No — non-conformities are a normal part of the process. You will receive a clear corrective action plan and support to close them out.

Each audit begins with an opening meeting, followed by evidence gathering against the standard, and closes with a findings review.

An independent panel of industry experts outside the audit team reviews any complaint or conflict of interest to keep decisions fair.

Fees depend on your standard, organisation size, number of sites and complexity of scope. Tell us a little about your organisation via our quick quote form and we’ll return a fixed-price proposal — no obligation.

No. As an accredited certification body, RBA Registrars cannot provide consultancy on the same management system we certify — this is a strict requirement of ISO/IEC 17021-1 and our own Impartiality Policy, which protects the independence of your certificate. We can, however, point you to independent consultants or training that will not conflict with our certification of you.

Usually yes. We’ll ask for your current valid certificate and any available audit history, and where records are missing we can run a short assessment to confirm your management system is ready to transfer. Start a transfer enquiry via our transfer form.

For each non-conformity, you’ll submit root cause analysis, the corrective action taken (or planned), and evidence of implementation, within the timeframe agreed with your auditor. Our team reviews and closes out each CAR before certification is confirmed or maintained.

A short reschedule is usually possible if you contact us with reasonable notice — but certification and surveillance audits are bound by fixed windows under accreditation rules, so repeated delays can put your certificate at risk. Get in touch as early as possible if you need to reschedule.

Yes. Certification is maintained through annual surveillance audits, with full recertification every three years, to confirm your management system continues to meet the standard.

Typically: a Stage 1 and Stage 2 audit for initial certification, annual surveillance audits in years one and two, and a full recertification audit in year three — then the cycle repeats. Frequency can increase for larger or multi-site scopes.