Quality and Environmental Management to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
Management systems that reach daily operation – built from your own processes, not from a template.
Certificate on the wall, daily practice unchanged
Many management systems are set up as a project alongside the business. At the end there is a manual that meets the requirements of the standard but has little to do with the actual processes. It is brought out for the audit and filed away again afterwards.
That costs twice over: once in the implementation, and then every year again, when the documentation has to be adjusted to a reality it never described. And it achieves nothing – neither better quality nor fewer errors.
A system that grows out of the processes already in place takes more effort at the start. After that it runs along with them.
Why our systems reach daily operation
Systems that work in daily operation
We describe how you work and add what the standard additionally requires. Not the other way round.
Out of facility services itself
Cleaning and security businesses have their own concerns: sites spread across locations, changing staff, evidence of performance for the customer. We know them from practice.
Prepared for the certification assessment
We know what auditors look at and where systems regularly attract attention. That goes into the design, instead of becoming an issue at the audit.
What we take on when building the system
It always starts with the baseline survey, because most businesses have more in place than they have written down. What follows depends on the goal: anyone heading for certification needs the full framework. Anyone who first wants order in their processes starts with the process documentation and decides later.
Baseline survey
What is already in place? Many businesses have more in order than they have documented. We record the current state and show the gap to the standard.
Process documentation
A description of the actual processes in a form that stays readable in the business – not in the language of the standard.
Implementing ISO 9001
Building the quality management system: processes, performance indicators, responsibilities, document control, internal audits.
Implementing ISO 14001
Building the environmental management system: environmental aspects, compliance obligations, objectives and programmes, emergency preparedness.
Preparing for certification
An internal check before the external audit: where the system stands, which evidence is missing, what has to be done by when.
Maintenance and improvement
Support in ongoing operation – internal audits, management review, adjustment to changes in the company.
Once the system is in place
A management system lives on maintenance. On request we take on the internal audits, support the management review and qualify your own auditors – so that the system grows with your company instead of trailing behind it.
Certification to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
Certification to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 is carried out by the Institut für Fortbildung und Zertifizierung im Gebäudereiniger-Handwerk (IFZG), the training and certification institute of the German building cleaning trade – a certification body working to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17021 and active on the market since 2018. Advisory work and certification are organisationally separate; the impartiality of the certification body is unaffected.
To the IFZGThe questions we are asked most often
What does implementing a management system cost?
The effort depends above all on how much is already regulated and documented. A business with processes that have grown up but were never written down needs more description than new development. In an initial consultation we give a concrete estimate after a short baseline survey.
How long does implementation take?
Six to twelve months to certification readiness is realistic – for a smaller business, nearer the lower end. The limiting factor is rarely the advisory work, but the time available in the business for coordination and implementation.
What is examined in an audit?
Whether the system as described meets the requirements of the standard, and whether it is actually lived. The second part is the decisive one: auditors talk to employees, look at evidence and check on site. A system that exists only on paper shows up in the process.
Is it worthwhile for smaller businesses?
That depends on the market. If clients require a certificate in tenders, the question is answered. Independently of that, implementation usually means that processes are described in an ordered way for the first time – which has the greater effect precisely in smaller businesses, where much runs on word of mouth.
What is the difference between ISO 9001 and ISO 14001?
ISO 9001 governs the quality of service delivery: processes, performance indicators, responsibilities, the handling of complaints. ISO 14001 governs how a company deals with the environmental impact of its own activity: environmental aspects, compliance obligations, objectives, emergency preparedness. In building cleaning that concerns above all chemicals, water, packaging, journeys and waste disposal. Both standards can be implemented separately and later combined into one system – the structure is designed for it.
You want a system that works in daily operation.
In an initial consultation we clarify what is already in place and which route to certification readiness is realistic. Free of charge and without obligation.
Request consultation