ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the requirements and methods for becoming an International Standards Organization (ISO) Certified Organisation once you have a fully auditable Quality Management System (QMS) in place. If the organisation has a well documented, properly audited, management-led QMS in place that is subject to continuous improvement and is always seeking customer satisfaction, then the road to gaining ISO 9001:2015 and then certification need not be too onerous. The cost of certification can vary significantly as Certification Bodies have different pricing structures. Some will charge for each and every visit, assessment and follow-up surveillance inspections. The new standard was published on September 15, 2015, which means that the ISO 9001:2008 standard becomes obsolete on September 14, 2018. The requirement for continual improvement, therefore, has been extended to cover the suitability and adequacy of the QMS as well as its effectiveness, but it no longer specifies how an organisation achieves this.
