Frequently asked questions

• Are you a certification body?

  No. We do management system consultancy: we build the system, document it and get it ready for the audit. The party that runs the audit and issues the certificate is a certification body accredited by TÜRKAK or an equivalent accreditation authority. Under ISO/IEC 17021 an organization may not certify a management system it has consulted on, which is why the two jobs sit with different parties.

• How is an ISO certificate obtained?

  The scope is set, the system is built and documented, then an internal audit and a management review are carried out. After that an accredited certification body is approached: it runs a Stage 1 audit of the documentation and then a Stage 2 audit on site. Once the nonconformities raised are closed, the certificate is issued.

• How many years is an ISO certificate valid?

  Three. Across that period the certification body carries out a surveillance audit each year, and the certificate stays valid only as long as those continue. At the end of the third year it is renewed through a recertification audit.

• What is the difference between a surveillance audit and a recertification audit?

  The certification cycle runs three years. In the years between, a surveillance audit is carried out: the auditor looks at whether the system is still running and whether earlier findings were closed, and the scope covers part of the system. At the end of the cycle the system is audited from the beginning; that is recertification, and its scope is wider than a surveillance audit.

• What happens if the audit raises a nonconformity?

  Findings are graded major or minor. A certificate is not issued or maintained while a major nonconformity is open; for minor ones, a corrective action plan and evidence of effectiveness are requested. The deadlines are set by the certification body.

• Why does TÜRKAK accreditation matter?

  Accreditation is an independent authority verifying that the certification body is competent. A certificate from a body that is not accredited may not be accepted in customer contracts or tender documents. TÜRKAK is a signatory to the IAF multilateral recognition arrangement, which is what makes the certificate recognized abroad.

• Which standards do you work in?

  ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO/IEC 27001. Other standards may apply depending on what the organization does; which system to build is decided together with the scope going into the audit and the certificates already held.

• We are certifying for the first time. Do you help with that?

  Yes. Building a system from nothing and preparing an existing one for a surveillance or recertification audit are both part of the work. Only the starting point differs: in the first, documentation and practice are built from scratch; in the second, the last period’s records and any open nonconformities are reviewed.

• How long does the work take?

  We set that together, from the state the system is in today and the number of open nonconformities. We work backwards from the audit date to a plan that puts a date against each record that has to exist.

• How is the price set?

  By the scope, the number of standards in play and the current state of the system. We send the quote with the work plan rather than on its own, so what you are paying for is itemized.

• We already work with another consultant. Can we still get a quote?

  You can. Seeing our quote does not affect your current arrangement.

• What happens if we get in touch?

  Telling us which standard you work in is enough. We talk through the state of the system, then prepare the work plan and the quote and come back to you. Nothing is committed at that stage.

Write to us; we get back to you as soon as we can. feyza@vistacert.tech