ISO certification has become a necessary document for the enterprise to grow and to make their brand visible on the global platform. Whether it's a food processing industry or just a metal or energy processing plant, ISO certification makes things happen in delivering quality, efficiency, satisfaction and trust that the product/service is genuine and validated by experts. ISO certifications require some documentation that is necessary to get a globally approved ISO standard from a reliable service provider like Assurance Quality Certifications LLC. The documents of ISO may vary from one certification framework to another. However, some papers are identical across all the ISO accredited standards. Let’s know each of them in detail:
Necessary Documents for Getting ISO Certifications with Ease
Scope of System Management Certification: Every standard requires that the organization or the particular business domain clearly define the management system scope. The scope document indicates the boundaries of the management system, what type of services, products, and processes are involved in the execution of production planning and scheduling, the locations or venues of all business units, etc. In order to know the extent of the certification, the ISO audit professionals inspect everything mentioned above and verify it with the actuality of the enterprise.
Quality Policy: This document is necessary in all frameworks, especially in the ISO 9001 standard, because it outlines the industry’s commitment to quality production or service with a motive to improve the standard every time for the acute satisfaction of clients and customers. Your Quality Policy should be aligned with the business strategic move and planning, should make an effective framework to enhance the standard of every product made within the premises of the organization, boost the communication system with clients, customers, staff, and workers, so that the next quality goal can be easily achieved.
Legal Documents or Registration Certification of the Industry: Every industry has a registration or Incorporation number and the certification from the labour and corporate ministry and from Regulatory Body (If Applicable) is very necessary for the industry to grow. Such documents are required by many ISO certification service providers, and every small to large business should register itself as a startup, middle-stage, or large enterprise, as per its business size and domain. This document outlines the legality of their production and service units for the sake of providing better services and products to the general users.
Process Description and Flowcharts: At the time of auditing for the specific ISO standard, every enterprise needs to explain core processes, business flow according to the type of business they are running. The document includes various flowcharts and descriptions in written form. It consists of various things like input/output of every process, number of process owners, leaders, directors, process interaction, performance metrics, and organizational control etc. Flowcharts and visual representations of the enterprise outline various sorts of process interactions to the auditors appointed by the ISO certification Body. It frames out the status of the enterprise and paves the smooth way for the auditors to get auditing done on time with quality ethics.
Risk Assessment/Opportunity Planning Records: All the ISO frameworks having the tag of HLS (High Level Structure), like ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 27001, require the organization to work on various sorts of opportunities and risks. This documentation shows how the business can identify risks, what steps they take to mitigate them, and how easily they can monitor their effects. This documentation outlines the genuine risk treatment plan and risk assessment report, which helped the certification team to get a smooth audit and recommend for a certification from expert hands.
Objectives and Performance Indicators: Every industry, be it a food business or chemical production, needs to meet quality objectives for enhancing its services based on the ISO framework. This documentation, at the time of applying for new certification or for renewal, outlines measures and consistency of the organization, including updates and monitoring power on processes, products, and services. The certification audit team assesses the status of the evidences for measurable matrix of objectives & Performance Indicatiors of enterprise based on the domain type and the nature of service/production.
Training and Competency Records: The ISO audit team expects to review and analyze the records, documents related to staff training and enterprise competency in the market. This document defines various things like performance and their roles, type and duration of training, awareness about their business, and the understanding they have gained during training sessions, employee engagement events. etc. If you have such documents in hand, show the ISO Certification Audit team, as it means that your industry has enough proof to demonstrate that you are an experienced player in the market.
Internal Audit or Previous Certification Reports: Internal audit records are very necessary for getting certified with a specific ISO standard. You need to show internal audit reports/papers when asked by the auditing team. Your document should outline various things like audit schedules, audit plans and checklists, nonconformity reports along with Corrections, corrective action plans, etc. Apart from internal audit report/papers, you may be asked whether you have previously been certified or not. If yes, show them as it will validate your compliances related to the ISO standard that you were a legally certified organization some time ago. These documents will help you get the ISO team satisfied that you are a genuine corporate or production house seeking ISO certification.
Summary
ISO certification needs various documents to validate your identity, quality, efficiency, and processes, as per the nature of your business or industry size. According to Auditors/experts of Assurance Quality Certification LLC, the ISO certification team will ask you several things during the Audit about your documents based on your application for ISO Certification. They will ask for your registration, scope of system management Certification, quality policy, Applicable Legal documents or registration certification of the industry, process description and flowcharts, risk assessment/opportunity planning record, objectives and performance indicators, training and competency records, internal audit, MRM, Production/Services Process related documents and other documents as per the requirements of ISO standard applied for ISO Certification.