37Monitoring powers of auditors

37 Monitoring powers of auditors

(1) The following are the monitoring powers that an auditor may exercise in relation to a building, an area or an associated place under section 36: (a) the power to observe any activity conducted in the building, area or associated place; (b) the power to inspect, or take measurements of, any thing in the building, area or associated place; (c) the power to make any still or moving image or any recording of the building, area or associated place or any thing in the building, area or associated place; (d) the power to inspect any document in the building, area or associated place; (e) the power to take extracts from, or make copies of, any such document; (f) the power to take into the building, area or associated place such equipment and materials as the auditor requires for the purpose of exercising powers in relation to the building, area or associated place; (g) the powers set out in subsections (2) and (3). Operating electronic equipment (2) The monitoring powers include the power to operate electronic equipment in the building, area or associated place to see whether: (a) the equipment; or (b) a disk, tape or other storage device that: (i) is in the building, area or associated place; and (ii) can be used with the equipment or is associated with it; contains information that is relevant to determining whether an accredited assessor has properly applied the assessment methods and standards determined under section 21. (3) The monitoring powers include the following powers in relation to information described in subsection (2) found in the exercise of the power under that subsection: (a) the power to operate electronic equipment in the building, area or associated place to put the information in documentary form and remove the documents so produced from the building, area or associated place; (b) the power to operate electronic equipment in the building, area or associated place to transfer the information to a disk, tape or other storage device that: (i) is brought to the building, area or associated place for the exercise of the power; or (ii) is in the building, area or associated place and the use of which for that purpose has been agreed in writing by the occupier of the building, area or associated place; and remove the disk, tape or other storage device from the building, area or associated place. (4) An auditor may operate electronic equipment as mentioned in subsection (2) or (3) only if he or she believes on reasonable grounds that the operation of the equipment can be carried out without damage to the equipment.