The first step to
verify a genuine certificate is to ask the company to give you a copy of
certificate. Next you can ask the company which issued the certificate. We
also provide certificate verification service. This is a chargeable
service.
No. ISO and other
standards are targeted at various aspects of business, for example, ISO 9001
deals with the quality management systems, ISO 14001Â deals with environment
management system, and so forth. ISO certifications do not ensure fraud
protection. For fraud protection refer consumer protection act, but that can be
invoked only after you have been cheated.
ISO certification [or
ISO 9001 certification] is not a certificate for the trustworthiness of a company.
No. ISO 9000 / 9001 or
quality management system certification ensures that certified company has
appropriate processes in place in ensure that only good quality products are
delivered to the buyer. But this is not achieved 100%. A buyer can get a faulty
product or service.
Yes. ISO 9001
certification requires organizations to have a complaint management system.
You can complain to
certification body or even to accreditation body giving relevant details.
A certification body [also called a registrar] is an organization that
issues certificates. An accreditation body is an organization that authorizes
the certification body to issue the certificate. Normally an accreditation body
is a member of the International accreditation forum [IAF] but there are many
“independent” accreditation bodies also
International
organizations for standardization do not control ISO certification in any which
way. ISO is responsible only for formulating and publishing a standard. Once
standard is published, standard’s interpretation, implementation and
certification depends on user / certification body. ISO issues clarifications
on interpretations when asked. ISO conducts surveys of certified companies once
in a year.
This is a big question and the answer depends upon your requirement. Many companies want a certificate because a certificate is a mandatory requirement to participate in attender or for the supply of goods and hence they try to find the cheapest available source.
The correct approach
is to aim for continual improvement in the organization’s performance and hence
ensure that the accreditation body is a member of IAF and “IAF MLA” is printed
on the certificate. Also, ensure that the accreditation body and certification
body have good respect in the market.
The cost mainly
depends upon the number of employees in your organization, your products, and your services. The cost also depends upon the accreditation body and certification body.
Depending upon number
of employees, the certification body calculates the audit man-days requirement than
multiplies it with the auditor man-day rate, and then adds accreditation body fees.
Some certification bodies also charge “file maintenance” charges,
administrative charges, etc. In addition to certification, you will have to bear the auditor's travel and living expenses. You should ensure that arrangements for
travel and living are done as per your company standards and not as demanded by the auditor or certification body.
No, our company is not
IAF accredited.