ISO9

An external audit team will visit your organization's facilities (on a mutually agreed date) to evaluate the compliance of your Quality Management System (QMS) with the requirements of the ISO 9001:2008 Standard. During the course of the assessment, the audit team will notify you of any nonconformities they have observed. When the assessment is complete, the audit team will review their report with you and will advise you of their recommendation for or against the certification of your QMS. Minor nonconformities, or a couple major nonconformities, in an otherwise well implemented QMS will not prevent recommendation for registration; instead, you will be required to submit corrective actions for each finding. If multiple major nonconformities have been found, your organization may not receive a recommendation for certification, and will be required to complete corrective actions before scheduling a new certification assessment. An evaluation of the effectiveness of corrective actions is typically completed at the next regularly scheduled surveillance audit (usually at 6 to 12 month intervals).

Once you have completed and passed the registration audit, it is time to celebrate. ISO 9001:2008 certification is a great accomplishment for your organization. The key to success is an ongoing commitment to improvement and compliance within your QMS. Use the time between initial registration and the first surveillance audit to fine-tune the system and make ISO compliance a part of your organization’s everyday operations. Your QMS should be maintained at all times to ensure that the processes and procedures continue to operate effectively.