Request a Quote for Certification from ABCI

I’ll assume you are asking about the cost of a certification audit by an accredited Certification Body (CB, aka Registrar) as opposed to the cost of implementation and the cost of continual operation within the requirements of the ISO system.

Of course, the cost of the audit is mainly driven by the number of full-time and part-time staff members at the location for the audit. IAF’s IAF Mandatory Document for Duration of International Management System Audits provides guidance for the audit duration for Stage 1 and 2. You can use the Annex A for Quality Systems (page 12 of the 2009 edition) as base line for the Stage 1 and 2 Audit Day, which can be downloaded from http://abcisoconsultants.com/iso-resources/download-iso-resources/.

For example, a small job shop with 11 to 15 employees requires 2.5 audit days. Therefore, if your CB charges $1250.00 per day the base cost for initial certification is $3150.00. Of course, the audit day rates varies between certification bodies, plus industry classifications, audit location, number of work shifts among others variables.

Surveillance audits tend to cost about 1/3 of the initial certification and re-certifications tend to cost about 2/3 of the initial certification.

Plus, CBs tend to add-on other cost for maintenance and registration fees, plus other fees that may be necessary for your situation.

Always get three or four quotes and require the CB to provide you an estimate for the travel-time cost and the travel expenses of its auditor(s) for your locations.