FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Process Certification

Certification refers to the conformance or compliance to certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This certification is often provided by some kind of external review, assessment, or audit.
Accreditation is the process of formally obtaining credibility from an authorized body to provide the Certificates.
ISO – International Organization for Standardization. ISO is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from different national standards organizations.
The year in each ISO standard represents the calendar year that the ISO standard got revised and launched. E.g. ISO 45001:2018. The year 2018 represents the revised version that was launched
You can periodically browse our website iascertification.com to get regular updates on the latest version of the standards. Each ISO standard may get upgraded to the new version in a minimum of 7 years from the previous version.
It is available at www.iso.org, or you can get your Standard copy from the Certification Body by proper mode of application.
Annex SL is a new management system format that provides the High-Level Structure to the ISO Management system and helps in implementing multiple standards within one organization easier. All standards are provided with common titles (i.e, 10 clauses)
ISO Audit: Verifying that the effectiveness of the management system is in compliance with the relevant ISO standards except for accounts. Accounts Audit: It’s a systematic and independent assessment of accounts, statutory records, documents, and vouchers of an organization to determine how far the financial statements present a true and fair view of the Organization.
The first step is to apply for certification. We will consider your application and initialize the process to get your business certified. Call us to learn more information about it.
The process of ISO certification starts from application Contract Signing with a Certification body prior to the submission of the application the organization should prepare the documents, Records and conduct an internal audit within the organization, Once the application is filled with all the requirements stated IAS will conduct Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits as per the audit procedure If NC is raised during the course of audit all the identified NC’s need to be effectively closed. Once the NC is closed with the corrective actions IAS technical committee will review and grant the certificate
There are various schemes of certifications applicable. Some standards can be applied in general to all kinds of businesses such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001. There are sector-specific standards as well such as ISO 22000(FSMS), ISO 27001(ISMS), ISO 20000-1(ITSMS), IATF 16949.. etc. Organizations can choose the one which will be applicable to their business based on the category of their business. You can also contact us to provide your organization with the necessary guidance in choosing the appropriate certifications applicable to your organization.
Organizations can combine two or more standards and obtain certification. This is possible within the basic/common standards or Integration of common standards with sector-specific standards.
It reduces the Internal Audit time and External certification body audit time. The organization gains more clarity as the common activities are clubbed and carried out as one exercise. (Such as Internal Audit, Management review is all common in all standards). Finally, this brings down the cost of certification.
There is no particular time when you can get certified. You can apply for it whenever you want your business to have standardized processes.
It depends on the way your system is customized and practiced. Implementing ISO in your Organization will not increase the paperwork. The ISO standards are designed in order to eliminate redundant paperwork.
Have a clear plan. Train competent staff in ISO and prepare a road map for implementing ISO. You can take support from bodies like IAS as we generally provide simplified solutions and are easy to follow. Ask for the quote from IAS before going ahead with the certification decision. We will definitely meet your budget.
ISO auditors don’t have any activities related to the Finance process. They have nothing to verify in your accounts/finance process. On your request, ISO auditors will audit your Organization's management Processes such as HR, Purchase, Maintenance, production, Quality, etc… In simple they will verify the effectiveness of the above management process is in compliance with the relevant standards to get ISO certification and submit the report to your organization.
Usually, your application will be rejected if your business doesn’t conform to the related guidelines. However, to avoid such a situation, IAS/EAS will send a team of auditors to make your processes aligned with the necessary guidelines. Hence, such a scenario is rare when you get the services of IAS/EAS.
During a Surveillance audit or with a short notice audit, ISO auditors will verify your organization’s effectiveness in the implementation and maintenance of that the relevant standards. If found not complying, Major/minor Non-conformances may be issued. If your organization does not take any action and correct it within the stipulated time IAS will suspend your certificate. The suspension status will continue for six months and still if the organization could not rectify its process failures, the certificate will be withdrawn.
In any case, Your Company ISO Audit report is not required to submit to the government, unless there is a legal requirement in your country.
If there is any gap in your process during an audit, the Auditor may raise Non-Conformance on the identified gap. The organization shall take necessary action to find out the root cause, provide correction & corrective action for the raised NC and submit the report to the auditor; He will verify the actions and close the Non-conformity.
Every ISO certificate is valid for a period of three years from the date of issue. During this period, two surveillance audits shall be conducted in a gap of 1 year to verify that you are still meeting the relevant standard requirements. The organizations have to recertify the ISO certificate once the validity of three year period is over. Check the validity of your certificate.
Check through the website. Search your certificate by entering your certificate number in the Search certificate tab. Your certificate will appear; there you can check the validity. You can search your certificate in our accredited body –JAS-ANZ & UQAS respectively based on which accreditation your certificate is issued.
Apply for the certificate number without any error, without extra spaces, and with case sensitivity. Still, if you can get the certificate details, it means the possibility of your certificate getting expired or not issued by IAS. You can contact IAS in such a case.
Yes. You can employ/train individuals with the knowledge & competence to understand the requirement of relevant ISO standards and can establish your company’s own documentation to meet the standard requirement. Proving ISO Awareness Training and ISO Internal Auditor training is the key to succeeding and maintaining the system. It is not mandatory to take assistance from external sources to do the ISO documentation process.
Your existing ISO certification version is still valid throughout the transition period announced by IAF. During this period, you can implement the requirements of the new standard and upgrade your certification to the latest version. Check the certification procedure for transition.
The focus of the Surveillance Audit is to ensure continued compliance with the relevant ISO standards. Auditors look for evidence that the management system is maintained, improved & corrected as needed. If you do not complete the surveillance audit, your ISO certificate will get suspended.
IAF – International Accreditation Forum is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel, and other similar programs of conformity assessment.
In order to transfer your certification to other certification body, the current Certification body shall be accredited by IAF. If you are having a certificate from the Non IAF certification body, you are not able to transfer your certificate unless you have to register a new client. If your IAF certification body accreditation expires, Organization has to transfer to new CB within 6 months. After the period of 6 months, your Organization will not be qualified as a transfer and it will be treated as a new client.
Product Certification: It is the process of certifying certain products that have passed the performance test, and quality assurance test and meet the qualification criteria mentioned in certification schemes. Process certification is the system certification of the relevant management standard compliance.
You can use logos in your Websites, Broachers, Catalogues, and Business cards as per the Logo usage rules. In case, if your certification status is ‘suspended’ or ‘withdrawn’, you should withdraw the logos from the advertisement. Any violation of logo rules is subject to legal action
The cost of certification is determined mostly based on the man-days. Man-days spent for planning, reviewing, conducting audits, travel, decision making, etc. Additionally, the cost of accreditation and certification fees and handling charges is also covered. This man-day cost varies between various certification bodies. It depends on the CAB, Accreditations provided, business sectors, the process involved and service provided, etc. To know the certification cost for your organization contact us.
Basically, your organization may spend on purchasing ISO standards, hiring a consultant to guide your organization (optional), cost incurred in the implementation of ISO systems and standards, the cost for training your employees(some time covered in consulting), paying certification charges for IAS/EAS, travel and accommodation for audit team, Surveillance charges to the IAS/EAS.
ISO checklists are used by auditors as a memory jogger to verify compliance with standard requirements.
HACCP focuses purely on food safety, whereas ISO goes further. ISO 22000(FSMS) covers business processes and structures.