ISO CERTIFICATION
What is ISO Certification?
ISO is an independent international organisation that facilitates innovation and leads way to the development of trade. The objective of ISO is to advance the improvement of standardisation in technology. ISO has listed internationally recognised standards (e.g., 9001, 22000, 14000) to encourage worldwide exchange of goods. ISO registration or ISO certification improves the credibility of your business and helps you get more business. You might have seen ISO 9001 Quality mark on products from large companies. This can be attained through ISO certification.
ISO emphasis on achieving customer satisfaction for any general product or service. A certified quality management system demonstrates entity commitment to quality product and/or services and customer satisfaction.
Advantages of ISO Certification:-
1. The production, development and supply of products and services become more safe and efficient.2. ISO certification sets new goals to be achieved and continuous improvement becomes possible to be achieved.
3. It is also possible for the management of the organization certified to monitor the progress step by step to achieve the goals of standard products. Furthermore, productivity is increased as a result of improved process due to improved qualification of employees.
4. International trade becomes fairer.
5. Provision of safe products and services to consumers becomes possible.
6. The ISO certified company can compete at international level.
7. The new technologies which achieve the ISO certificate have the possibility to be implemented in the production process.
8. The developing countries gain advanced technical knowledge when they have to implement the standers for production with their scares resources.
9. Quality of life in general improves as everyone is ensured of the provision of safe products and services.
10. Global environment is assured to be safe with International standers for goods and services to be produced which are environment-friendly.
Applicable Fee for ISO Certification:-
Fee for ISO certification in India varies from organisation to organisation. The ISO certification body will compute the fee for ISO certification by considering the below mentioned different parameters:
1. Size of an organisation
2. Number of employees
3. Processes of Organization
4. Level of risk associated with the scope of services of the organisation
5. The complexity of the management system
6. The number of working shifts
Prerequisite for processing ISO certification or ISO registration:-
1. Selecting the Type of ISO Certification- First of all, the entrepreneur needs to choose the type of ISO certification required for the business. There are various types of ISO certification are available such as listed below:
• ISO 9001:2008- Quality Management System
• OHSAS 18001 – Occupational Health & Safety Management System
• ISO 37001 – Anti-bribery management systems
• ISO 31000 – Risk Management
• ISO 27001 – Information Security Management System
• ISO 10002 – Compliant Management System
• ISO 14001:2015 – Environment Management System
• ISO 26000 – Social Responsibility
• ISO 28000 – Security Management
• ISO 22008 – Food Safety Management
• SA 8000 – Social accountability
• EnMS EN 16001 ISO 50001 – Energy Management
• SO/IEC 17025 – Testing and calibration laboratories
• SO 13485 – Medical devices
• ISO 639 – Language codes
• ISO 4217 – Currency codes
• ISO 3166 – Country codes
• ISO 8601 – Date and time format
• ISO 20121 – Sustainable events
• SO/IEC 27001 – Information security management
2. Selecting an ISO Certification Body (ISO Registrar)- As stated above ISO does not provide companies’ certification. It needs to be done by the external certification bodies. Thus it is mandatory to recognise the credible certification body. When selecting a certification body, the entrepreneur has to follow the things listed below.
• Evaluate several certification bodies
• Check if the certification body uses the relevant CASCO standards
• Check whether the certification body is accredited.
Note: Accreditation is not compulsory; however, the companies should meet the ISO accreditation bodies’ requirements.
Procedure for ISO Certification:-
1. Complete ISO Form- An online form of ISO application has to be filled with complete information and the corresponding documents. Some of the data would be like details on the nature of the business, company address and years of operation.
2. Consultation on registration type- As ISO has many types of certifications and hence it is highly recommended that you consult an expert to select the best accreditation standard that fits.
3. Document submission- Every document that is submitted along with the application is verified and the information is double checked. They are then filed with the concerned ISO registrar. Once the submission is confirmed, online payment needs to be done through one of the various payment modes available.
4. ISO Audit- An ISO audit is an examination or verification to check the genuineness of your business’ process records. Three main types of audits are:
• First party audit or internal audit: Conducted internally by your own staff who are trained. It can also be performed by an external company.
• Second party audit or supplier audit: Conducted by lead auditors in your organisation. This is done to ensure your suppliers function properly and that you get the supply of products/services correctly. As internal audits, these can also be performed by external agencies if you don’t have the qualified resources.
• Third party audit or certification audit: This must be carried out only by auditors of Certification Bodies.
Depending on the documents submitted, an ISO audit for the business is conducted wherein the genuineness of the documents are checked. The authority then makes a decision based on the defined procedures.
5. ISO Certification- If the audit is successful, a certificate is issued to your company. It is couriered to the business address. ISO 9001 certification renewal has to be done once a year and for the renewal, the authorities conduct a surveillance audit to ensure adherence to all the standards.
Documents required for ISO Certification:-
1. Proof that the business is registered.
2. Copy of PAN Card
3. Passport Size Photograph
4. Sales Tax RC/Service Tax RC
5. Sale/Purchase Invoice