In short
An Assisted System Build is a guided ISO implementation for organisations with an internal resource to lead it. Equas provides the structure, templates, training and expert review, and your own team does the building, with us verifying the work as it progresses and supporting you through certification.
What an Assisted System Build involves
If you have somebody who can own this, an Assisted System Build is usually the better deal. It costs less, and more importantly it leaves the knowledge inside your business rather than inside ours.
The person leading it does not need to be an ISO expert. They need to understand how your organisation works, have credibility with colleagues, and be able to give the project real time, realistically around a day a week for several months.
We provide the framework and the expertise. That means a template system to adapt rather than a blank page, training so your lead knows what the standard is asking for and why, scheduled review points where we check the work and correct course, and answers to questions as they come up rather than at fixed monthly intervals.
The trade you are making is time for money. You will spend more of your own hours and less of your budget, and at the end of it you will have somebody in the business who genuinely understands the system, which makes every subsequent surveillance audit easier.
Where organisations get this wrong is committing to Assisted System Build without protecting the time. If the nominated person keeps getting pulled onto other work, the project stalls and ends up costing more than a Full System Build would have. Be honest with yourself at the start.
Who it is for
Working towards certification
The right route when you have a quality, HSE or operations manager who can commit around a day a week and will own the system afterwards.
Already certified
Also works well for adding a standard to an existing system, where your team already knows the rhythm and only needs the new requirements explained.
What is included
A structured starting point to adapt, rather than a blank page and a copy of the standard.
So the person owning this understands what each clause is asking for and why.
We check the work at agreed stages and correct course before problems compound.
Questions answered when they arise, not saved up for a monthly meeting.
Your team learns to audit the system, which you will need every year afterwards.
An independent check that the system meets the standard before you book the audit.
We are with you for Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Quoted up front and fixed, and backed by the same Equas Guarantee as a Full System Build.
How it works
- 1
Set up and training
Your system lead is trained on the standard and given the template system to work from.
- 2
Adaptation
Your team adapts the templates to fit how your organisation actually operates.
- 3
Review point one
We review the core documentation and give written feedback before you go further.
- 4
Implementation and awareness
New processes go live across the business, with training support from us where needed.
- 5
Review point two
We verify implementation and check the evidence is being generated correctly.
- 6
Internal audit
Your trained internal auditors run the audit, with our oversight if you want it.
- 7
Certification
Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits with a UKAS-accredited certification body.
The most popular standards we support
Equas helps clients achieve UKAS-accredited certification across every ISO standard we cover.
The international standard for quality management systems
The international standard for environmental management systems
The international standard for IT service management
The international standard for business continuity management
The international standard for information security management
The international standard for AI management systems
The international standard for occupational health and safety
The international standard for energy management systems
Quality management for the built environment, built on ISO 9001
The Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
Frequently asked questions
Related services
Implementation Support
Build your management system the right way, at the level of help you need
Full System Build
We build the system. You approve it.
Training
Upskill your team so the system does not depend on one person