How many countries use ISO 9000?

See: ISO's Survey of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 Certificates.

How many ISO 9000 certificates have been issued?

See: ISO's Survey of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 Certificates.

How much does it cost to become ISO 9001 Certified?

This is one of our most popular questions. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. How much it costs depends on a lot of factors. It depends on how long you take to develop your quality management system, how many people are involved, whether you hire outside consultants or not, and how much your registrar charges.

So instead of trying to give you a simple answer, we'll show you how to construct your own answer. One approach is to start with a Operational Review. This will tell you what steps you need to take to upgrade or develop your quality management system (QMS). Once you know what needs to be done, you can figure out how long the work should take, who should do it, and how much it should cost. 

With this kind of information, you can plan your system development project and prepare a budget using the following kinds of cost categories:

Internal costs

• Operational Review
• Project planning
• System design
• Documentation
• System implementation
• Internal audits
• System modifications

External costs

Services

- Consultants Professional fees

• Operational Review/Gap Analysis
• Project planning
• System development 
• System documentation
• System implementation
• Training and awareness
• Internal audit services
• System modifications
• Travel and living expenses

 - Registrars

• Professional fees 
• Application fee 
• Registration fee

• Initial assessment
• Certification audit
• Surveillance audits
• Reassessments
• Travel and living expenses

Products

• Publications
• Software

For detailed cost estimates, including daily fees, please talk to ISO 9000 consultants and registrars in your area.

How long will it take to become ISO 9001 Certified?

In order to determine how long it will take to become ISO 9001 certified or registered, you have to figure out how long it will take to develop or upgrade your quality management system (QMS).  One way of figuring this out is to start with a Operational Review.  This will tell you what steps you need to take to upgrade or develop your QMS. Once you know what needs to be done, you can figure out how long the work should take.

In general, it can take from three months to three years to develop a complete QMS.  How long it will actually take will depend on a lot of factors, including how many people work on the project, how knowledgeable they are, and how large your organization is. 

Once you've developed your QMS, your registrar may want you to wait another three or more months before the certification (registration) audit is done.  This is because you need to be able to prove that your quality system is actually working, and because it takes at least three months to develop an adequate record of performance. You should  make sure that your quality management is in conformance, through internal audits performed by your people or outsourced to a consultant, before you ask your registrar to carry out an external audit of your system.

How much time do we have to upgrade to ISO 9001:2008?

ISO published the new ISO 9001 2008 standard on November 15, 2008. According to ISO and IAF, you have two years to upgrade to the new standard. Therefore, the new deadline is November 15, 2010. Your old ISO 9001 2000 certificate will be obsolete after that date. This also means that most ISO 9001 books, ebooks, web pages, and articles published before November 15, 2008 are out-of-date, technically obsolete, and probably inaccurate. They should, therefore, be ignored.

How can I get in touch with ISO Headquarters?

To talk to ISO in Switzerland, please use ISO's Contact Page.

How do I choose an ISO 9001 Registrar?

When choosing a registrar, we suggest that you:

• Make sure that the registrar's ISO 9001 certificates are recognized and respected in your industry.
• Make sure that your customers will be impressed with the registrar's certificate.
• Find out whether your registrar has been formally certified by a recognized accreditation body.
• Find out whether your registrar has been authorized to issue ISO 9001 certificates in your specific industry. 
• Find out how many certificates the registrar has issued in your industry.
• Clarify how the registrar performs external audits.
• Clarify how initial assessments are performed.
• Clarify how certification audits are performed.
• Clarify how surveillance audits are performed.
• Find out how the registrar handles problems.
• Find out how nonconformities are handled.
• Find out how the registrar handles complaints.
• Find out the conditions that would cause the registrar to revoke an organization's certificate.
• Ensure that the registrar's auditors are suitable.
• Ensure that auditors have been properly trained.
• Ensure that auditors are certified or registered.
• Ensure that auditors know your industry.
• Confirm that suitable auditors are assigned to audits.
• Confirm that suitable auditors will be available.
• Confirm that suitable auditors will be availablein your area or region when you need them.
• Verify that audit assignments will be formallydiscussed with you before audits are scheduled.
• Verify that you will have a chance to review the auditors' credentials before audits are scheduled.
• Confirm how much the registrar will charge. 
• Confirm how much it will cost to apply for registration and to maintain your registration.
• Confirm how much it will cost for the initial assessment, for the certification audit, and for future surveillance audits and reassessments.
• Confirm how much it will cost for travel expenses.
• Ask the registrar for a list of client references.
• Ask referees to evaluate registrar's performance.
• Ask referees how problems were handled.