How much of our time will this take?

Typically a few hours a fortnight from a decision maker, plus short interviews with process owners. That is the point of this route. It is not zero, and any consultancy that tells you it is zero is describing a system you will not use.

Will the system feel like ours?

That depends on how much you push back during review. We build in review points precisely so you can. Systems that get challenged during drafting end up being used afterwards.

Who owns the documentation?

You do. It is your system, written for your organisation, and it stays with you whether or not you continue to work with us.

What if we want to take it over ourselves later?

That is a normal and healthy outcome. We can run a handover including internal auditor training so your team can maintain and audit the system themselves.

Is this more expensive than an Assisted System Build?

Usually, yes, because more of the work sits with us. Both routes are quoted at a fixed price agreed before work starts, so you can compare the two figures directly. Whether the difference is worth it depends on what a day a week of your own manager's time is worth to you.

Achieve Certification

Full System Build

We build the system. You approve it.

In short

A Full System Build is an outsourced ISO implementation. Equas designs the management system, writes the documentation, delivers the training, runs the pre-certification internal audit and supports you through the certification audit. Your team contributes knowledge and approves the output, but the drafting and project management sit with us.

What a full system build involves

Some organisations simply do not have anyone to spare. The operations manager is running operations, nobody has done this before, and the certificate is needed for a tender that closes in four months.

A Full System Build is designed for exactly that situation. We take responsibility for delivering the system.

In practice that means we spend time with your people to understand how the business genuinely works, then we do the writing. Procedures are drafted off site and brought back for review. New processes are introduced with training so that people know what has changed and why. We run the internal audit that the standard requires before certification, and we are with you at the certification audit itself.

What we cannot do is make the system yours without you. The organisations that get the most out of this route are the ones where a senior person stays close enough to challenge what we produce. A management system written entirely in isolation will pass an audit and then quietly stop being used, which is the worst of both worlds.

Expect to commit a few hours a fortnight from a decision maker, plus short interviews with process owners. That is a very different proposition from a day a week.

Who it is for

Working towards certification

The right route when you have no internal resource to dedicate, when the deadline is tight, or when nobody in the business has implemented a standard before.

Already certified

Also used to rebuild a system that has drifted, or to add a second or third standard without pulling your team off operational work.

What is included

Full documentation set written for you

Policies, procedures, registers and record templates, drafted to fit your organisation.

Process mapping workshops

Short sessions with your process owners so the system reflects how work actually happens.

Dedicated project management

A named consultant, a plan with dates, and somebody chasing the actions.

On-site training and awareness

Delivered to the people who will use the system, not just the person who owns it.

Risk and opportunity assessment

Built with you, because this is the part auditors probe hardest.

Pre-certification internal audit

A full internal audit, which the standard requires before you can be certified.

Certification audit attendance

We are in the room for Stage 1 and Stage 2.

Fixed price, backed by the Equas Guarantee

Agreed before work starts. If your certification audit raises an issue with documentation we prepared, we fix it at no extra cost and cover the return visit.

How it works

1
Discovery
We spend time in the business understanding your processes, your customers and your risks.
2
System design
We design the structure of the system and agree it with you before writing anything.
3
Documentation drafting
We write the documentation off site and bring it back in batches for your review and approval.
4
Implementation and training
New processes go live with supporting training and awareness sessions.
5
Evidence period
The system runs for long enough to generate the records an auditor will want to see.
6
Internal audit and management review
Completed and recorded, ready for the certification body.
7
Certification
Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits with a UKAS-accredited certification body, with us alongside you.