If you wish to demonstrate that your management system conforms with the standards that you have adopted there are several ways that you can go about it:
- Self-determination and declaration or
- Confirmation by a party having an interest in the business such as customers or
- Confirmation of your self-declaration by an external party to the business or
- Certification/registration by an external organisation.
Sometimes a customer or membership organisation require you to or if it’s a requirement to get on tender list that your system is certified against a particular standard(s) you will need to go for option 4.
Otherwise you can select which standards you have the system certified against, its not always necessary to have the whole system certified.
We are happy to advise you on the best option for your business and help you to achieve your selected route.
Certification bodies must be accredited so that they are authorised, to certify the compliance of businesses against the appropriate standard.
The UK national accreditation body is UKAS, appointed by government to assess and accredit organisations that provide certification services.
If you are going down the certification route we would recommend selecting a certification body that is accredited by UKAS.