Good to Know
Certification is a specific process that places many requirements on the body that provides certification and the organisation that receives it. These requirements come from many international standards and cannot be ignored. Therefore, it is important that before signing a certification contract you get acquainted with it carefully, as well as with the the Certification Rules of the certification body (they may have another name – "certification criteria", "general terms and conditions", etc.).
International standards for certification of management systems require the customer to pay for the conduct of an audit, not for the issuance of a certificate. It is common practice for the customer to pay annually for each of the audits (initial, surveillance, etc.) and not at once for the three years of validity of the certificate.
Before each audit, the certification body is obliged to coordinate the audit team in advance with the client, and the client may refuse an auditor if they have reasons to believe that the auditor is in a conflict of interest (e.g. works in a competitor company).
Often, a certification body is selected by how quickly it will issue a certificate. It should not be forgotten that the issuance of a certificate (i.e. the provision of certification) is a process that depends on many factors – the client's readiness for certification, the availability of auditors within the specified time frame with the necessary competence, etc.