The initial low cost of securing say ISO 9001 certification from a non-UKAS organisation is attractive to some organisations. However, many organisations that pursue this route often discover that their certification is useless. 

This is because the non-UKAS certification is not recognised as bona fide by many organisations.  As a result, low cost non-UKAS certification can mean a business can lose revenue because of it.

UKAS stands for the UK Accreditation Service.  UKAS is the only accreditation organisation that has official recognition from the UK government. It has a responsibility to ensure that all organisations that offer certification accredited by them conform to stringent standards. All organisations offering UKAS accredited certification must have their processes and systems vetted on a regular basis to ensure that they adhere to ISO standards requirements.

No independent accreditation body exists for non-UKAS certification providers, many of whom design their own processes for certification. This can mean that they can be slow in changing their process in line with changes to ISO standards. Moreover, the absence of a third party body accrediting their operations can also mean that they may also be not properly checking whether their clients are meeting current standards too.

Consequently, organisations seeking ISO certification must understand the significant differences between fully-fledged UKAS and non-UKAS certification. A certification body accredited by UKAS is mandated to allow organisations to move to another certification body. Many non-UKAS certification bodies tie their clients into extended 10-year contractual periods and charge higher daily rates for assessment than UKAS accredited bodies. In practice, this can mean that the lifetime cost of non-UKAS certification is greater than that of a UKAS accredited body.

Organisations that obtain 9001 accreditation get more than the ISO 9001 cost of certification and a nice looking document to wave around to clients. Hundreds of thousands of organisations all around the planet are benefitting every day from implementing the standard. Here are ten benefits.

ISO 9001 certified organisations find that their processes become more efficient as well as maintain consistency in their operations.  Both for and non-profit companies have been found to be demonstrably more profitable than uncertified businesses through increased productivity and from securing .more trading revenue.

Improved morale throughout an organisation’s workforce, established training systems, clear definition of roles and responsibilities and more accountable senior managers, contribute towards more motivated and satisfied employees.

Moreover, ISO 9001:2015 accreditation is internationally recognised which means an organisation’s QMS is recognised internationally too. The standard provides clarity and a factual basis for making decisions. Clear guidelines for self-assessment and internal audits are provided to ensure meaningful gathering of information and efficient decision-making.

Supplier relationships are improved because better supplier evaluation is achieved, more efficient order administration prevails, costs are reduced and logistics are optimised.  Another benefit is using only essential documentation in operations to ensure the quality system runs smoothly without undue bureaucracy. Furthermore, this leads to consistency throughout all processes like finance, manufacturing, purchasing and distribution.

Continual improvement is also realised through critical internal audits, managerial review and modified processes all carefully considered and implemented via an analysis and documentation system that can ensure good decision-making. 

Finally, the ultimate benefit is increased customer satisfaction, which in turn can lead to more treading revenue and greater profits.

How should organisations prepare and implement a certification audit for standards like BS EN 1090 or ISO 9001.

Well, for ISO 9001, the first step involves a desktop or stage one audit where an evaluation is conducted to assess if the existing quality system and related documentation is properly set up. Following on from this is a stage two audit. 

A stage two audit involves interviewing nominate employees involved in the quality system to ascertain how the system operates in practice. This audit aims to assess how long the QMS has been in operation and whether or not employees involved in it properly understand and maintain compliance with the standard being audited. 

Providing the stage one and two audits are satisfactory, the auditor carrying out the evaluation confirms this with the certification authority and in around 2 weeks to 3 months time, an accreditation certificate will be issued to the successful organisation

After initial certification has been conferred, an organisation is then subjected to ongoing repeat assessment in order to retain their certification status. About a year after initial certification, certification bodies introduce a surveillance process. This process monitors whether management reviews and internal audits are being performed correctly and whether the QMS is operating as required.

And finally comes recertification. This process involves an assessment of how thoroughly the philosophy of ISO 9001 has been integrated in the organisation over a 3-year period and the preparation it is undertaking for the next certification period.

The international standard for a QMS or quality management system is ISO 9001. A business or organisation can be certified to ISO 9001 when an independent third party certification organisation has assessed it to comply with criteria detailed in the standard.

Organisations and businesses alike utilise the standard in their operations to provide consistent high quality services and products. Then work continuously to further improve their stakeholder offering. ISO 9001 has ten clauses which organisations’ operations are mandated to comply with to qualify for certification.

The first three clauses i.e.: Scope, Terms and References list the requirements of the standard, explains the terminology used and identifies other standards that are supported by ISO 9001. The next three clauses are Leadership, Context and Scope. They cover leadership responsibility for communication of quality procedures, determining the objectives of the QMS, identifying the resources needed for its implementation and for ensuring that all members of the organisation understand what the QMS is and their role in it.

The final four include Planning, Evaluation, Operations and Continuous Improvement. Planning involves identifying opportunities, assessing risks, setting objectives for the QMS and detail the changes required to meet ISO 9001.

Evaluation is all about using the new QMS to change processes and monitor their effectiveness in line with operational processes. Operations covers planning, implementation and control procedures and continuous improvement as the names suggests relates to the ongoing process of enhancing the QMS to further improve the quality system.