Do you have any more Questions? Well if so, you have come to the right page!
We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions for you relating to accreditation.
The real question should be how long is a piece of string? The time taken and the cost to achieve accreditation will vary depending upon the following:
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The standard (s) you are hoping to achieve accreditation for as they all vary with the amount of work involved.
For example ISO 9001 is all about your working processes so pre-dominantly is looking at what you're doing to manage your customers; it has been thought that most organisations are already 50% on their way to accreditation before even starting to work for ISO 9001 and it is a case of getting that information into a formalised way.
Should you choose to do ISO 14001, it's will include undertaking an environmental review and determining what out of your processes you have the potential to reduce or to improve. Similarly if you choose BS OHSAS 18001, there are legislations that you must comply with to gain accreditation which include completing sufficient risk assessments.
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The complexity of your organisation e.g. what and how you provide your service and / or manufacture your product.
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Geographical locations e.g. do you operate out of 1 site or 10? The system should be adopted at all of your sites.
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The assessment body you choose. Their availability will matter significantly in the process of achieving accreditation. Some will be available in 2 months, others in 4 months. Similarly for most management standards, most assessment bodies adopt a two stage certification approach; Stage 1 will include completing a gap analysis of the system to establish your readiness, Stage 2 or the final assessment will then encompass a full audit of the management system (the pass or fail scenario).
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The amount of employees involved in the organisation. Why? Because generally more people mean more processes and these will all have to be considered in the accreditation scope. This will also affect your assessment duration; more people will result in more days required by the assessment body.
How much will my assessment cost? Top
This cost will vary depending upon the assessment body you select. There is a huge variety of assessment bodies in the UK, some better known than others. Some are more cost effective than others, the others that are more costly maybe popular throughout specific industries or a well known assessment body.
There is no right or wrong assessment body; however at JR Consultants we only use and recommend UKAS accredited assessment bodies. For more information on UKAS accredited assessment bodies please click here.
Can you help us choose the right assessment body? TopYes we can. We have built up close business relationships with many, all of which are UKAS accredited and we will recommend depending upon their costs and their experience in your industry.
Can you offer assistance after we have gained accreditation? TopYes we can, it is what we class as a service contract, and it will encompass the complete annual ongoing management of the system as it develops.
We will plan and schedule the audits accordingly, and these will then be completed by one of our skilled and experienced auditors as per the timetable. Any non conformity found will be raised and rectified as necessary, ready and in line for your annual surveillance with the assessment body, for which we will also attend.
For more information about our ISO accreditation services, please
contact us.
