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®
