Minimum number of audits per year requirement

As stated in IATF 16949: 2016 standard 7.2.3 f) "Maintenance of and improvement in internal auditor competence shall be demonstrated through: f) executing a minimum number of audits per year, as defined by the organization". The minimum number of internal audits to be performed should be determined by the organization. The minimum number of audits could be 1 or 2, etc. Performing 1 audit annually can be a risk for the knowledge and practice of internal auditors.   

If your internal auditors did not conduct any audit in the last year; my recommendation is that you can develop the relevant internal auditor with internal training and can conduct its first audit with an experienced auditor. You can define the internal training programs with IATF 16949:2016 and ISO 9001:2915  standard knowledge and internal auditor training. If you indicate these points that I recommend in your internal audit procedure, it will be effective for the system.

This article may provide additional information:

• IATF 16949 Audit Types & How they Affect Process Improvement https://advisera.com/16949academy/blog/2017/11/01/iatf-16949-audit-types-how-they-affect-process-improvement/