what ISO registration

What is ISO Registration? Learn in Detail

Online Legal India LogoBy Online Legal India Published On 08 Feb 2025 Category ISO

ISO (Indian Organization for Standardization) registration publishes and develops international standards for companies. In this article, you will get to know “What is ISO Registration?” how to register, along with the benefits.

What is ISO Registration? 

ISO stands for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO is a non-governmental organization that sets standards for quality and efficiency. ISO registration means registering an organization with a certification body to get a certificate regarding the quality, safety, cleanliness, etc.

An external certification body conducts audits and assessments for the organization to determine the needs of ISO standards. The certification body will review the operations, systems, and procedures of an Organization whether it meets the relevant ISO standard. External certification bodies issue an ISO certificate after verifying that the organization complies with the relevant ISO standards

The Objective of ISO Certification? 

ISO certification focuses on businesses that establish, implement, and maintain a management system that meets international standards. It provides guidance to companies for identifying and managing risks, improving operations, and committing to quality within their operations. It helps companies to maintain their international standards.

ISO Certification indicates whether the business complies with internationally recognized standards for several aspects of business operations. It includes quality management, occupational health and safety management, environmental management, food safety management, information security management, energy management, and more. 

What is an ISO Certificate? 

An ISO certificate is a document that confirms an organization or products meet ISO standards. It collaborates among global experts to establish and publish international standards across several businesses.

An external certification body conducts the certification process by conducting audits and assessments for establishing the ISO standard of an Organization. It provides global standards to a company that helps to build trust with customers, partners, employees, and stakeholders. It helps companies to reduce risk by identifying, assessing, and proactively managing risks across various aspects of business operations. However, ISO certification plays a crucial role in improving the credibility and overall efficiency of the business.

Pre-Requisite to ISO Certification Process in India

To obtain ISO certification, you must know the Pre-Requisite steps. Here they are:

Choosing the type of ISO Certification

The business owner or experts can choose the type of Certificate that is required for their business.

The mostly used/chosen ISO certifications are:

  • ISO 9001: 2015 –    Quality Management
  • ISO 14001: 2015        –     Environmental Management
  • ISO 27001       –      Information security Management
  • ISO 22000      –      Food Safety Management and so on. 

Frequently used ISO certification types are:

  • ISO 9001:2015- Quality Management System
  • OHSAS 18001 – Occupational Health & Safety Management System
  • ISO 37001 - Anti-bribery management systems
  • ISO 31000 – Risk Management
  • ISO 27001 – Information Security Management System
  • ISO 10002 – Compliant Management System
  • ISO 14001:2015 – Environment Management System
  • ISO 26000 – Social Responsibility
  • ISO 28000 – Security Management
  • ISO 22008 – Food Safety Management
  • ISO 50001 – Energy Management
  • ISO 16001:2017 - Object detection systems and visibility aids
  • ISO/IEC 17025 — Testing and calibration laboratories
  • ISO 13485 - Medical devices
  • ISO 639 - Language codes
  • ISO 4217 - Currency codes
  • ISO 3166 - Country codes
  • ISO 8601 - Date and time format
  • ISO 20121 - Sustainable events
  • ISO/IEC 27001 - information Security Management Systems (ISMS)

Selecting an ISO certification Body

A business needs to select an ISO certification body for their companies. They choose an authorized certification body or Registrar for certification. It is necessary to choose credible and recognized certification bodies for companies.

You need to follow the things while choosing the ISO certification body. Here are listed below:

  • You need to assess various ISO certification bodies.
  • A person needs to verify that the certification body follows the suitable CASCO (Committee on Conformity Assessment) standards. CASCO is the ISO committee that is liable for conformity assessment in the ISO.
  •  You must check if a certification body is accredited or not. It is necessary to meet the requirements of ISO accreditation bodies.

List of ISO certification bodies:

  • Bureau Veritas
  • SIS Certifications
  • BSI
  • Tuv Nord
  • Intertek

How to get ISO Certification?

After determining everything mentioned above, you have to follow the below mentioned process to file and get an ISO registration certificate.

ISO certification process:

During and after filing, ISO certificate goes through a life cycle where companies or organizations has to follow some measures. They are mentioned here. 

Make an Application/Contract

A business person should create an application or contract after selecting a specific ISO standard and an ISO certification body. They must submit an application following the prescribed format which is provided by the chosen certification body. The application needs to be agreed upon by the applicant and Registrar. This contract reflects on rights and obligations of both parties. It contains liability issues, access rights, and confidentiality.

Documents Review by Registrar

The ISO Registrar will review your submitted documents and quality manuals of an organization.  The ISO registrar will review documents to identify weaknesses in reaching the ISO standard.  If there is any mistakes or gaps in the documents, the organizations or companies have to fill them up.

Make an Action Plan

A businessperson needs to make an action plan to meet the existing gaps after the ISO registrar identifies the weakness. The action plan required a list of tasks to achieve a quality management system in an organization. The employees should be aware of the ISO standards for work efficiency and quality standards in an organization.

Initial Certification Audit

The initial certification audit is divided into two stages- Stage 1 and Stage 2

Primary Audit:

Stage 1 represents the primary audit. It is a documentation review to check whether the organization aligns with the requirements of the ISO standard. In this stage, an ISO auditor will review changes made to an organization during the initial certification audit. They need to identify the possibilities of non-conformities. These non-conformities are divided into two subparts that are minor and major non-conformities. The applicant should solve these non-conformities through training, technique, and following some exclusive improvement plans to meet relevant quality standards recommended by the organization.

Final Audit:

Stage 2 if the audit is the Final Audit. In this stage, ISO auditors will conduct a final audit after an organization has implemented the required changes to comply with the ISO standard. The auditor will ensure all non-conformities are eliminated according to ISO quality standards. When the changes are done, the auditor will prepare the final ISO audit report and submit it to the registrar. In most cases, the final audit starts with an open meeting and concludes with the closing meeting.

Getting an ISO Certificate

Based on the final audit report, the ISO registrar determines whether the company will get ISO certification or not. If the audit report is perfect, they will get the certificate and it the report is negative, they will not get the ISO certificate.

Surveillance Audits

The ISO registrar conducts surveillance audits to verify whether the organization meets ISO quality standards or not after getting an ISO certificate. This audit can be performed periodically to check the promised standards of the company.

ISO Certification Cost

There is no fixed cost in getting an ISO certificate and it varies from organization to organization. The ISO registration fees depend on various factors including the applying standards as well. The cost of ISO certification is determined by the ISO certification agency for each organization.

The factors determining the ISO certification cost are:

  • List of employees
  • Numbers of processes and its complexities
  • Level of Associated risk
  • International quality standards
  • Quality management system
  • Location
  • Company’s Size and so on.

However, an IAF ISO registration charges higher than IAF compliance (Non-IAF) ISO registration.

The Duration of the ISO Certification Process

The approximate time taken to complete the ISO certification process is as follows:

  • Small organizations take around 6-8 months to complete the ISO registration process
  • A medium organization takes about 8-12 months to complete the process of ISO registration
  • A large organization takes the duration of 12-15 months for the ISO certification process

Documents Required for ISO Registration Certificate

The required document copies are:

  • A copy of Aadhaar card
  • A copy of PAN card
  • Incorporation Certificate Or Memorandum of Association for a company
  • Address and identity proof (residential and business)
  • Copy of sale agreement (for owned property) or a rental agreement (for rented premises)
  • Utility bills
  • Passport Size photographs

How to download ISO registration Certificate?

If you apply through any authentic portal of the ISO certification body you can download the ISO certificate there. Usually, they issue a physical certificate and send it through an authentic courier service.

Benefits of ISO registration

  1. Credibility

ISO Certification helps organizations build Credibility for businesses to meet international standards. It helps to maintain recognized quality standards, consistency, and reliability for international clients in an organization. A business will achieve recognition, and trust among others.

  1. Improve Quality management

It helps to improve the quality management of a company through a quality management system. ISO certification will be helpful for maintaining and establishing a Quality Management System (QMS) to meet international standards. It results in quality control, increasing operational efficiency, and improve process management across the Organization.

  1. Increased customer satisfaction

ISO certification represents the high standards and customer satisfaction of a company. It will be helpful to encourage loyal customers and increase customer acquisition. ISO certification serves as a powerful tool that helps the company to differentiate itself from its competitors. It also helps to establish a strong reputation for reliability and quality in the market.

  1. Improved risk management

ISO certification encourages businesses to identify and maintain potential risks across their operations. The process of risk management is associated with identifying, assessing, and analyzing various risks within the organization. It will be helpful for businesses to take action against potential risks to improve risk management and increase resilience.

  1. Access to new markets

Many businesses specifically those with stringent quality or safety standards require ISO certification for doing business. ISO certification will be helpful for companies to access new markets and expand their customer base by determining a commitment to maintain recognized quality standards. It helps to build consumer trust and brings new business opportunities in various regions.

  1. Improved processes and efficiency

ISO certification involves a comprehensive review of a business’s procedures and processes. It will be helpful for identifying weak areas that need improvement and increasing efficiency. If a business achieves ISO certification, it complies with the requirements of ISO standards for their business.

  1. Cost Savings

A company achieves ISO certification by its process improvement and operational efficiency. It will be helpful for businesses to bring cost savings through encouraging process improvement for weak areas and leads to improved productivity.

Conclusion

ISO contributes standards including quality, efficiency, safety, etc. of products and services provided by businesses. It guides a company to focus on quality, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Throughout the context, you learned “What is ISO Registration??” its process, documentations and all. If you have any queries and need assistance about it, contact Online Legal India. They have experts to guide you with every information and help file for ISO registration certificate for business.


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