ISO 9001 CERTIFICATION

ISO 9001 stands for a regulatory reference which certifies an organization’s quality management system.

The ISO 9001 standard can be applied to any type of company, regardless its field of activity or size.

ISO 9001 standard is built on 10 sections, designed to manage all the aspects of the company life and to lead the organization’s processes to the implementation of the quality management system.

Hence, it offers an added value in providing the specific guidance for the organizations which intend to achieve customer satisfaction and to keep an active company policy aiming at continuous improvement.

The adoption of a quality management system is voluntary for the companies. Nevertheless, in some industries the ISO 9001 certification is legally mandated.  That’s the case of the companies dealing with the verification of tax records, third-party liability for heating systems and healthcare facilities.

Moreover, ISO 9001 is required for the issue of SOA certification, legally mandated to participate in public tenders.

By following the guidelines of ISO 9001 standard, the organization will be able:

• To participate in public tenders
• To get a 50% reduction for insurance policy required in tenders and during the contract execution
• To meet the customers’ expectations
• To build a sustainable business
• To prove its solid corporate structure

The certification path consists of 4 stages

Certification Request

All the economic aspects and the auditors’ activities related to the certification process may be agreed at this stage. The finalization of a contract concludes this part. Indeed the process for certification depends on the contract stipulated between the company and the certification body.
Generally, it is valid for three years.

Preliminary Audit (optional and possibly requested by the customer)

It is an initial assessment of the current company’s management system.
The preliminary audit is not involved in the normal process for certification and any possible improvement thus is intended to be nothing but a suggestion and it is not included in the official audit report.

Certification Audit – Stage 1

The audit is held in the company office. In this stage, the auditor gathers all the informations and evaluates the documents referring to the management system that must be certified. The auditor analyses the compulsory and voluntary standards. This is a preparatory step for the second stage of the Certification Audit.

Certification Audit – Stage 2

In this stage, the auditor will ascertain that the company complies with the management system. At the end of this process, the auditor will submit the ISO issue request to the certification body, if a significant nonconformity does not occur.