Certification Cost and Audit Duration

ISO certification cost and audit duration are driven by the same underlying factor: how much audit time your organization needs, calculated in line with IAF MD 5 (determination of audit time). There's no fixed price list — every quotation is scoped to your organization — but the factors below are the same ones behind every quote we issue.

What determines audit duration

• Headcount — the number of people whose work falls within the certification scope, at each certified site
• Number of sites — each site in scope adds audit time, though sampling can apply across multiple similar sites
• Complexity and risk category — the nature of your operations, products or services, and the risk profile of the standard you're certifying to
• Number of standards combined — an integrated audit against more than one standard (e.g. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 together) is calculated under IAF MD 11, not simply added together — see our integrated management system certification page
• Remote vs. on-site delivery — audits can be delivered remotely, on-site, or blended, per IAF MD 4

What determines cost

Certification fees are built from the audit time above (auditor-days for Stage 1, Stage 2, annual surveillance and three-year recertification), plus travel where an audit is delivered on-site rather than remotely. Because audit time is calculated per organization, we quote a fixed fee once we understand your headcount, sites and scope, rather than publishing a generic price list that wouldn't reflect your actual audit time.

Typical timeline vs. audit duration — two different things

"Typically 6–8 weeks from application to certification decision" describes the overall calendar timeline most organizations experience, covering application, Stage 1, any gap-closure time, and Stage 2 — not the number of auditor-days on-site or remote, which is the audit-duration figure calculated under IAF MD 5 for your specific scope.

Request a fixed quote

Use the form on any certification page, or our apply online page, and tell us your standard(s), headcount, number of sites and preferred remote/on-site mix. We'll return a fixed quotation scoped to your organization.

Frequently asked questions

Why can't you just publish a price list? Because audit time — and so cost — depends on your headcount, sites, scope and complexity, a generic price list would either overcharge simple organizations or undercharge complex ones. A scoped quote reflects your actual audit time.

Does combining standards cost less than certifying separately? An integrated audit against more than one standard is typically more efficient than two fully separate audits, because IAF MD 11 allows shared audit time where the management systems overlap — ask for a combined quote to compare.

Does a remote audit cost less? Removing travel time and cost is the main saving; the underlying audit-time calculation under IAF MD 5 is the same whether delivered remotely or on-site.