The answer here really depends upon the size, complexity and degree of sophistication that exists within an organisation from an operational management systems perspective.

The biggest single factor after this that has an influence time wise following this is simply a question of the available resource at hand to undertake all the basic work to firm up your documented management system. Put another way the more resources available the quicker the task.

There are hard rules here either way, if you have undertaken this task before you can decide to undertake all the development work yourself. If however it is new to you our perhaps you have a very demanding workload due to other responsibilities it would be prudent to engage the services of a consultant.

In short the answer is yes. However there are a number of prerequisites to this; firstly you must have an effective operational programme of internal audits within your existing management system.

The must be in turn supported by a robust management review. This is to verify the overall effectiveness of the system from a management perspective. Beyond this your existing management system documentation will need to be reviewed by our auditor to ensure that all the criteria within applicable assessment standard has been appropriately addressed within it for the scope of certification you are seeking. This can be carried out on site or at our office location.

If after this all appears to be satisfactory then the assessment visit can take place to verify effective operation of your documented management system.

No, it is an easy task. Prior to your next routine visit contact us and we will be happy to have you become one of our certficates holders. Providing there are no outstanding corrective actions or improvement requests with the existing certification body as we cannot close them out this is an easy task. We will even give you a supply of sticky logo labels to cover up the old logos!

This is a wholly incorrect assertion. Every organisation can obtain some benefits from the principles contained within ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001. This is one of the few instances where size does not matter! Combined with the eight principles within ISO 9000 every organisation will develop world beating management controls right across their organisation to maintain a competitive edge. It will also help you with regulatory compliance as well!

International Certification Services Ltd depends on your success for our success. This means that we will always take time to talk with our certificate holders and answer any question that may arise at any time. Every member of our field audit team has many years of experience under their belt, they visit dozens of companies worldwide every year and this leads them to gaining a wealth of practical experience for all to share and benefit from. Our purpose is not to catch certificate holders out; it is to add value wherever and however we can!

Yes ICS Ltd is fully covered by professional indemnity and liability insurance.

Firstly as a small certification body our Managing Director who also happens to own the company reviews every audit report following every visit to all clients. Secondly we also undertake performance audits on our own field auditors from time to time to make sure that they are doing the job! Alongside side this we also hold a number of internal training workshops following major changes to any of the standards that we provide certification against.

This is to determine readiness for assessment and the suitability of site location and overall site specific conditions. It also serves to ensure that all reference standard criteria has been considered and addressed in an appropriate manner. The stage 1 assessment is also used to confirm the time required for the stage 2 assessment as well as identifying the areas for review during the stage 2 assessment.

In short the answer here is no because at least part of the stage 1 assessment must be carried out on site to determine suitability of location and overall site conditions.

With a small organisation this may be possible, however, to meet accreditation rules it is likely that the stage 1 assessment will take a full day to complete.

At the end of the stage 2 assessment the audit team will leave you with an assessment report. Within this report they will make their recommendation. This is then sent to our head office for processing and an independent review to concur the decision made by the audit team. Once this review takes place a certificate of registration will be issued. This will take between 2 - 6 weeks.

We will always contact you in good time before a visit is due. Depending upon the size of your company you may be subjected to either a six monthly visit or an annual visit. An important point to remember here though is your first surveillance visit must take place and fully completed within twelve months of the last day of your initial assessment. If this does not happen then the certificate will be cancelled and the assessment process must start over again.

Yes - all aspects of the renewal visit must take place before the expiry date of the original certificate. This also includes the close out of any non-conformances that may have been raised during the renewal visit.

You must undergo a full two stage assessment again.

In normal circumstances we do not do this but we will make unannounced visits to respond to any external complaints or concerns we may have relating to a particular certificate.