Certification Oceania

Certifiation Process

The Certification Process

At Certification Oceania, we take our Certification process seriously and as such we spend the necessary time to understand the needs and specialised nature of our clients’ management systems and their business activities and operations. Our Certification process follows a simple step-by-step process, as detailed below.

Request for Information and Application Process

Following your enquiry via our website or if you contact us by phone, one of our helpful team will contact you, answer any questions you may have and if you would like a quotation for Certification, ask you to complete a Certification Oceania Application for Certification form, which we will send to you. This will enable us to establish the Scope of your management system and to provide you with an accurate quotation for Certification to the requested ISO Standard/s.

Examples of information requested on the Certification Oceania Application form are:

• your scope of activities and operations (eg, what you do in terms of products and services);

• worker numbers;

• office and site locations to be included on your Certificate/s;

• your chosen ISO Standard/s and whether Design and Development is applicable to your business.

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We then perform a formal review of your application and based on the International Standard for Certification Assessment Bodies ISO 17021 and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) ‘Mandatory Documents’, calculate how much time we are required to allocate to your Certification assessment.

Fee Proposal/Quotation

One of Certification Oceania’s priorities is to provide our clients with the most cost-effective Certification process, while still complying with the International Standard for Certification Assessment Bodies, ISO 17021 and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) ‘Mandatory Documents’. Therefore, following the review of your application, we will provide you with a competitive and compliant quotation, which will ensure the entire Certification process is covered and costed, ensuring we are auditing for exactly the required time, with no “extra expenses” or “extra auditing days” hidden in the fine print.

Initial Certification - Stage 1 Audit

Stage 1 is the initial assessment of your management system documentation, to ensure you have set up Standards compliant processes and procedures which are adequately documented, as required by the relevant ISO Standard/s. At this stage, our auditor will conduct a thorough and professional assessment of your management system, policies and relevant documentation, while also establishing any site or industry specific requirements of which we will need to be aware prior to Stage 2. This step will also establish how ready your organisation is for Stage 2 Certification. This process is often undertaken remotely, via ICT to reduce cost to you and your organisation. As mentioned, Certification Oceania will always seek to find ways to save on the cost of your Certification, without compromising the quality of our audits.

Our qualified and experienced auditors are there to review and assess if your management system processes and procedures are compliant with the relevant ISO Standard/s and we will also review allocation of resources for the Stage 2 Assessment.

Following Stage 1 of the Certification process, you will receive an audit report to identify areas of conformance or nonconformance, and any gaps in conformance will need to be addressed prior to your Stage 2 audit. 

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Initial Certification - Stage 2 Audit

The Stage 2 Audit of your organisations’ management system/s is to ensure you are following the management system/s and its processes, as identified in Stage 1 of your Certification Audit. In simple terms, this is to ensure you are “playing the game by the rules” and following processes documented in Stage 1. This step will cover all requirements of the relevant ISO Standard/s, and review how you have implemented them within your business. Stage 2 is ideally conducted on site, especially for businesses which engage in activities and functions that are considered high risk.

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Following the Stage 2 Audit, a comprehensive Stage 2 Audit Report is provided to you detailing all areas of conformance or nonconformance. If no major nonconformances are identified, our auditor will recommend your organisation for Certification. Please see more details concerning identified nonconformances in Certification Oceania Certification Scheme Conditions at https://www.certificationoceania.com/policies

Following Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits, an independent peer review and assessment of your audit reports is undertaken by Certification Oceania to ensure compliance and implementation of your relevant ISO Standard/s Management System/s. Following this review and the reviewer’s recommendation/s, the Certification Oceania Director will decide whether you have passed, in which case Certificates will be authorised and issued to you or whether there are nonconformities identified that must be rectified prior to approval of your Certification.

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Surveillance Assessments

For the next two years, the audit process is streamlined for you and as such we will only conduct surveillance audits (unless there is a change in your management system Scope, change in ISO Standards, and/or a significant change to your business operations). These Surveillance audits are required to verify continual implementation and compliance of your management system to the relevant ISO Standard/s. The frequency of surveillance audits depends on many factors (such as the size and Scope of the organisation and the number of Certified locations), but typically it will be conducted annually, within 30 days of the anniversary of your initial approval of Certification.

As with every audit conducted by Certification Oceania, an audit report is provided, covering all areas of conformance or nonconformance of your management system. If no major nonconformances are issued, your Certification status will be maintained.

Recertification

Your initial Certificate/s last for three years after the initial Certification, following which Certification Oceania will return to conduct a Re-Certification audit. This is similar to the initial Stage 2 Assessment and includes review of your ongoing compliance against all requirements of the relevant ISO Standard/s.

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Another comprehensive audit report is provided, detailing all areas of conformance or nonconformance. If no major nonconformances are issued, our assessor will recommend continuation of Certification.

Expanding or Reducing your Certification Scope

At any time, as a Certified organisation of Certification Oceania, you may request a change to your Scope of Certification. This can occur for many reasons, including a change in the activities of your organisation, an acquisition of another business or the addition of new business locations.

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As such, Certification Oceania must formally review the changes in Scope for which you have applied, then determine if those changes will have an impact on the planned assessment frequency, assessment duration/s, or if any new assessment activities are required. This review will be conducted in accordance with the IAF ‘Mandatory Documents’ requirements to ensure your organisation is compliant with the relevant ISO Standard/s requirements.