The surveillance auditor will record a nonconformity against Clause 9.2. How serious it is depends on the circumstances.
- Minor: the audit is overdue but planned, for example scheduled for next month, and the programme is otherwise followed.
- Major: no internal audit has happened, none is planned, and the audit programme has clearly stopped working.
A major comes with a deadline for correction set by the certification body. If it is not met, the body can suspend the certificate, and customers who check the certificate status will see the suspension.
If you notice the gap before the surveillance date, run a short internal audit straight away, even two weeks before the visit. Cover the areas the programme planned for this year, write the report, log the findings and close the simple ones. Then take the results to a management review, even a short one. An auditor who finds a late audit with findings being handled usually grades the issue far more leniently than one who finds nothing.