opens on 12 November 2026. The certificate expiry date falls after the due date, typically 42 days later on 23 April 2027, which leaves room to close non-conformities and issue the new certificate. Always read the expiry from the certificate itself.

What happens if a BRCGS audit is late?

Late audits are treated seriously. For unannounced audits, F926 says that if a site fails to make adequate arrangements before the 4-month window, the audit due date moves to accommodate the delay, a major non-conformity is awarded and the certificate may expire. If an auditor is refused entry, the certificate is suspended and a new unannounced audit is needed within 4 months, without resetting the window.

For planners, the lesson is that the due date is a hard limit. Book inside the window with a margin, and treat any audit sitting in the last week before its due date as an exception to review daily. See audit due date tracking.

How should you track BRCGS audit due dates?

A single date per site is not enough. Each BRCGS certificate generates several dates that drive different decisions, and they should all live in the scheduling system, calculated from the due date rather than typed by hand.

1. Record the anchorStore the initial audit date and the current audit due date for each site and Standard.
2. Derive the windowsCalculate the 28-day announced window and the 4-month unannounced window from the due date.
3. Mark the audit typeFlag whether the next audit is announced or unannounced, and which year the unannounced audit falls in.
4. Add the frozen periodNote the last 4 months before the re-audit due date, when a change of certification body needs written BRCGS agreement.
5. Watch the gradeSwitch to a 6-month cycle when a site receives a C or D, and back when it improves.
6. Store the expiryRecord the certificate expiry from the issued certificate and alert well ahead of it.

ScheduleAI derives these dates from the stored due date and grade, so no planner has to type a window by hand, and each proposed booking is checked against them before approval.

How do seasonal sites affect the BRCGS audit due date?

Seasonal sites must tell the certification body their expected production dates and keep them up to date. When the due date falls near the start of the season and would leave too few days for an unannounced audit, BRCGS079 allows the window to extend up to 6 weeks after the due date, with no penalty for the late audit. Non-audit days are cut pro rata when the season is shorter than 4 months.

More detail is in seasonal food audit scheduling.

Common BRCGS due date mistakes

These are the errors most often found when certification bodies review missed or late BRCGS audits.

• Recalculating the due date from the last audit date, so the pattern drifts earlier every year.
• Using the certificate expiry as the booking deadline instead of the audit due date.
• Forgetting to switch a C or D grade site to 6-monthly audits.
• Accepting a transfer request in the last 4 months before the due date without BRCGS agreement.
• Booking the audit on the last possible day with no fallback.

Most of these come from due dates held in spreadsheets and copied by hand. See audit planning spreadsheet risks and, for other schemes at the same site, multi-scheme GFSI audit planning.

See how ScheduleAI's audit scheduling software applies these rules across a whole programme in minutes.