Two costs, going to two different places. The certification body charges for the audit. We charge a fixed price for the consultancy that gets you ready for it.
UKAS accredited certification
This is what most tenders and large supply chains mean when they ask for accredited certification. Audit length is set by the accreditation rules and worked out from your staff numbers, sites and risk, so the certification body has a floor it cannot go below.
- From £1,500 for ISO 9001 in a small business
- From £5,000 for ISO 27001, which needs more audit time
- Up to £30,000 for several standards across several sites
Non-accredited certification
An independently audited certificate without accreditation behind it. Costs a lot less, and is perfectly reasonable when nobody is specifically asking for accredited certification. Based on a single audit day:
- £750 for one standard
- £890 for two standards
- £1,030 for three standards
Before you spend anything, read the wording of whatever is driving this. Some tenders name UKAS. Some say accredited without naming a body. Plenty just say certified to ISO 9001 and say nothing about accreditation at all. Our guide to choosing a certification body covers how to tell.
What the consultancy costs
A fixed price, agreed before we start. As a rule of thumb it comes in at about the same as an accredited certification body's fee, so for a small business on ISO 9001 that is around £1,500 to £2,000, or roughly £3,000 all in for the first year.
What moves it: how many staff, how many sites, how many standards, how much of a system already exists, and remote or onsite.
For work that does not suit a package, our day rate is £630. That covers ad-hoc support, a one-off internal audit, a health check on a system you already run, or preparing for a surveillance visit.
Two or three standards together
Much cheaper than doing them separately. The management system underneath is largely shared, so the consultancy is shorter and the audits get combined into one visit. You can see it in the figures above: a second standard adds £140, not another £750.
What the consultancy price includes
- Gap analysis against the standard
- The full documented management system, tailored to how you actually work
- Implementation support
- Support through your internal audit and management review, so your team owns them
- Closing out anything an assessor would otherwise raise
- Help choosing a certification body and arranging the audit
- Our ISO and legal update service, so the system does not go out of date
It does not include the certification body fee, which you pay directly to them, or the surveillance audits in years two and three. Certification runs on a three-year cycle, so budget for the cycle rather than the first year.
How you pay
Fixed price, agreed in writing before any work starts, payable by milestones or monthly instalments. No open-ended day counting and no rolling retainer you have to give notice on. Certification is guaranteed, backed by a 100% success rate.
Frequently asked questions
How much do ISO consultants charge in the UK? Our consultancy is a fixed package rather than a day rate, and typically works out close to what an accredited certification body charges. For a small business on ISO 9001 that is around £1,500 to £2,000.
What does ISO 9001 certification cost for a small business? Around £3,000 in the first year going the accredited route, split about evenly between certification body fees and consultancy. Non-accredited certification starts at £750 for the certificate itself.
What is the difference between UKAS and non-UKAS certification? A UKAS-accredited certificate is issued by a body assessed by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and is recognised internationally. A non-accredited certificate has no accreditation behind it, costs considerably less, and is fine unless a customer or tender specifically requires accreditation.
Why is ISO 27001 more expensive? It needs more audit time than ISO 9001 for a business of the same size, so accredited fees typically start around £5,000 rather than £1,500.
What is your day rate? £630, for ad-hoc work. Full implementations are quoted as a fixed price instead.
What happens if we fail the audit? Certification is guaranteed. Findings at a first audit are normal and get closed out as part of the process.
For a figure specific to your business, tell us your headcount, how many sites you operate from and which standards you need, and we will quote a fixed price.