ISO is the international standard that specifies the requirements for a management system. Companies utilize ISO certification standards to prove their worth to consistently provide better services and products that satisfy the customer and regulatory requirements.

Most of the ISO certification bodies structure the cost mainly based on 2 things:

1. Level of risk associated with the scope of services and
2. The number of employees in your company. There is a fee scale set by each ISO certifying body.

Certification fees can vary from a low of around ₹5,000 to ₹2,50,000 for the first year in the three-year ISO compliance cycle.

1. Learn the ISO standard.
2. Implement and document standard policies.
3. Get reviewed by an ISO lead auditor.
4. Receive the certification.

The main aim of the ISO standard is to implement a solid and functional Management System for developing and monitoring all areas of your business. Implementing an efficient and robust Management System will aid you to focus on the major areas of your business and increasing efficiency.

ISO Certificates are issued by certification bodies (also called Registrars or CB’s), which are independent of ISO. Certification Bodies need to be accredited by an IAF member (Accreditation Body) to be internationally recognized.

The implementation duration may vary from organization to organization depending on organization size (no. of employees). For example Organizations of up to 10 employees may take up to 1 month. Whereas employees up to 100 numbers may take 3 to 6 months.

No, a person cannot be certified to ISO, rather an organization becomes certified. However, individuals can become ISO Certified Lead Auditors after taking an ISO training course. This allows an individual to audit other organizations.

The purpose of ISO certification is to embed a management system within an organization for increasing productivity, overcome needless costs, and ensuring the better of products and processes.

For eg: ISO 9001 is a quality management system standard that performs guidelines designed to enhance business efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Most organizations can attain certification within 3 to 6 months depending on their size and complexity with proper training and a good knowledge of what is required for ISO certification.

With members in 162 countries and 788 technical bodies for standard development, International Organization for Standardization has written more than 21,584 ISO standards.

• Quality Manual.
• Quality Policy.
• Quality Objectives.
• Quality Records.
• Six Procedures.
1. Control of Documents (4.2.3)
2. Control of Records (4.2.4)
3. Internal Audit (8.2.2)
4. Control of Nonconforming Product (8.3)
5. Corrective Action (8.5.2)
6. Preventive Action (8.5.3)

Through internal auditing, the top management can evaluate how well the Management System is implemented and working. The ultimate step in ISO certification is to conduct a full internal audit in order to verify that the Management System is placed effectively.

ISO certification standard specifies requirements to plan, establish, implement, operate, monitor, review, maintain, and continually improve a documented management system.