What is ISO 9001:2015?

ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Its implementation in organizations help in demonstrating the company’s ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.

ISO 9001 was first published in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an international agency composed of the national standards bodies of more than 160 countries.

The current version of ISO 9001 was released in September 2015.

Organizations of all types and sizes can follow this standard. The standard adopts process approach and this enables organizations to enhance the overall performance of the processes and also continually improve on the processes.

Benefits

• Costs are reduced
• With its monitoring characteristic, helps in continuous improvement
• Management has a efficient process in place to deal with.
• Structured assignment of responsibility across the organisation
• Enhance customer satisfaction
• Certification is compulsory to apply for tenders in few public sector work
• Processes become more efficient and time saving ones
• With certification in hand, marketing opportunities increase

How to Apply?

ACM staff, Auditors(external/Internal)

• Experts are prohibited from engaging in consultancy activities or any other form which may harm impartiality issue.
• ACM does not outsource audits to management system consultancy organization or any other organization ,neither it is involved in any form of management system consultancy
• ACM Impartial and Committee shall safeguard the impartiality of the activities of ACM and shall assist in developing the policies relating to impartiality of ACM certification activities
• Counteract any tendency on the part of ACM to allow commercial or other considerations to prevent the consistent objective provision of certification activities
• Advise on matters affecting confidence in certification, including openness and public perception and Conduct a review, at least once annually, of the impartiality of the audit, certification and decision making processes of the certification body. Other tasks or duties may be assigned to the committee provided these additional tasks or duties do not compromise its essential role of ensuring impartiality.

What is Suspension / Withdrawal of Certificate?

• ACM has the authority to suspend certification in cases where on reviewing the audit reports and subsequent verification, he arrives to a conclusion that the:-
  • Client's certified management system has persistently or seriously failed to meet certification requirements, including requirements for the effectiveness of the management system in the surveillance audits
  • The certified client does not allow surveillance or recertification audits to be conducted at the required frequencies as mentioned in the agreement
  • The certified client has voluntarily requested a suspension in writing to ACM.
• Under suspension, the client's management system certification becomes temporarily invalid. ACM ensures through enforceable arrangements with its client that in the period of the suspension the client cannot use or promote the certification. The suspension shall be communicated to the client and the suspension status of the client shall be updated in the client directory maintained and on the website of ACM. It shall be communicated by sending a notice to the client that in case the suspension is not revoked or issue not resolved within 6 months time from the date of suspension then the certificate shall be withdrawal/cancelled or scope shall be reduced or certificate shall be cancelled.
• Upon verification of audit reports and subsequent on-site verification, the ACM may reduce the client's scope of certification to exclude the parts not meeting the requirements, when the client has persistently or seriously failed to meet the certification requirements for those parts of the scope of certification. ACM ensures the reduction shall be in the line with the requirements of the standards used for certification.
• ACM ensures that there is an enforceable agreement signed by client with the certified client concerning conditions of withdrawal ensuring upon notice of certification that the client discontinues its use of all advertising matter that contains any reference to a certified status as per agreement.
• ACM ensure that the correct status of the client i.e suspended, reduced, withdrawal or cancelled shall be updated on website.

How to Appeal or Complaint?

Appeal Process

• Any aggrieved party can file the appeal within 30 days against the decision of ACM by giving a notice in written or by mail to ACM.
• ACM shall acknowledge the receipt of the appeal and the same shall be entered in the appeal register.
• ACM shall gather and verify all necessary information to validate appeal.
• The appeal shall be forwarded to the ACM appeal panel for investigation.
• The appeal panel can ask the information from the aggrieved party and from ACM and both of the parties are bound to furnish the information within time limit as provided by the Appeal panel.
• ACM will provide the information to the appellant about the progress.
• ACM also provide the formal notice to the appellant that appeal panel decision and appeal handling process is completed.
• The whole process of appeal shall be finished with 60 days of the filing the appeal. In case delay then ACM shall justify the delay.

What are Logo rules?

Rules and Regulations For Use Of Certification & Accreditation Mark

• Use Of ACM Management System Mark, Logos And Symbols
  • Use of the symbols on stationary or other media.
    • Shall not be used by a certified client, unless the use relates in whole or in part to certification endorsed by ACM.

    Note: Clients where ACM has certified subsidiaries, divisions, departments or offices of a company and not the company as a whole is most affected by this requirement. Clients must exercise care in the use of certification logo and marks to ensure no misrepresentation of scope for which certification is granted

  • The symbol shall not be used on a product, packing, packaging, laboratory test, calibration or inspection reports or certificates or tests reports from test or in any way that may be interpreted to denote product conformity
  • Use of certification marks to indicate that a product has been made under a certified quality management system
  • The Mark may only be reproduced in a single color which is unlimited, but where practical should conform to existing preprinted stationery, brochures, letterheads or other promotional materials of the Company
  • Client can use any statement on product packaging material that client has certified management system. The statement shall in no way imply that the product, process or service is certified anyway. The statement shall include :
    • Identification like brand name of the Client
    • The type of management system certified
    • The name of ACM which is issuing the certificate
  • The Client company can use the logo in the same color combination as specified or in any single
• Use of NABCB Marks, Logos And Symbols
  • NABCB logo can be use only when the client's SCOPE is covered under NABCB accreditation of ACM.
  • The logo shall not be used in any way that it misleads the reader about the accredited status of the certification body or the certified body.
  • The accreditation body's logo shall not be used on the packaging of a product, labels, publicity material, and written announcements etc, that in any way suggest that the accreditation body has certified or approved any product, process or service of the certified body or in any other misleading manner.
  • The logo shall not be displayed on vehicles except in publicity material like part of a large advertisement.
  • The logo shall not be displayed on buildings and flags.
  • The logo shall not be used on the visiting cards
• Discontinuation Of The ACM Certification Logo And / Or NABCB Accreditation Logo
  • A client certified by ACM shall discontinue the use of the ACM certification logo and / or NABCB accreditation mark immediately when any of the following conditions exist:
  • A lapse of certification, suspension or withdrawn;
  • The client has made a change to his Quality System which has not been accepted by ACM, and which could reasonably be expected to affect the client's qualification for certification;
  • The client has failed to implement a change to the system requirements issued by ACM;
  • Any other circumstances, which arise, which could reasonably be expected to adversely affect the client's Quality System certified by ACM, as identified in the contract agreement.
• Misuse And Penalty
  • Misuse of ACM certification logo and / or NABCB accreditation mark would lead to corrective action, withdrawal of certification, publication of the transgression and, if necessary, other legal action.
• STAGE 2 AUDIT PROCESS
  The stage 2 audit shall take place at the site(s) of the client. At the end of the stage 1 audit, the Team leader shall prepare an audit plan (Refer ACMF 10) for stage 2 and discuss with the client regarding the time frame of closing of non-conformities and area of the concern, if any
  • Stage 2 audit shall include at least the following:
    a) Information and evidence about conformity to all requirements of the applicable management system standard or other normative document
    b) Performance monitoring, measuring, reporting and reviewing against key, performance objectives and targets (consistent with the expectations in the applicable management system standard or other normative document).
    c) The client's management system and performance as regards to meeting of the applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements.
    d) Operational control the client's processes.
    e) Internal auditing and management review
    f) Management commitment and responsibility for the client's policies.
  • The audit team shall gather the audit evidences during the initial audit i.e. stage 1 and 2 and analyse and review the audit findings and agree on the audit conclusions.
  • The audit team shall provide the following information to ACM for the certification decision
    a) the audit reports of stage 1 and stage 2,
    b) Non conformities raised with comments and correction and corrective action taken by client, if any
    c) confirmation of the information provided to the ACM used in the application review and
    d) A recommendation whether or not to grant certification, together with any conditions or observations.
  • ACM shall make the certification decision on the basis of an evaluation of theaudit findings and conclusions and any other relevant information (e.g. public information, comments on theaudit report from the client).
• SURVEILLANCE AUDIT
  • Surveillance audit shall be conducted once in every calendar year. The ACM shall ask the client organization to provide the updated data before planning of the surveillance audit. First and second Surveillance audit shall be perform with in 12 and 24 months respectively from the date of certification decision. Therefore the surveillance audit shall be identified 1 month prior to the due date. The client shall be communicated through a Notice of Surveillance (ACMF44) about the due date and proposed date of Surveillance audit. CM/SM shall monitor the effectiveness of Surveillance audits on monthly basis. If the client does not confirm the Surveillance Audit on due date then a Notice of suspension (ACMF45) shall be served to the client company. In case client doesn't response then after 15 days letter of suspension (ACMF46) is send to client.Suspension shall be valid for the next 3 months. After lapsing of the Suspension period the Notice of Withdrawn (ACMF47) shall be issued to client. In case there is still no response from client or client is not complying with the certification terms and conditions, the Letter of Withdrawn shall be issued (Refer ACMF48) and the name of the client shall be removed from the Client Directory. Any valid justification provided by the client for the postponement of the audit can be considered and shall be recorded which has to be approved by CM/SM and shall be communicated to the client.
  • Surveillance audits shall be on-site audits, but are not necessarily full system audits and the ACM shall plan the surveillance activities together with the other surveillance activities in such a way that representative areas and functions covered by the scope of the management system are monitored on a regular basis, and take into account changes to its certified client and its management system and assessing and creating the confidence the certified client's managementsystem's fulfillment of specified requirements with respect to the standard to which the certification is granted between recertification audits.
  • Other Surveillance Activities includes
    a) enquiries from the ACM to the certified client on aspects of certification,
    b) reviewing of the promotional material, websites, letter head etc of any client's statements with respect to its operations,
    c) requests to the client to provide documents and records in any medium whether on paper or electronic media), and
    d) other means of monitoring the certified client's performance
  • The surveillance audit is to ensure following:
    a) Internal audits and management review
    b) A review of actions taken on nonconformities identified during the previous audit
    c) Complaint Handling
    d) Effectiveness of the management system with regard to achieving the objectives and intended result of applicable management system.
    e) Progress of planned activities aimed at continual improvement
    f) Continuing operational control
    g) Review of any changes
    h) Use of ACM and NABCB Logo
    i) Verify the OHS for the respective objectives and targets
    j) Hazard Identification & Assessment Controls
    k) Compliance towards Legal & Other requirement including customer requirements
• RE-CERTIFICATION AUDIT
  • Re-Certification Audit Notice (ACMF49) shall be communicated to the client before the 90 days of the expiry of thecertification. Recertification audit shall be planned and completed before the expiration of the certificate. The ACM shall ask the client organization to provide the updated data before planning of the recertification audit. The recertification audit shall be conducted onsite and shall be planned to evaluate the continued fulfillment of all of the requirements of the relevant management system standard or other normative document.
  • During the Recertification if any nonconformity or lack of evidence of conformity are identified then correction and corrective action shall be implemented within 30 days of the recertification audit or before the date of expiry of certification whichever is earlier.
  • ACM shall take decisions on renewing certification based on the results of the recertification audit, as well as the results of the review of the system over the period of recent certification cycle and complaints received from party interested in certification.
  • In case of the major non conformity found during the recertification audit the correction and corrective action shallbe taken with 60 days but before the expiration of the certification. The expiry date of new certification shall be based on expiry date of existing certification. The issue date on new certificate shall be on or after the recertification decision. In case the ACM has not completed the recertification audit or the ACM is unable to verify the implementation of the correction and corrective action for any major non conformities prior to the expiry date of the certification, then recertification shall not be recommended and the validity of the certification shall not be extended. The client organization shall be informed and the consequences shall be explained.
  • After the expiration of the certification the ACM can restore the certification within 6 months subject to the outstanding certification activities are completed otherwise atleast the stage 2 shall be conducted.
  • The effective date on the certificate shall be on or after the recertification decision and expiry date shall be on the basis on the previous certification cycle
  • Recertification shall include the following
    a) The performance of the management system over theperiod of certification, and include the review of previous surveillance audit reports.
    b) Stage 1 audit shall be conducted in the Recertification audit in the situation when there are significant changes to the client, management system, changes in the legislation or the context in which the management system operating.
    c) In case of multisite or Integrated Management system the planning of the audit shall ensure adequate onsite coverage to provide a confidence in the certification.
    d) the effectiveness of the management system in its entirety in the light of internal and external changes and its continued relevance and applicability to the scope of certification;
    e) Commitment to maintain the effectiveness and improvement of the management system in order to enhance overall performance.
    f) the effectiveness of the management system with regard to the achieving the certified client objectives and the intended results of the respective management systemdemonstrated
    g) Compliance towards Legal & Other requirement including customer requirements
    h) The nonconformities that are found to exist at previous surveillance and reassessment audited effectively corrected within a time agreed by the ACM and the client organization. In case correction is not made within the time agreed then Has ACM reduced the scope of certification or the certificate suspended or withdrawn.
• EXPANDING OF SCOPE
  • ACM shall expand the scope as getting the application for expanding the scope of a certification already granted. After getting the application, ACM shall plan a full audit or Limited audit. The audit can be in the conjugation with the surveillance audit. After the result of the audit the ACM shall take the decision that the scope can be extended or not. In case of refusal of the extension of scope the full reason shall be intimated to the client organization.
• SHORT NOTICE AUDIT
  • The CM can conduct an audit on short notice or unannounced audit (Refer ACMF50) to verify handling of customer's complaints, important modification within the organization or any reason leading to withdrawal or suspension of the certificate
  • The CM, based on the nature of complaint, shall take decision on the time frame within which the audit is to be conducted. In case of Short Notice Audit because of Customer Complaint, the audit team shall not disclose the name of the complainant.
  • The CM shall assign an auditor to perform the short notice audit and informs the organization about the identity of the auditor. The organization may refuse the appointed auditor and request once for a substitute. After the audit, the auditor shall report about the results of his investigation and shall make his recommendation to the CM.