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ISO Standards are the documentation that underlies the implementation of a Management System, detailing the conditions and specifications required to implement a fully functional and documented system.

Each international standard covers a specific topic and with over 22,000 standards and related documents, there’s at least one for almost every industry – from food production to manufacturing, healthcare to customer service.

Read more about ISO and ISO Standards in our guide: “Everything you need to know about ISO Management Systems“.

ISO and BS standards are formatted in a series of clauses covering each of the important parts of the standard.

Standards introduced or updated after 2015 follow a specific structure named Annex SL. This structure keeps the clauses however the naming of these clauses and their contents are consistent throughout all the standards where possible.

Read more about Annex SL in our guide.

If you’ve thought of a topic, there is probably an ISO or BS standard that covers it. From quality to market research, information security to health & safety, environment to business continuity, there are so many topics to choose from.

Each standard has it’s own unique number so that it can easily be identified, for example, ISO 9001 is the Quality standard.

Find out which Standards we can help you implement by visiting our ISO/BS Standards page.

To quote the ISO themselves, “accreditation is not compulsory” so why should you get your management system certified?

Businesses with certification appear more credible to their clients and business partners as it shows that they have demonstrated an internationally recognised level of operation. Certification can also provide a competitive advantage for businesses who are looking to win tenders.

Read more in our guide to accreditation.

Depending on your needs, you may need to seek out UKAS accredited certification, but it is not compulsory. In fact, certification itself is not compulsory, though the ISO do recommend it as it shows confirmation of competence.

You should check the requirements for why you are seeking certification. For example, UKAS certification may be the only type of certification accepted by a certain company that you wish to work with.

Read more in our guide to accreditation.

The Certification Cycle is how your ongoing compliance against a set standard (for example, ISO 9001) is carried out. To achieve this, a series of audits are carried out over a 3-year period.

The cycle begins with a Re-certification Audit, a year after a business has received their certificate. This is followed by 2 Surveillance Audits.

At the end of the 3-year Certification Cycle the process will repeat for as long as a company is certified by QMS.

Read more in our guide to the Certification Cycle.

An audit is a tool used to determine if a process or function is fit for purpose. Audits compare what is happening against what should happen to determine if a process or task still meets its aims and goals.

There are a number of different types of audit which can be broadly categorised as:

• Internal Audits / First Party Audits
• Supplier Audits / Second Party Audits
• External Audits / Third Party Audits

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

Firstly, try not to panic. There are very few occasions when failing an audit brings disaster and it is quite typical for businesses to experience a failed audit at some point, particularly when they’re first getting started.

It is difficult to provide specific guidance as an audit can fail for many reasons, many of which will be specific to your business.

The best advice is to read through the report that your auditor will have created for you – it will explain why they failed you and which areas need rectifying first.

Read more about what to do in our detailed guide “What do I do if I’ve failed my ISO audit?“.

Internal Audits are performed by a business on their own systems as part of the maintenance of their Management System. These types of Audit look at individual systems and processes, looking to confirm that these areas are still fit for purpose.

It is possible for a third party to visit and carry out Internal Audits on behalf of a business.

Read more about internal audits in our Management System Audits guide.

A Supplier Audit is performed on the systems and processes of any suppliers or contractors that an organisation works with. This type of Audit looks at how the suppliers are working to determine if they are doing what they say they are.

Although usually Supplier Audits are carried out by the business, it is acceptable for a third party to visit and carry out these audits on their behalf.

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

External Audits are performed by a third party such as QMS. They look at the Management System, either in part through random sampling or as a whole, in order to confirm that it meets the requirements of the ISO Standard.

To ensure impartiality, this type of audit must be performed by a third party.

Mostly when businesses refer to external audits they are talking about the ISO Certification audit, but there are many types of external audit that can be performed.

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

A Recertification Audit is performed at the start of a certification cycle. Its purpose is to ensure that a business has been maintaining its Management System correctly and that all documented procedures comply with the ISO Standard.

This type of audit is in-depth and will look at all documented processes.

Businesses looking to maintain their certification must sit Recertification Audit as it is a requirement that certified bodies such as QMS ensure the ongoing compliance of a certified organisation against strict guidelines.

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

A Certification or Stage 2 Audit is an in-depth look at a Management System, the purpose of which is to assess whether the business has put in place all of the processes and procedures that they need to meet the requirements of their chosen ISO Standard.

Following the success of this type of audit, and the confirmation of its results, certification is awarded.

This type of audit only happens once for each Standard a business is certified to. After this, the certification cycle begins.

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

A Surveillance Audit is an onsite periodic review, usually performed once a year, of an organisation’s Management System.

This audit forms an important part of the certification cycle, ensuring that the certified business maintains compliance with the requirements of the Standard – confirmed by their Recertification Audit at the beginning of the next cycle.

Typically a Surveillance Audit focuses on a few sections of the Management System, aiming to cover the entire Management System by the end of the certification cycle.

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

A Remote Audit is an off-site Surveillance Audit – a periodic review of an organisation’s Management System, usually performed once a year. The audit is conducted using email and other resources to view and audit the necessary documentation.

As with the on-site version, a Remote Audit focuses on a few sections of the Management System, acting as one part of a plan to cover the entire Management System by the end of the certification cycle.

This type of audit isn’t appropriate for all businesses but for those who qualify it can be a more convenient option than an on-site Surveillance Audit.

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

Businesses who have a Management System, but no agreement for on-going audit support, may wish to confirm that their system is compliant with ISO Standards.

This is where the Compliance Audit comes in. This in-depth check of a Management System compares it against the ISO Standard, ensuring that it meets all of the requirements.

This type of audit isn’t appropriate for all businesses but for those who already have their Management System prepared, and the correct processes in place, it can be a convenient and affordable option.

Read more in our Management System Audits guide.

Atlas is an ISO Management System portal designed to help you implement, manage and stay compliant with ISO Standards.

Its features include:

• Task Management – helping you to set, allocate and manage tasks for all users
• User Management – enabling you to create users and set user permissions
• Remote Access – as it’s cloud-based, Atlas can be accessed, securely, from any location
• Appointment Information – providing you with live appointment information, 24/7
• Reporting Dashboards – providing an overview of compliance and progress in seconds
• Improved Template Suite – customisable templates that can be edited online

There are a number of templates available in Atlas ‘Client template library’ section. This can be accessed by using the main ‘burger‘ menu.

Location: Home > Client template library

Choose the ‘ISO template library’ tab to view the available templates.

Badges can be found within the ‘Badges‘ section. This can be accessed by using the main ‘burger‘ menu.

Location: Home > Badges

For each of your certified standards a badge will be displayed.

There are two styles, one in white and the other in grey.

If you prefer, you can download the images themselves to place on your website or within your email signature.

Otherwise, we have provided code that you will be able to paste in to your website (the person in charge of your website will be able to help with this).

Print-ready versions (.eps/vector) of the certification badges are available from the Citation ISO Certification Enquiries team. Please email them at [email protected].

Your certificate will be available in the ‘Documents‘ section of the Atlas Platform as soon as the Certification Audit has been approved by Citation ISO Certification.

To download your certificate, navigate to the ‘Documents‘ section by using the main ‘burger‘ menu.

Location: Home > Documents

From here, go to the ‘company documents‘ section, choose the relevant ISO folder, and then click on ‘Certificates‘.

To download your certificate, click the three dot ‘actions‘ button to the right of your certificate and choose ‘download‘.

If you are looking for support with Atlas, there is a wealth of information within the platform itself. Simply click on the Need Help? button located in the top-right of the screen.

If you have encountered an issue, use the Feedback button located in the bottom-left corner of the screen. You’ll be asked to describe your issue, and you can use the tools to write on your screen if there is a particular area that you want to highlight.

Alternatively, please contact a member of our team at [email protected].

Your Management System can be found within the ‘Processes’ section of Atlas. This can be found by using the main ‘burger‘ menu.

Location: Home > Processes

To view the content within the ‘Processes’ section, you must select the process category you are interested in viewing, be it ‘Core’, ’Support’ or ‘Management’.