---
id: KB-TZ-021
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/traceability-and-compliance/the-inspection-that-arrives-unannounced
idioma: en
categoria: trazabilidad
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-TZ-011, KB-TZ-007]
citadoPor: [KB-TZ-001]
---

# The inspection that arrives unannounced

_You do not prepare on the day it arrives. All you decide that day is who speaks and what is handed over._

**Responde a:** an inspection is here what do i do · what documents will an inspection ask for · preparing for a surprise audit · what to hand an inspector

The buzzer goes on a Tuesday at half past nine. From then on, everything depends on two things already decided before they rang: whether the documents can be found, and whether anyone knows what to do. The rest —the nerves, the running about, the boss who does not pick up— follows from those two.

## The first fifteen minutes

1. **Identify who is in front of you and write it down** — Name, body and what they came to see. That is what tells you whom to call.
2. **Notify the designated person** — Designated beforehand. Improvising who accompanies is how too much gets said.
3. **Accompany — neither abandon nor obstruct** — Both extremes are remembered badly afterwards.
4. **And start taking notes from minute one** — What is asked, what is handed over, at what time. Your parallel record.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> What changes the outcome most is not having everything perfect: **it is the difference between «I have that, give me ten minutes» and «I'd have to look for that»**. The first is a company in control of its own affairs even if something is missing; the second opens the question of what else you will fail to find. So the real work is not a tidy folder, it is that any of you —not just one person— knows where everything is and can produce it in minutes.

## What to hand over and what not

| Situation | The sensible move |
| --- | --- |
| A specific existing document is requested | Hand it over, and note which and when |
| Something you cannot find is requested | Say so, and commit to a deadline in writing |
| Something that does not exist is requested | Say it does not exist. Never create it afterwards |
| General access to everything is requested | That is when you call your adviser before answering |

> [!WARNING]
> The two mistakes that turn a small problem into a large one are opposites and come from the same nerve: **filling gaps on the fly** and **stalling**. A document created or corrected and back-dated is infinitely worse than its absence, because it moves the conversation from a breach to something far more serious. And answering «our agent has that» with no deadline and no name sounds exactly like not having it. What works is the boring option: what exists gets shown; what does not, gets said, with a deadline.

## Afterwards, which is when almost nobody does anything

**En corto**

- Keep your own minutes: what was asked, what was handed over, who was present and at what time.
- Close out the deadlines you accepted, even if nobody chases them.
- Turn every gap found into a task with an owner and a date.
- And tell your own people: an inspection is the most precise to-do list you will ever be handed free.

> [!NOTE]
> What powers each type of inspection holds, what a company must produce and how the visit should be documented depends on the body and the subject matter. **When a visit goes beyond the predictable, calling your adviser is part of the procedure, not an alarm signal**; here we cover what is genuinely yours: finding the papers and keeping a record.

**Can I ask them to come back another day?**

It depends on the type of visit. What you can always ask for is reasonable time to locate a document.

**Do I have to grant access to everything they ask for?**

That is not improvised: it is the moment to call your adviser before answering.

**What if I spot a breach during the visit?**

Note it and fix it afterwards, with a date. Correcting papers in the heat of it is the worst way out.

## Ejemplos

**An inspection arrives unannounced and the person who knows where everything is is on holiday.**

- Designates in advance who accompanies and writes down the map of where things live

→ The visit stops depending on one particular person being in that day.

**A document cannot be found and the answer given is «our agent has it».**

- Admits it cannot be found and commits to a specific deadline in writing

→ A gap becomes a deadline met instead of a suspicion.

**Once the visit is over, nobody remembers exactly what was handed over.**

- Keeps their own minutes from minute one: what is asked, what is given, at what time

→ Commitments can be closed and follow-ups answered without reconstructing anything.

**An inspection arrives and everything is in physical folders.**

- Keeps the file accessible from anywhere

→ It is shown there and then.

**Nobody knows for certain what information exists.**

- Keeps the archive organised and locatable

→ You can accompany them knowing what is being discussed.

**There is no record of what was shown.**

- Records what was provided, dated and in detail

→ What was done is documented.