Certification Costs
The costs incurred in attaining certifications, whether ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001, should really be seen as an investment aimed at increasing business efficiency and potentially reducing costs. The latter can certainly often be achieved under ISO 14001 which is very much about saving resources, and hence costs.

There are usually TWO external cost elements involved in gaining these certifications; the consultant cost and the cost of the external assessment. There are also the generally less well defined costs related to the time and effort expended by the organisation's own people. These may include some training requirements (e.g. Internal Auditing), but this can sometimes be included within the consultancy work. Below are some examples of the costs involved.

Consultancy Costs
These will depend to some degree on what the organisation is able and willing to do itself, but Business Improvement Services will provide the necessary detailed knowledge of the Standard and how its requirements should be applied to a particular organisation, along with continuing guidance right through to certification. The main consultancy work normally comprises the following:

ISO 9001 Consultancy - Generation of the Business (Quality) Systems Manual along with a set of templates and guidance notes.

ISO 14001 Consultancy - Generation of an Aspects Register and list of applicable legislations, plus a set of templates and guidance notes. A "thin" Environmental Systems Manual will also be provided unless combined with ISO 9001 in which case an integrated Quality & Environmental Systems Manual will be provided.

OHSAS 18001 Consultancy - This standard is mostly achieved as an add-on to the two referred to above, or as part of an integrated exercise. An Integrated Systems Manual containing the relevant processes will normally be provided along with a set of guidance notes.

These charges are guidelines only, and will naturally be dependent on a number of factors, such as organisational and environmental complexity, but should provide a good idea of the basic costs.

Assessment and Certification Costs
There are many Certification Bodies that can carry out assessments against ISO 9001 /14001 and OHSAS 180001 and their fees will vary to some degree. It is worth shopping around, not only on price, but also to ensure that the assessor you are dealing with understands your business and your approach. Note that the approach used by BIS is based on using a UKAS accredited Certification Body.

Certification assessment fees may range from around £560 to £650 per day and the number of days spent on the initial assessment is usually a factor of the size of the organisation, its complexity.

A TWO Stage assessment is used for all three Standards and a typical small business with 10 to 20 employees in a single location will be probably looking at 1.5 to 2 days overall for an assessment against one Standard.

Undergoing an assessment against both Standards simultaneously will often save a little on costs as some of the requirements are common to both Standards.

For an immediate estimate of consultancy and certification costs, or to simply ask more questions about implementing ISO 9001, ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001 do call or email without any obligation.

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Brian Mead, Business Improvement Services
5 Little Paddock, Crowborough, East Sussex, TN6 1NY
Tel: +44 (0) 1892 458156
Mobile: +44 (0) 7970 064277
Email: bis@brianmead.com

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