ISO Registration | Certification – Procedure, Benefits, Types
- July 22, 2022
- Posted by: GITPAC
- Categories: GST, INDIA, Startups, Uncategorized
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental international organization, which came into existence in the year- 1947. ISO, having its registered office in Switzerland, currently have a membership of 167 national standards bodies. The ISO plays an important role in facilitating world trade by providing common standards among different countries. These standards are intended to ensure that products and services are safe, reliable, and of good quality.
ISO Certification is the process that certifies that a management system, manufacturing process, service, or documentation procedure has all the requirements for standardization and quality assurance. The certification will be accompanied by periodical audits to ensure the compliance of certified standards.
The ISO does not provide certification directly to the client. The certification is issued by authorized external certification bodies called the Accreditation Body Members.
The external accreditation bodies are registered under the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
What is the IAF?
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) is a worldwide association of accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the field of the management system, products, processes, services, personnel, validation and verification, and other similar programs of conformity assessment. Under the IAF.
NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Body), is the IAF accredited body in India. All the ISO certifications will be applied through the website/portal of NABCB. There are 18 certifications/ Inspection bodies under NABCB. The QCI
(Quality Council of India) is the controlling agency regulated by the ministry of Commerce and Industries. NABCB is supervised by the QCI.
Who/What is QCI?
QCI was established as a national body for accreditation formulated by the recommendations and advises of expert group of Ministers through a Cabinet decision in 1996. The QCI (Quality Council of India) is the controlling agency regulated by the ministry of Commerce and Industries. It is an independent autonomous non-profit organization. QCI has an important role in improving the Quality of life and well-being of the citizens of India.
The QCI manage the following boards;
• NABCB (National Accreditation Body for Certification Bodies)
• NABQP (National Board for Quality Promotion)
• NABET (National Accreditation Board for Education)
• NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers)
• NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibrator laboratories)
The QCI is created by the government/Ministry to coordinate and control the boards which comes under.
In India, QCI is the head of all accreditation boards, who manage and coordinate the system.
The current chairperson of QCI is Mr. Adil Zainulbhai.
Structure of ISO and its allies;
Most popularly used ISO standards under NABCB are:
- ISO 9001- Quality Management
- ISO 14001- Environmental Management System
- ISO 22000- Food Safety Management
- ISO/IEC 27000- Information Security Management System
- ISO 31000- Risk Management
- ISO 45001- Occupational Health & Safety Management System
- ISO 13485 ICMED (Indian Certification of Medical Devices)
- ISO 22301 BCMS (Business Continuity Management System)
- MDQMS (Medical Devices Quality Management System)
Why ISO Certification?
- Product Quality
- Iso certification ensures the quality of goods and services provided. Thus, the customer will choose your business from other competitors, and it will help to increase profit.
- International Credibility
- ISO Certification provides you with global standards and opportunities to expand your business. ISO helps to build company credibility in the global market among the global competitors.
- Customer Satisfaction
- The customer gets the feel of safe and quality service for an ISO certified company than a competitor having nil certifications. A satisfied customer is the valuable asset for any business.
- External Audit Benefits.
- An external body to audit the organization and they can evaluate and find out the mistakes, hence helping to improve the quality of our product/service.
What are the downsides of ISO certification?
- It requires heavy emphasis on documentation.
- It is expensive to establish quality management system (QCL)
- Period to achieve ISO certification is very lengthy and requires months of effort.
- Standard is prone to failure when the company is interested in certification before quality.
Let’s take a look at the ISO Certification Procedure
Preparations before ISO registration
1. Choose the type of ISO certification/Standard
From the available ISO standards, choose the appropriate ISO certification for your business.
2. Choose ISO certification Body
The ISO does not provide certification directly to the organization. Certificates are provided by external bodies. Select the recognized and credible certification bodies.
The following things should be noted while choosing the ISO accreditation bodies.
➢ Check the ISO certificate provider is accredited by the ISO/IAF accreditation bodies.
➢ Must check if they are following the CASCO standards.
➢ Study about different ISO certification services provided.
ISO certification procedure
1. The Application
The applicant, person who is applying to get certified and registrar, the certifying authority (NABCB) must agree on the contract of certification. The contract explains the right and obligations for the process of certification.
2. Scrutiny
The scrutiny of the application will be done by the Registrar. ISO auditor, representative to the registrar will review your quality manual and documents related to the application. Internal ISO audit is completed accordingly to certify the business according to the respective standards.
3. Formulation of action plan
Subsequent to the ISO auditing, the business should formulate an action plan to improve the current structure of the organization to meet the ISO standards levels.
4. Initial Certification Audit
This is divided into two stages;
Stage 1: The changes will be audited by the ISO auditor in the organization. Then they will identify the possible non-conformities in your systems and procedures to the desired quality management system. They can divide these non-conformities into minor and major non-conformities. The applicant must carefully assess all the non-conformities and get them aligned as per the
desired quality standards through modification in the techniques and processes used by the organization.
Stage 2: As soon as the required changes are done in the organization, the ISO auditor does the final auditing. The auditor will check whether all the non-conformities have been eliminated or not, as per ISO quality standards. When the auditor of ISO is satisfied then they will prepare the final ISO audit report and forward it to the registrar.
5. Approval of ISO certification.
As soon as all the non-conformities are addressed and all the findings are put in the ISO audit report, the registrar will grant the ISO certification
6. Surveillance Audits
It is basically conducted to check whether the ISO standards are practiced by the organization or not. It is conducted from time to time in a periodical manner.
Applicable Fee for ISO Certification.
ISO certification fees vary from organization to organization. The ISO certification body will calculate the fees under the various stages.
• Size of the organization
• Number of employees
• Process of organization
• Level of risk associated with the scope of service of the organization
• The complexity of the management
• The number of work shift
These are some fees for calculating the index.
Relationship between ISO & DPIIT
DPIIT-recognized organizations can get reimbursement up to 75 % of the ISO certification fees.
*Note: Only selected standards are applicable for reimbursements.
Still confused, Expert consultants from TEAM GCS can help you in getting certified.
For more details mail to [email protected]
Or ring us on +91 7994 00 9338