The certification audit cost of an ethical ISO Certification:
As a matter of fact, ISO which stands for ‘International Organization for Standardization’, DOES NOT issue ISO Certificates. In fact, ISO does not play any role in the certification process against the standards, developed & published by ISO itself. Most of the published ISO Standards are to help organizations to develop management system for doing the better business and to move towards business excellence.
Therefore alternatively, an organization can choose to implement an ISO standard without opting for certification, to reap the benefits of BUSINESS EXCELLENCE. Therefore, it is NOT Mandatory for an organization to proceed for certification post implementation of the ISO standard.
However, ISO does recommend organizations seeking certification to choose a credible, recognized & accredited Certification Body or Conformity Assessment Body, if certification is required.
These credible, recognized & accredited certification bodies calculate the cost of man-days needed for certification audits based on a standard procedure to arrive at ethical certification solution which in turn also adds value and benefits the client organization under audit.
What is causing such a huge variation of certification audit cost among various certification bodies?
As on date, there are no established guidelines specifying the authorization about who CANNOT issue ISO certificates and also who CANNOT conduct certification audits. This has helped organizations with vested interest, to make a quick buck. There are a few organizations, operating and posing themselves as ISO certification bodies who issue ISO certificates without even an audit.
This is unethical and against the standards & guidelines applicable for an accredited conformity assessment body as per ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015. Therefore, an ethically certified organization against an ISO standard shall be able to demonstrate the evidences of compliance at the time of certification audit and shall retain an audit report post-certification.
Organization may continue to fall prey to these unethically operating ‘so called certification bodies’, unless the organization seeking ISO certification selects a credible, recognized & accredited Certification Body or Conformity Assessment Body, for the audit.
How the cost is determined ethically?
There are quite a few good, credible, recognized & accredited Certification Bodies (or Conformity Assessment Bodies) having offices worldwide.
To name few like TUV, DNV, BSI, SGS etc., are often referred and suggested for ethical ISO Certifications, internationally.
The number of Audit Man-Days and Cost of Audit Man-Days are calculated based on following parameters, by a Certification Body (or Conformity Assessment Bodies):
- Number of employees
- Number of processes
- The implemented ISO standard
- Level of risk associated with the scope of services of the organization
- Complexity of the management system
- Number of working shifts etc. etc.
Know more? How to get ISO Certified in India?
Know more? What is the procedure for ISO Certification?
Know more? What are the documents required for ISO Certification?
