Important Things to Consider While Choosing an ISO Certification Body

When a company decides to implement a management system as per one or more of the ISO management system standards, the most obvious next step is to get that management system certified by a certification body. Just as a reminder, certification is the process of offering assurance that a company complies with a set of requirements.

As for the certification body, it is an independent third-party responsible for the process of certification. But with so many ISO certification bodies out there, how do you go about choosing the best for your needs? Below are a few tips to help you during your search.

Accreditation

You should always remember that actually about anyone can give you a piece of paper saying that you’re certified, but not everyone is accredited to do. For this reason, you should take it upon yourself to check whether a prospective ISO certification body is fully licensed.

If at all they carry a license from the local government body in your country, then they are definitely worth your attention. Ensure you learn more regarding accredited ISO certification versus non-accredited before deciding on anything.

Reputation Matters

Merely because a service provider promises to use the best ISO documentation toolkit with Internal Audit Templates, it doesn’t mean you should take their word for it. In the event that you plan on using your certificate for marketing purposes, then you probably don’t want to get this certificate from a certification body known to give them away with no criteria whatsoever.

As a rule of thumb, be sure to choose an ISO certification body with a solid-if not perfect-reputation. You don’t have to go overboard to access this information since their online reviews and testimonials will always work to your advantage.

Experience

While you might deem an inexperienced auditor as one who will get by easily, it is in your best interest to enlist the services of an experienced auditor. Skimp on this, and you risk missing out on some valuable insights, yet you could have easily avoided them. Never should you shy away from asking which auditor will audit you. It is then that you need to ask for his or her CV and/or a list of companies he/she has audited in the past.

Specialization

We can never conclude without mentioning the essence of checking the specialization area of a prospective ISO Certification body before enlisting their services. If you are a bank, there is no essence in hiring a certification body that previously certified only manufacturing companies.

After all, such auditors may only have experience in quality, or environment security. Things tend to be different when auditors have only audited banks. This is because you will no longer have to worry about losing too much time explaining to them how your business works.

Hopefully, the above tips will come in handy while searching for a reliable and reputable ISO Certification body to work with at all times without feeling the heat.