What is ISO certification?

ISO standards are published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization.

ISO Standards themselves can be broadly divided into three categories, product, process and management system standards.

Product standards refers to features related to the quality and the safety of a product e.g. kitemarks.

Process standards refer to how products and services are to be made, packaged or refined.

Management system standards help organizations to manage their operations. They are often used to help create a system that allows the organization to continually achieve their clients requirements.

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) don’t actually certify organizations, instead many countries have formed accreditation bodies to authorize and manage certification bodies to carry out this activity. The certification bodies audit the organizations applying for ISO standards certification and if the organisation meets the requirements the certification body will issue the relevant ISO certificate. The various accreditation bodies have mutual agreements with each other to ensure that certificates issued by one of the Accredited Certification Bodies are accepted worldwide.

It is important to note that an ISO certificate is not a once-and-for-all award, but must be renewed at regular intervals recommended by the certification body, usually around three years.