The Cost of ISO 9001 Certification?

Though there are costs incurred in attaining ISO 9001, the exercise should really be used as a means to apply more efficient business practices and lift performance across the organisation with the aim of increasing customer value, revenue and profit. With this approach it should be possible for ISO 9001 to virtually pay for itself. There are THREE basic cost elements to gaining ISO 9001; the external costs of using a consultant, the cost of the external assessment and registration, and the generally less defined costs related to the time and effort expended by the organisation's own people. There may also be some training requirements (e.g. Internal Auditing), but this can sometimes be included within the consultancy work. Below is a breakdown and some examples of these costs.