HRS 1:2026 — Annex A

Audit Checklist

Public consultation draft — draft v0.3 — issued 2026-09-07

This is a consultation draft, not an operative standard

The scheme described here is not yet certifying. No certificates have been issued and the Approved Supplier Register is not yet populated. Nothing in this document may be relied on as evidence of certification.

It is published for comment before it is finalised, because a certification standard that cannot be read by the people it governs is not a standard. Clause 12.2 commits us to publishing it; we would rather publish it early and be corrected.

Comments are invited until 2 November 2026. See How to respond. Passages marked ⚖️ are open questions on which we are specifically seeking views. Passages marked 📋 will be reconciled against OIC/SMIIC standards before issue.

This document is a scheme design. It is not a fatwa and does not purport to state Islamic law; questions of Shari'ah are for our Shari'ah Committee, whose rulings will be published with their reasoning.

Companion to HRS 1:2026 draft v0.3. Every item cites its parent clause.

How this checklist works

Findings, not scores. This checklist does not produce a percentage. A conformity score invites negotiation ("we got 87%") and gaming. It produces findings, each graded Critical / Major / Minor per HRS 1 clause 11, and the certification decision follows the grades — not a total.

Evidence, not opinion. Every item names the objective evidence required. An auditor may not close an item on assurance. Where the column says Document, a document is seen and its reference recorded. Where it says Observe, the auditor watches the activity happen. Where it says Trace, the auditor follows a physical item to a record or a record to a physical item.

Verification codes: D document · O observation · I interview · T trace · P physical check

Applicability: A Class A only · B Class B only · AB both

⚡ marks the twelve items that form the core of an unannounced audit — things that cannot be prepared in advance and must be true on an ordinary trading day.

Two tests are mandatory at every audit and may not be waived: the Vertical Trace (A2.3) and the Mass Balance (A2.4). If time is short, drop walkthrough items — never these.

Section 1 — Opening: management and documents

Conducted before entering production areas. Clause 4.

Section 2 — Goods receiving and supplier control

The heart of the audit. Clause 5. Allow 40% of total audit time here.

A2.3 — Vertical Trace procedure

1. Select three menu dishes containing animal-derived components. Select them yourself from the customer menu — do not let the establishment choose.
2. For each, identify every animal-derived component including stock, fat, gelatin and garnish.
3. For each component, follow the chain: dish → recipe/prep sheet → current stock item → physical label → delivery document → supplier → Approved Supplier Register entry.
4. The trace fails if any link is missing, if the supplier is not on the Register, or if the physical stock cannot be matched to a delivery document.

Record each of the three traces in full, including the links that passed.

A2.4 — Mass Balance procedure

1. Select one protein (typically the highest-volume meat).
2. Establish quantity received from approved suppliers over a defined period — 30 days, or since last audit if shorter — from delivery documents.
3. Establish quantity sold over the same period from POS/sales records, converted using the establishment's own stated portion sizes.
4. Add opening stock, subtract closing stock, allow documented wastage.
5. Purchased + opening − closing − wastage must reconcile with sold, within ±10%.
6. An unexplained shortfall — more sold than can be accounted for by approved purchases — is a Critical finding: compliant meat is being supplemented from somewhere unrecorded.

This is the only test in the checklist that can detect substitution the establishment has concealed from the documents. A walkthrough cannot find it. Records that all look tidy cannot hide it. Do it every time.

Section 3 — Storage

Clause 6.

A3.4 exists because staff meals are the most common Class A breach and the one establishments never think to declare. Ask to see the staff fridge. Open it.

Section 4 — Preparation

Clause 6.

Section 5 — Cooking and service

Section 6 — Alcohol

Class B only. Clause 7. If any item here fails Critical, Class B certification cannot stand.

Section 7 — Cleaning

Section 8 — Mark, menu and marketing

Clause 8. The public-facing integrity of the scheme.

A8.5 is where mixed-language markets fail. The Arabic menu says halal without qualification while the English one discloses the bar. Check every version, including the ones the manager did not offer you.

Section 9 — Food safety and tayyib

Clause 9. We reference AQTA — we do not duplicate it.

Section 10 — Staff interviews

Minimum three staff, at least one a kitchen employee who is not the Halal Supervisor. Interview away from management. Clause 4.

A10.4 is the culture test. If kitchen staff believe they cannot stop non-compliant service, the Halal Assurance System exists only on paper regardless of how good the documents look.

Section 11 — Closing meeting

• All findings read aloud, graded, and their clause references stated
• Critical findings: immediate suspension explained; mark and certificate to be removed
• Corrective action deadlines confirmed in writing — 30 days major, 90 days minor
• Establishment given opportunity to comment; comments recorded verbatim
• Appeal route explained (clause 12.6), including that the appeal will not be heard by the auditor
• Report signed by auditor and establishment representative; copy left on site
• Auditor confirms: certification decision will be taken by another person (clause 12.5)

Audit record