There are some cases where clauses of the Standard do not apply to certain companies, such as, Customer Supplied Product or Servicing. In these cases the clause should be addressed in your Quality System by an explanation indicating that it is not applicable to your company.

I would suggest that you prepare company personnel on what to expect during the certification audit. Some people have a tendency to become nervous during the audit interview process, tell your personnel to relax during the interviews and if they don’t understand the auditor’s question ask the auditor for clarification.

There are four steps in the certification process.
They are:
1. Application Agreement
2. Documentation Review
3. Certification Audit
4. Approval

If you have a QMS already in place but are unsure if you are ready for the certification audit, we recommend opting for a preliminary audit.

Once your company becomes certified, it will be listed in the national certification listing. You will then commence with your surveillance audit schedule.

Your documentation review takes place on-site unless otherwise agreed upon.

Your certification is valid for three years from the date of the certification committee’s approval.

If you have a certification audit that results in major findings and do not receive your certificate, follow-up will be conducted to verify the effectiveness of any correction actions to the major findings. If all findings are satisfactorily completed, a certificate will be issued.

Findings are either single (minor) or multiple / systematic (major) lapses of your QMS to the ISO standards.

During the certification audit, a comprehensive review of your QMS to the ISO standards takes place. This review is conducted using interviews, reviews of records, etc.

During the certification the audit team will require a work area and access to business machines (i.e.) phone, fax, copier, etc.

The auditor will recommend the frequency of your audits dependent on the number and severity of deficiencies found. Normally the surveillance frequency will be on a 6 monthly frequency however dependent on the auditor’s recommendation a 12 monthly schedule may be recommended if the audit findings are consistently without non conformity. A re-certification audit will need to be undertaken every three years.

Multiple shifts are handled by overlapping the audit schedule, records, etc.

The auditor will inform you of the audit findings and the auditor’s recommendations at the closeout meeting. The final approval is subject to review by the certification manager.

You will get your audit report verbally at the end of the audit and the written report within two weeks.