How Much Does ISO 9001 Certification Cost?

Do you want to gain ISO 9001 certification for your organization? Is the ISO 9001 certification cost holding you from jumping into the process? Then, this blog is for you!

Although the cost of ISO 9001 certification can be high, multiple factors play a central role in influencing it. Fortunately, most of those influential factors are in your control.

In today’s blog, we will evaluate those factors and give you ballpark figures for ISO 9001 QMS certification cost.

So, let’s get started!

What Factors Influence the ISO 9001 Certification Cost?

Predicting ISO 9001 certification costs can be difficult because it largely depends on the size of your organization and the scope of the QMS. Also, it can increase or decrease based on the assistance you hire for the certification.

Here are the most critical factors influencing the cost of ISO 9001 registration.

• Your location: The cost of the certification process can go up or down based on the location of your organization. For instance, the registration cost of ISO 9001 can range between $2,000 and $4,000 in the US, while it can increase in other countries.

• Size and complexity of your organization: Similarly, if you have a larger workforce, operations across multiple locations, or a relatively complex quality management system, it may cost you more to achieve ISO 9001 certification.

• Hiring consultants: Consultants can essentially help speed up the QMS development, analysis, documentation, and improvement process. However, hiring them will surely increase the cost of the entire process. The expenses of hiring multiple experienced consultants can double your ISO 9001 certification cost.

• The volume of ISO documentation: ISO 9001 requires organizations to create, maintain, modify, and review documentation related to the QMS. The more documents your auditors will review, the more they may charge.

How To Keep Your ISO 9001 Certification Cost Within Budget?

ISO 9001 certification is an investment. And it ultimately depends on you how you want to implement the standard and influence its cost.

Here are a few easy ways to keep the ISO 13485 9001 cost within your expected budget.

• DIY the implementation process: If you have a competent in-office team and dedicated managers, you may not need assistance from professional ISO consultants. Alternatively, you can utilize software or hire consultants who allow you to customize their service packages. This way, you can pick and choose what you need help with and pay for that service only.

• Utilize training programs and documentation templates: Providing training to employees and documenting hundreds of processes can seem overwhelming. Luckily, there are lots of consultants and websites that offer affordable training programs and documentation templates to help you out. This way, you don’t have to spend additional expenses on consultants.

• Gap analysis: Carrying out a gap analysis will give you a good idea about what you need to do to comply with ISO 9001 certification requirements. It will reduce your chances of having nonconformities, saving money and time.

• Integrated management system: If you have plans to implement multiple management system standards, it’s a clever idea to integrate them together. Since many of the ISO management standards share similar policy and procedure requirements, an integrated management system will save you from the repeated hassle and cost of each system.

The Average ISO 9001 Certification Cost

Giving an accurate estimation of the ISO 9001 certification cost without assessing your QMS is nearly impossible.

Yet, these figures should help you estimate what the bill may look like.

• For small companies (1-25 employees) with no quality system, the consultation cost can be between $1000 and $10000. The cost will increase when you add the expenses involved in the registration audit. However, if your small company already has an established quality management system, the expenses can be lower

For certification audits:

• companies with 1-25 employees, the cost of ISO 9001 certification can be from $2000 to $5000 or more

• For companies with 26 to 100 employees, the ISO 9001 certification cost can increase to roughly $5,000-$11,250.

• If your company has more than 100 to 250 employees, it will raise the certification cost to $11,250-$13,000. These expenses can go up based on the quotation of your hired auditors.

• The cost of ISO 9001 certification can increase even more if you have 251-500 employees. You may expect to pay $15,000 or more for the certification audit.

• Lastly, if your organization has over 1000 employees, you can expect to spend around $18,000 or more.

Multiple locations, multiple shifts, a complex ISO 9001 quality management system, a complex scope and many other factors will add to the cost.

Certification bodies also have different rates. Some may charge twice the rate of another certification body or more.

Don’t Let The Numbers Discourage You!

As mentioned previously, implementing a robust quality management system is an investment. While ISO 9001 certification cost may appear a lot initially, once you start receiving the return on investment, it will be worth it.

Also, you can avoid spending a significant amount of the mentioned budgets by implementing the system yourself. If you have a small company with a few employees, executing a QMS will be relatively easy.

However, although you can compromise on hiring a consultant, you cannot prioritize the budget when hiring third-party auditors. To receive credible certifications, you must employ trusted and certified lead auditors and accredited certification bodies. Otherwise, you may end up with inauthentic ISO 9001 registration, wasting all your time, effort, and money.