ISO certification budget

We will get the answer immediately: Without knowing your business and its current state, it is impossible to give an accurate cost-there are too many variables. However, the following guide will give a good indication of the budget required-but as you can see, it depends a lot on you.

Training and consulting-do you need it?

This is an important issue because ISO consulting in particular can cost more than the certification itself. The ISO certification audit of a small business usually includes two visits. This will be the first day to see where you are and what needs to be in place, and then conduct a formal audit when you are ready. Although your certification body (that is, us!) can provide general templates and non-specific examples, they cannot tell you how to do it because it will be considered as a consultation, which undermines the objectivity of the audit. If you are looking for more hands-on assistants, then the only option is to also find an ISO consultant.

If you are starting from scratch and have very little documentation and don't know how to start, then your consultant will most likely be there for a few days. If you choose to let them write the documentation for you, it is easy to see that they will be there for longer than the 2 days required for certification (assuming you are an SME). Suddenly, project costs can easily double. This is not to say that you should not use an ISO consultant, you just have to weigh the costs and benefits. A typical scenario for a small business might be that the person in charge simply cannot spare the time to implement the standard; the consultant can take on the workload. In larger companies, consultants can quickly improve the skills of the person in charge and help promote implementation throughout the organization.

Whether you need training is also your decision. There is no doubt that the introductory course will give you a better understanding of the benefits and requirements of the standard, thereby giving you confidence in starting the process.

Although we believe that training can help turn a seemingly daunting task into a stress-free experience, many of our customers are happy to start the certification process without training or consultants. Of course, if you have previous experience with ISO standards or have managed your organization's policies and management systems, this will help.

ISO certification fee

Certification bodies use specified guidelines to determine how long they should spend on-site audits; factors affecting this include the size of the organization, the level of risk, and the number of sites owned. A typical office-based SME will experience the services described earlier; there will be two visits per day.

Our guidance is that organizations with 10 full-time employees or less can obtain certification to one of the ISO management standards starting from £2,250. (It all depends on the number of employees and sites.)

When investigating the costs of your organization, it is important to know exactly what you will pay. Some certification bodies use subcontracted auditors and may need to pay attention to additional travel expenses and related expenses. There is also the frequently used "annual management fee", which will not be mentioned until you read it in black and white. It is especially important to take these costs into consideration, because ISO certification relies on continuous surveillance visits to ensure that you still meet the requirements of the standard; if you have worked with the certification body for many years, the sum of £200 here and there.

Continuous cost considerations

As mentioned earlier, maintaining certification depends on you continuing to meet the requirements of the selected ISO standard. Continuous improvement is a key requirement; this is also one of the main reasons procurement authorities choose these standards: it makes them believe that their suppliers are monitored.

Once you have passed the initial assessment, the ongoing certification will be based on a 3-year certification cycle. The first two surveillance audits were a simplified version of the initial certification, and a full evaluation was conducted again for the third time. Although you must visit at least once a year, some certification bodies insist on more regular audits. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether the frequency is helpful or an obstacle to your organization. For reference, the cost of surveillance audits is usually less than 50% of the initial certification cost.

Less obvious costs are also worth considering. The implementation of ISO management standards requires investment from the management level to the warehouse level to succeed. Not only does someone have to take full responsibility, but it also takes time and energy to enhance the merits of doing different things. Generally speaking, people don't like change and need continuous training and reminders to get the support of the workforce. Of course, the benefits of implementing standards should be greater than the investment, but this is still a "cost."

Factors affecting cost and time

• The commitment and "quality awareness" of your business owner/senior management-usually the most important factor

• The current culture of your organization: its level of "quality awareness", how much change needs to be made, and whether people are willing and willing to accept change

• Why you want it

• The size and complexity of your organization

• The gap between you and the standard requirements. For example, do you already have a structured and standardized system to manage your business and provide services/products consistently?

• Whether any of your systems are recorded, and how well they are recorded. Do you have any procedures, flowcharts, checklists, forms, policies or job descriptions? You definitely don’t have to "record everything", but you must have some documents in the system

• Do your business activities include the "design" of services/products. If so, how complex are they (which in turn will affect the documentation you need)

• What resources do you have: available skills, experience, and time

• Timeline: When do you want to be certified?

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