Q: What is a standard, such as ISO 9001?
A: An International Standard is a document, established by consensus. It describes how to achieve an optimal outcome time after time by using an agreed and consistent approach.
Source: World standards cooperation.
Q: What is the first thing I should do before embarking on a certification project?
A: Seek to understand the difference between accredited and non-accredited certification. Contact us for a copy of our industry's position statement.
Q: What due diligence should I do when appointing a Consultancy to help with a project and or ongoing support?
A: Check what relevant credentials the organisation and or individual has; we endeavour to use chartered professionals for project implementations and IRCA-registered auditors for internal and supply chain audits. Where individuals are working towards this status they will always be supervised by a senior consultant. See also our due diligence "on us" page.
Q: What is a gap analysis in the context of conformity assessment?
A: Typically, in management consulting, the purpose of a gap analysis is to establish the current state of an operating model against benchmarking information; then a project plan can be created, moving the organisation to the desired future state. In the context of conformity assessment, we have a requirement and supporting standards that, in part, provide benchmarking.
Note: Benchmarking information is normally gathered from market sector/industry performance and or other sources such as previous assessments. Once a plan has been established, it becomes an iterative process, actions and priorities may change due to various factors such as resources and time constraints.
Q: How long does it take to get certified?
A: Generally, the timeline needed to achieve certification is 6-12 months to design and implement a management system; once implemented, circling three months should be given to produce an adequate sample of objective evidence to withstand & demonstrate ‘conformity assessment’ from an accredited 3rd party to certify.
Q: How much does it cost to get certified from by an accredited certification body e.g., UKAS in the UK?
A: This can vary considerably based on several key factors such as the number of legal entities, number of locations/sites, and headcount; regarding consultancy, again many key areas would affect this. For a micro business, certification bodies would typically quote 0.5 day for a stage one document review and 1-day the stage two conformity assessment.
Most clients, see their consultants once a month throughout the implementation which will include an element of coaching and mentoring.
We don’t to offer package prices as this can oftern drives, a clause based and or one size fits all approach, to the design of your system.
Contact us using the form below to discuss your specific needs and to obtain indicative days rates. Note: We work with a small number of credible certification bodies and partner organisations to support your implementation.
What happens once I get the accredited certification?
Once a certificate is issued, they are valid for three years; depending on the profile of your business, third party surveillance-type audits will need to be conducted at least annually. A plan for first party (internal) and where applicable second party (supply chain) will need to be maintained.
Contact us for more information about our retained outsourced ISO Lead Auditor services - LAaaS®
