Scheduling food safety audits around seasonal production

Why is seasonal food audit scheduling different?

Seasonal food audit scheduling has one extra constraint that most audits do not: the site only makes the products in scope for part of the year. A packhouse handling soft fruit, a sugar beet factory or a Christmas pudding line may run for eight to twelve weeks. An audit outside that period sees an empty factory and cannot assess the process.

The schemes deal with this in different ways. This guide uses BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 with protocol BRCGS079 (version 6), IFS Food version 8 and FSSC 22000 Version 6, with notes on Version 7. Check each scheme's current documents, because seasonal concessions are detailed rules that change between issues.

What do the schemes say about seasonal sites?

All three require the audit to see production. FSSC 22000 Version 6 clause 5.1.8 requires the certification body to have a process for determining audit timing, including seasonal activities, so the audit covers a representative number of product lines and activities in scope. ISO/TS 22003-1 uses the same idea, and counts seasonal workers in the FTE figure used for audit duration.

How does the BRCGS seasonal concession work?

Where the audit due date falls towards the beginning of the season and would limit the dates available for an unannounced audit, BRCGS079 allows the window to extend so the audit can take place up to 6 weeks after the due date. There is no penalty for that late audit.

Worked example: a salad site's due date is 15 July 2027 and its season starts on 1 July. The normal unannounced window opens on 15 March, but there is nothing to audit until July, which would leave two weeks. The extension lets the auditor come any time from 1 July to 26 August.

Non-audit days shrink with the season. The standard allowance is 10 days for a 4-month window. If the season is only 2 months long, half the window, the site gets 5. See BRCGS unannounced audit rules.

How do IFS and FSSC 22000 handle seasonal production?

IFS Food version 8 is the most direct. If the site produces seasonal products, it notifies its expected seasonal production dates, the standard window of 16 weeks before to 2 weeks after the due date no longer applies, and the unannounced audit can take place at any time during the seasonal production period. See IFS unannounced audits.

FSSC 22000 leaves more to the certification body. Surveillance audits must still fall within the calendar year, and the first cannot exceed 12 months after the initial certification decision, so a short season can make the unannounced surveillance audit tight. Choose which surveillance is unannounced with the season in mind. See FSSC 22000 unannounced audits.

Why do seasonal audits create capacity peaks?

Seasons cluster. Fresh produce sites in one region run at the same time, and they need auditors qualified for the same categories. A certification body can have enough auditor days across the year and still be short in the six weeks that matter.

The chart shows an illustrative portfolio. Most seasonal audits must land in four months, and the same few category-qualified auditors are wanted everywhere at once. See auditor capacity planning.

How should planners approach seasonal food audit scheduling?

The work starts months before the season. The steps below reflect what the scheme rules require and where capacity problems usually come from.

1. Collect season dates earlyAsk each seasonal site for expected production dates at the previous audit and confirm them before the window.
2. Store them as constraintsKeep season start and end dates next to the due date, not in email threads.
3. Map demand to capacityCount qualified auditor days needed per week in the peak, by category.
4. Allocate the peak firstPlace seasonal audits before flexible ones, then fill the year around them.
5. Cluster by regionGroup nearby seasonal sites into trips to save travel inside short seasons.
6. Keep a reserveHold qualified capacity for weather-driven season shifts and follow-up visits.

ScheduleAI can plan the whole year in one run with season dates as constraints, which shows capacity gaps in the peak before they turn into late audits.

Common seasonal scheduling mistakes

The same problems recur each year at certification bodies with seasonal clients.

• ✓Season dates recorded once and never updated after a late spring or early harvest
• ✓Unannounced audits planned to the normal window instead of the season
• ✓Non-audit days accepted at the full 10 for a short season
• ✓Seasonal workers left out of the FTE count, so audit duration is too short
• ✓Peak weeks handed to subcontractors by default when internal auditors could be freed

The last point costs margin. Moving flexible audits out of the peak often frees internal auditors for seasonal work. See managing subcontracted auditors and travel optimisation.

For certification bodies, audit scheduling software that checks competence, rotation and windows on every audit takes most of this work off the planning team.