Independent retests

An action owner can submit a correction, but that submission is not the finding outcome. A retest records who reviewed the finding, when they tested, the result and the supporting evidence. Pass, Fail and Inconclusive keep the decision explicit. A passing retest can support closing the finding and verifying the action; the other results leave the finding open for further work.

For a control that failed during a lending assessment, the Remediation Owner may revise the procedure and submit proof of adoption. The Independent Reviewer selects a fresh sample, records what was examined and decides whether the corrected control operated as intended. The reviewer must be a different person from the corrective action owner. The first failed test remains part of the history even if the retest later passes.

• Submitted work. Start from the corrective action and its linked finding.
• Separate reviewer. Record the team member who performed the retest.
• Decision evidence. Retain the tested date, result and explanation for closure or another cycle.

Agree how a reviewer is chosen, what makes a retest independent and how much evidence is needed for each result. The reviewer should have access to the original assessment and tested control while being prevented from certifying their own corrective action. Determine how the team handles an inconclusive outcome, including whether more evidence or a different sample is needed.

Make the status sequence understandable. The finding can move to Retest while the action is Submitted, but neither label is proof of success. Only a passing independent examination justifies Closed on the finding and Verified on the corrective action. Report readers should be able to distinguish awaiting review, reviewed but failed and successfully verified work.

Take a submitted action with its source finding and an original failed test. Assign a reviewer who did not own the action. The reviewer records a dated retest, evidence and a Fail result. Confirm the finding stays open. Repeat with an Inconclusive result and confirm it still needs attention. Finally, enter a supported Pass and inspect the resulting finding and action states.

Attempt the same retest as the corrective action owner. It should be refused. A second delivery of an already accepted retest operation should return the same outcome, not create another closure. Ask the Assessment Owner to reconstruct the chain from the original test to the independent result without changing the earlier evidence.

• Corrective actions submitted — Find actions ready for a separate reviewer.
• Open findings — Distinguish issues awaiting retest from those still being remediated.

Rehearse retest and closure and review role boundaries.