When evaluating potential suppliers for your organization, part of your assessment criteria may be that their management system is certified to one or more ISO Management System Standards. If so, you ought to be:

*Requesting that they give you with a copy of their ISO Certificate; and

*Checking that their ISO Certification is valid.

Once you have received the ISO Certificates from your potential supplier, it’s important to also check that they are valid.

There are a couple of ways you can check if an ISO Certificate is valid:
On the International online register (this is new starting at 2020); and additionally
On the Regional online register; and/or
On the Certification Body online register (not generally accessible)

And also keep in mind the following key points during ISO Certification checking process:

The Certification Body: Look for the name of the Accredited Certification Body, i.e. the company issuing the certificate.
International Accreditation Forum (IAF) acknowledgment: Look for the IAF Logo on the certificate – this shows the Accreditation Body is a member of the IAF, giving certainty that the certificate has international recognition. However, note that not all certificates will show the IAF Logo – this can differ from Certifier to Certifier.

The validity of the certificate: Confirm the validity of the Certificate via one or more of the ways described in above.
The expiry date: Is the certificate close to expiry or has it actually expired? Certificates are valid for three years, are dependent upon agreeable surveillance audits.

The extent of certification: Are the whole business operations and all locations certified? The certificate should detail the extent of business operations certified and the locations certified. Sometimes just a small part of the business operations is certified, and maybe not the part you are keen on!

ISO only sets and distributes the international standards but does not offer any certification services. If you want to implement ISO 9001 Certification in Nigeria, you will need assistance from a third-party certification body. Kwalitycert is a prominent provider of ISO Solutions, Consultations, and ISO Certifications in Oman. Our expert consultants can help you obtain ISO Certification in a minimal time and at an affordable price.