ISO 9001 Accreditation
People often use the terms ISO 9001 accreditation and ISO 9001 certification interchangeably. However, accreditation and certification have two very different meanings. This blog will help distinguish between the two terms and provide insight on how companies go about achieving ISO 9001 certification.
About the ISO 9001 Standard
Before going into the differences between certification and accreditation, let us first define ISO 9001. ISO 9001 was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which is a non-governmental organization made up of members from over 165 countries. These member bodies come together to develop ISO standards to improve global commerce and ensure quality.
The ISO 9001 standard sets out a framework for establishing and maintaining an effective quality management system (QMS) within an organization. The ISO 9001 Quality Management Standard focuses on continual product and service improvement that is based on customer requirements. ISO 9001 covers all processes required to design, develop, produce, market and maintain an organization’s products and services.
What is ISO 9001 Certification?
Certification is the process of determining if a product or service meets specific requirements. An impartial certification body issues certification in the form of a written assurance that the service, product, or system meets certain criteria. ISO 9001 is one example of a certification standard. ISO 9001 certification is granted by certification bodies to products and services that meet the ISO 9001 standard.
What is ISO 9001 Accreditation?
Simply put, accreditation is the formal recognition of a certifying body’s compliance with international standards by an independent authority. Thus, an ISO 9001 accreditation body simply determines if the certification body is competent to grant ISO 9001 certification to consumers. The ISO 9001 accreditation process ensures that all ISO 9001 certification bodies meet certain standards of competence and impartiality. In other words, you can think of accreditation as “certification of the certification body”.
Accreditation Bodies
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) is a global organization of Accreditation Bodies for Conformity Assessment. Its principal goal is to create a global conformity assessment program that lowers the risk for businesses and their customers by ensuring that accredited certificates can be trusted. IAF Accreditation bodies from all around the world are members of IAF.
It should be noted that accreditation bodies cannot issue ISO certification. They simply grant approval to certification bodies to help customers achieve certification. Any certification body that receives accreditation from a member organization of IAF must adhere to the strict guidelines for issuing certifications.
Is Accreditation Mandatory?
The simple answer is no – a certification body does not need to be accredited; however, accreditation helps improve the credibility of the certification body. This is because accreditation bodies enforce strict policies that must be followed before any certificate is issued.
Additionally, there are some industries that only accept services provided by organizations that have IAF accredited ISO certification. Application for government tenders is one such example. Likewise, many government agencies only authorize IAF approved ISO certified companies for civic work projects since they are regarded to be regularly complying with global quality standards.
Therefore, customers seeking ISO certification look for credible organizations to ensure they receive the best quality of services. All in all, ISO certification bodies that are accredited by a member of IAF are more likely to secure customers due to their credibility in the market.
Requirements for ISO 9001 Certification
The ISO 9001 certification process involves the following steps:
- Gap Analysis: To begin ISO 9001 certification, you must first undertake a gap analysis. A gap analysis is an evaluation of your ISO management system against ISO 9001 requirements. This will show you what changes need to be made to your current QMS to meet the requirements for ISO 9001 certification.
- Employee Awareness Training: To receive ISO 9001 certification, companies must train their employees to help them understand the requirements to successfully implement an ISO 9001 quality management system that meets ISO 9001 requirements.
- ISO System Documentation: ISO 9001 certification requires ISO documentation of key processes and documents related to ISO management system standards. ISO 9001 is a constantly evolving standard so it is vital to ensure you have the correct documentation in place and are complying with ISO requirements as set out by current ISO 9001:2015.
- Internal Audit of the QMS: Once your QMS is in place, an internal audit must be conducted to ensure ISO 9001 compliance. Any non-conformities must be addressed in the Internal Audit Report, and these deviations should be rectified before applying for ISO 9001 certification.
- Hiring a Certification Body: Once your organization has the required documentation in place, it is time to hire a qualified certification body to issue ISO 9001 certification.
The Process to Achieve ISO 9001 Certification
The certification body will conduct a series of audits to evaluate your quality management system:
Stage 1 Preliminary Audit – The goal of the Stage 1 audit is to determine if your organization is ready for the Stage 2 certification audit. The following are some of the activities that will be conducted by the external auditor during the Stage 1 audit:
- Employee Interviews
- Site Evaluation
- Audit Planning
The auditor will identify any non-conformities during the Stage 1 audit in the Audit Report. All non-conformities should be resolved by your organization before the Stage 2 audit.
Stage 2 Certification Audit – The Stage 2 audit will be conducted to verify that all processes are being implemented according to ISO 9001 requirements. The following are some of the activities that will take place during the Stage 2 Audit:
- Documentation Review
- Internal Audit Review
- Evaluate how well the management system complies with the quality manual and procedures
- Set dates for Surveillance Audits
Once all non-conformities are resolved, the certification body will grant ISO 9001 certification to the organization at the completion of the Stage 2 Audit. The validity period of the ISO 9001 certification will typically be for 3 years.
ISO 9001 Accreditation – Conclusion
After reading this blog post, I hope you have a better understanding of the difference between ISO 9001 accreditation and ISO 9001 certification. If your company is looking to become ISO 9001 certified, it is important to hire an certifying authority that has ISO 9001 accreditation by a credible accreditation body.
To know more about ISO 9001 accreditation, kindly contact us at enquiry@iascertification.com