- What is the ISO 9001 standard? 
- Do I need to be certified? 
- What are the benefits of certification?
- What are the risks of non-compliance?

If you’ve wondered about some or all of these questions, you’re not alone. Many business owners, knee-deep in the day-to-day operations of their businesses, feel that they just don’t have time to think about often-complex industry standards.

However, what many business owners don’t realise, is that by upgrading their systems and processes to comply with standards like ISO 9001, they can improve efficiency, lower costs, and set their course for continual business improvement.

Driving efficiency and lowering expenses go a long way toward giving your business an advantage over the competition. With lower costs, you may be able to afford to invest in capital, equipment or marketing, or you could consider expanding into new territories. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s get back to the first question: What is the ISO 9001 standard?

How to Become Certified to the ISO 9001 Standard

The international standard for quality management, ISO 9001, is the standard that governs your Quality Management System (QMS), which is a collection of policies, processes, documented procedures, and records defining internal rules for operating. All of these components guide the way your business creates and delivers your products and services, ensuring you deliver the best quality possible and improve continually.

The benefits of attaining ISO 9001 certification are far-reaching. Third-party certification allows for an independent auditor to evaluate your current systems, ideally after a compliance consultant ensures you’re operating in compliance with the standard. Furthermore, some companies require construction businesses to attain ISO 9001 before they’ll accept tenders from them. By having ISO 9001 certification in your back pocket, you may qualify for certain contracts that would be unavailable to you otherwise.

Once certified, your business will receive a certification certificate showing compliance to ISO 9001, demonstrating a commitment to quality to current and prospective clients.

Compliance Consultants for Quality Management Systems

Compliance consultants can help you to become ISO 9001 certified. They are skilled at evaluating your current processes, finding areas in which improvements can be made, making recommendations to help you achieve compliance, and then re-evaluating to ensure the improvements are meeting their objectives.

Depending on the current state of your organisation, the compliance process could take anywhere from 6 to 12 months. However, our compliance consultants have designed a unique process to help your business achieve certification in as little as 8 weeks.

Get in touch with us at Compliance Council to speak to a consultant about your business’s compliance needs. Every business is different, and that’s why we believe it’s important to get a custom consult to help you to attain certification and reach your business goals.

For more information on how certification to ISO 9001 can help grow your business, download the free information pack below: