Stages of Obtaining ISO Certification in Saudi Arabia
Organizations seeking to obtain ISO certification in Saudi Arabia to satisfy their customers who request it to increase their trust in their products. To this end, it has to go through the following stages:
Requesting an ISO certificate in Saudi Arabia
The organization contacts the Industrial and Environmental Services Review Institution (which is the body concerned with granting ISO certificates), which will provide it with the necessary information about the progress of the certification process and submits an inquiry to be filled out by the organization so that it can collect needed information to prepare the certificate and form a team of qualified auditors.
The certificate:
The Industrial and Environmental Services Review Institution grants the organization a certificate with the general conditions it must adhere to. It also informs the organization of the duration and costs of the audit, which are determined according to the organization’s size and the complexity of the methods used to obtain the certificate and the audit standard.
A prior audit of the organization’s quality management system may be conducted to evaluate it and study the difference between it and the conditions of the ISO standard the organization wishes to obtain.
Organizing an initial review: After the organization is granted the certificate and begins implementing its conditions, the Industrial Services Review Institution selects the qualified review team to intervene and carry out its mission. Before that, this team obtains the following documents provided by the organization:
Quality record
- List of operations (or procedures) of the quality management system.
- List of products and services produced according to this system.
Study of the received documents:
The review team studies the documents to ensure that all the specification conditions have been applied. If any shortcomings are discovered, the team prepares a report and submits it to management. In this case, the organization’s management is given 15 days to respond to the report and confirm its will to conduct the review on the agreed date, or if it wishes to postpone it to another date. Here, the Industrial Services Review Institution sets a new date for this study.
Establishing an audit program:
The review officer established an audit program with the participation of officials from the organization.
Implementing the initial review in the organization:
This stage aims to follow up and examine the implementation and effectiveness of the quality management system in the organization, by conducting some discussions with the main officials and executive workers of the quality system by studying the quality documents and making observations.
The review implementation process begins with an opening meeting or forum that provides information and clarifications about the auditors, a summary of the review objective, the methodology used, and the credibility of the review program.
It also ends with a closing meeting in which the review officer presents his observations and conclusions about the quality system and how it applies the conditions included in the specification.
Audit Report:
Two weeks after the audit, the auditor submits a report showing the deviations found, divided into maximum and minimum deviations.
The organization’s response to the deviation report:
The organization must submit a response within three weeks to explain these deviations, establish corrective actions, and specify the implementation date. For maximum deviations, correction and amendment are required quickly.
Certification Committee Decision:
After the corrective actions, the auditors conduct a final audit and submit a final report with the observations and conclusions they have reached to the Industrial Services Audit Institution, where they are studied by the Certification Committee, whose decision may be one of the following:
- Grant the certificate immediately.
- Grant the certificate immediately with a follow-up review.
- Refusal to grant the certificate.
- Supplementary review.
If the certificate is granted, it is formed for three years and registered in the certificate register at the Industrial Services Audit Institution.
Follow-up Review:
To maintain the credibility of the ISO certificate for three years, the Industrial Services Audit Institution maintains follow-up reviews during this period, generally every six months.
Supplementary or additional review:
Based on the organization’s response and interpretation of the deviations, an industrial services audit firm may decide to conduct either:
Supplementary Review: to obtain information or evidence about corrective actions to eliminate the deviations that have been discovered.
Additional review: an industrial services audit firm may decide to conduct another review after obtaining the certificate without conducting follow-up or renewal reviews.
Renewal: At the end of the certificate period, a renewal review must be conducted to issue the new certificate. The purpose of this review is to determine whether the conditions of the certificate are still applied at all times. The renewal review is considered complementary to the previous reviews.
Duration of the ISO certificate
Most ISO certificates are valid for 3 years and are then renewed by the awarding body after an audit.
Guidance for consultation and training
We have the knowledge and experience to qualify institutions and individuals to comply with the requirements of the Saudi Standards, Quality and Environment Organization, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, and other entities that impose legal and mandatory requirements in the Saudi market to achieve quality and the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
To qualify your facility, train its personnel and fulfill the required documents to implement the quality and ISO system