ISO certification · consulting, implementation and audit readiness
ISO certification, from the first call to a certificate your customers can trust.
Sterling takes your organisation from the decision to certify to the certificate: the scope, a management system implemented with your people, Effivity software, training, internal audit and certification readiness, then support through the audit itself, conducted by an independent, accredited certification body. Expert and experienced consultants, one all-inclusive proposal, in 60+ countries. We ensure successful certification for our clients.
- Any ISO management system standard, alone or as one integrated system, for one site or many countries
- Fixed scope, one proposal: consulting, Effivity software, Sterling Academy learning and internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, in one proposal
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; an accredited body audits and decides
- A certificate your customers acceptIssued by an accredited certification body, with a scope matched to what your buyers, tenders and regulators need to see.
- A system your people actually runBuilt around the way work happens, trained into the people who do it, not a binder written for the auditor.
- Evidence ready for any auditRecords created as work is done and kept in Effivity, so Stage 1, Stage 2 and every surveillance audit find a live system.
- Software and learning includedEffivity and Sterling Academy come with the engagement at no additional cost, so nothing has to be bought separately to keep the system alive.
Which certification do you need?
Start with the standard your customers ask for. We take it from there.
If a customer, a tender or a regulator has named the standard, that is the scope. If nobody has, Select the Standard™ tells you what your sector expects, and several standards can be certified as one integrated system with one audit programme.
- ISO 9001Quality
- ISO 14001Environment
- ISO 45001Health & safety
- ISO/IEC 27001Information security
- ISO 22000 · FSSC 22000Food safety
- ISO 13485Medical devices
- ISO/IEC 17025Laboratories
- ISO 22301Business continuity
- ISO 50001Energy
- ISO/IEC 20000-1IT service management
- ISO/IEC 27701Privacy
- ISO 37001Anti-bribery
- All standards & frameworksThe full catalogue, with sector schemes
The engagement, step by step
What happens between the first call and the certificate.
Every Sterling certification engagement runs on Sterling OS™, our delivery operating system: five stages, each with named deliverables, decision owners and a weekly working session with your consultant. The indicative timings are for a single-site organisation; multi-site and integrated programmes are planned the same way with a longer calendar.
- 01
Scope and gap analysis
Weeks 1 to 2What happens
We confirm the standard and edition, the activities, sites and headcount, and the customer or tender expectation, then review what exists today against every requirement. Effective practice is kept; the gaps become a plan with owners, dates and resources.
You receive
- Agreed scope of the certificate
- Gap analysis report
- Implementation plan with milestones, owners and the target audit window
- Effivity workspace opened and configured for your scope
Your side
A named project owner, access to process owners and sites, and the decisions on scope.
- 02
Build and implement
Weeks 3 to 12What happens
Processes, policies, controls and records are built with your process owners on Sterling's template sets, in the weekly working session, and put into use as they are agreed. Awareness e-learning starts for your people; practitioner courses for the people who will run the system.
You receive
- The documented management system, tailored to your operation
- Registers that matter for your standard: risks, legal and customer requirements, suppliers, competence, equipment
- Training records with Certificates of Completion from Sterling Academy
Your side
Process owners in the weekly session and the changes put into daily use.
- 03
Operate and collect evidence
From week 8What happens
The system runs long enough to produce the records an auditor will ask for: reviews, inspections, incidents, complaints, supplier evaluations, objectives measured. Your consultant checks the evidence as it accumulates and corrects course early.
You receive
- Evidence dashboards in Effivity, by process and by requirement
- Monthly progress review against the plan
- Internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard
Your side
Doing the work the way the system says, and telling us where it does not fit.
- 04
Internal audit and management review
Weeks 14 to 18What happens
The system is tested before anyone else tests it: a full internal audit, conducted or facilitated as agreed, and a management review that decides things. Findings are raised by us first and closed with evidence.
You receive
- Internal audit programme, checklists and report
- Management review record with decisions and actions
- Corrective actions closed, with the evidence that the fix worked
- Certification body proposals compared, accreditation checked, audit dates booked
Your side
Management in the review, and the audit team on the audit.
- 05
Certification audit
Weeks 16 to 24What happens
The certification body's Stage 1 readiness review, then the Stage 2 audit. We prepare your team for both, attend as agreed and support the response to any findings until the body makes its decision and issues the certificate.
You receive
- Stage 1 preparation and the response to its observations
- Stage 2 audit support and the closure of any nonconformities
- The certificate, on the body's public register, with the scope you agreed
- The Sustain™ calendar for the year ahead: surveillance, internal audits, refreshers
Your side
Your people, doing their jobs as usual, with the auditor watching.
Who does what
Choose how much of the work Sterling carries.
Two delivery models, one method. Design™ gives you the structure, templates, workshops and coaching to implement with your own team. Drive™ has Sterling consultants carry the work with your process owners. The software, the training, the accountability and the all-inclusive proposal are the same in both.
| Task | Design™ guided | Drive™ fully managed |
|---|---|---|
| Scope, gap analysis and implementation plan | Sterling | Sterling |
| Process mapping and documentation | Together your team drafts on Sterling's templates, Sterling reviews | Sterling with your process owners |
| Registers: risks, requirements, suppliers, competence | Your team coached in the weekly session | Sterling populated with your data |
| Effivity configuration and data migration | Sterling | Sterling |
| Awareness and practitioner training | Sterling Academy included | Sterling Academy included |
| Putting the controls into daily use | Your team | Your team Sterling checks the evidence |
| Internal audit | Together your trained auditors, Sterling facilitates | Sterling conducted for you |
| Management review | Your management Sterling prepares the inputs | Your management Sterling prepares and facilitates |
| Certification body selection and audit booking | Together | Together |
| Stage 1 and Stage 2 preparation and findings closure | Sterling | Sterling |
| Certification decision | The independent, accredited certification body never Sterling | |
Not sure which model fits? Most organisations with a quality, HSE or IT lead who can give the programme a few hours a week choose Design™; organisations without that capacity, or with a hard deadline, choose Drive™. The discovery call settles it in ten minutes.
What you receive
Everything a working, certifiable system needs. Nothing to buy separately.
- Scope and gap analysis reportThe scope of the certificate and every shortfall against the standard, with an owner and a date.
- Implementation planMilestones, responsibilities, the weekly session calendar and the target audit window.
- The documented management systemPolicies, processes, procedures, forms and records on Sterling's template sets, tailored to your operation.
- Effivity workspace, configuredDocuments, registers, audits, actions, training records and management review in one place, included at no additional cost.
- Trained peopleAwareness e-learning for everyone, practitioner courses for the people who run the system, internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard, with Certificates of Completion.
- Internal audit and management reviewProgramme, checklists, report, corrective actions closed with evidence, and a management review record with decisions.
- Certification readinessCertification bodies compared and their accreditation checked, Stage 1 and Stage 2 preparation, and support until the certificate is issued.
- The Sustain™ calendarThe year after certification planned: surveillance dates, internal audits, refreshers, new-hire training and any transition to a revised edition.
Effivity · included with the engagement
Your system runs in software from the first workshop.
Effivity is the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant configures it within the agreed scope, so evidence accumulates as people do their work and the certification auditor reviews a live system rather than a binder. Sterling consulting clients get their subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
ISO & GRC softwareSterling Academy · included with the engagement
Your people learn the standard, not just the forms.
E-learning with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online, with progress by department for the certification audit. Sterling consulting clients get preferential course access and special pricing, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
Contact us about Academy accessHow we price
One all-inclusive proposal. Every component visible. No surprises, ever.
Total investment for ISO certification depends on the standard, the current maturity of your processes, the scope, the locations and the number of employees, which is why there is no useful universal price and why a Sterling proposal is built for your organisation. What is fixed is how the proposal works.
- One all-inclusive proposal for Sterling's work, software and learning. Consulting, Effivity and Sterling Academy access in one figure; the fee does not move when the work takes longer than we planned.
- Certification-body fees identified separately. The body's audit days, travel and surveillance arrangements are shown as their own line, so the full programme cost is comparable across proposals.
- Payment milestones tied to deliverables, not to the calendar: the gap analysis report, the documented system, the internal audit, the certificate.
- Deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions and exclusions in writing, and nothing to sign to receive the proposal.
To prepare your proposal we need
- The standard, or the customer requirement if nobody has named one
- The activities and sites to be covered
- Approximate headcount
- Whether a system or certificate exists today
- Your deadline, if there is one
That is enough for a scoped, all-inclusive proposal from a Sterling consultant in your region. There is no need to prepare a manual first.
Request a scoped proposalA Sterling consultant replies within one working day.
Standards
Standards this service covers
- ISO 9001ISO 9001 certification consulting: a quality management system built with your people, evidence prepared and support until an accredited body certifies you.
- ISO/IEC 27001ISO/IEC 27001 certification consulting: an ISMS built with your people, evidence prepared, and support through Stage 1, Stage 2 and surveillance audits.
- ISO 14001ISO 14001 certification consulting: aspects, impacts and compliance obligations controlled, with support until an accredited body certifies you.
- ISO 45001ISO 45001 certification consulting to prevent work-related injury and ill health, with an OH&S system built with your people and audit-ready, in 60+ countries.
- ISO 22301ISO 22301 certification consulting to keep delivering through disruption: impact analysis, continuity plans and exercises, prepared for an accredited audit.
- ISO 13485ISO 13485 certification consulting for medical device makers: design controls, risk, traceability and complaints, prepared for an accredited audit.
- ISO 22000ISO 22000 certification consulting: PRPs, a validated hazard control plan, traceability and recall readiness, built with your teams for an accredited audit.
- ISO 50001ISO 50001 certification consulting for measured, normalised energy performance improvement, with the data to prove it at an accredited certification audit.
- ISO/IEC 20000-1ISO/IEC 20000-1 certification consulting for IT services delivered to agreed requirements: incident, change, capacity and supplier control, audit-ready.
- ISO 37001ISO 37001 certification consulting: proportionate anti-bribery controls to prevent, detect and respond, built with your teams and ready for an accredited audit.
- ISO/IEC 42001ISO/IEC 42001 certification consulting for AI governance: risks and impacts assessed, treated and evidenced, then supported through the certification audit.
- ISO/IEC 17025ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation consulting for testing and calibration laboratories: competence, impartiality and evidence ready for accreditation assessment.
Don’t be fooled by certification scams
Sterling against the alternatives.
The market offers four ways to a certificate. Three of them leave you with a system that does not run, a certificate that fails a customer's check, or both. This is what each route actually gives you.
| What you get | Template kit, do it yourself | "Certified in 10 days" seller | Body-shopping consultant | Sterling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A system built around your operation | Only if your team has the time and the expertise | No: a template with your name on it | Depends on the individual assigned | Yes, with your process owners, on Sterling's template sets |
| Your people trained | Not included | Not included | Sometimes, at extra cost | Included: awareness, practitioner and internal auditor training |
| Software to run the system | Buy separately | None | Buy separately | Effivity, included at no additional cost |
| Internal audit and management review before the audit | If you know how | A formality, if at all | Usually | Always, with findings closed on evidence |
| Certificate from an accredited body | Your choice | Often not accredited, or not for your scope | Usually | Always: accreditation checked before you sign |
| Who is accountable if the audit goes badly | You | Nobody | The individual, if still available | Sterling, under the Sterling Promise, until you are certified |
| Fee transparency | Kit price only | One invoice for consulting and certificate | Day rates, open-ended | One all-inclusive proposal; certification-body fees shown separately |
| After the certificate | On your own | Gone | Another contract | Sustain™: surveillance, internal audits, refreshers, transitions |
Sterling's position. Sterling does not certify. We consult, train and prepare you; an independent, accredited body audits and decides. We do not sell certificates without implementation, and we tell you when an offer you have received is one. All ten warning signs of shortcut certification · How to check any ISO certificate
Client letters
On the record: what clients say about working with Sterling.
The plant manager reports that the collaboration delivered HACCP and ISO 9001:2015 certification, tightened internal processes and gave the company a credential that directly supports its expansion into international markets.
The managing partner thanks Sterling, on behalf of the firm, for guiding it through the process of achieving ISO 9001 certification, and records that the firm completed and passed the certification audit with no major nonconformity.
The technical services manager and the vice-president for operations report that five of the company's sites received ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification, with the project completed ahead of schedule and beyond expectation.
The president writes that the team's expertise, professionalism and dedication were central to achieving the company's certification goal, and that from the initial gap analysis to final audit preparation the systematic approach and practical insights made the process clear, manageable and effective.
Each account is drawn from a signed letter or e-mail on file and reported in our words, with the signatory's role and organisation attached; the original letters are available on request. Ask for references in your sector before you decide.
- 60+countries where Sterling has delivered certification
- 21countries with a Sterling office, eight regions, one coordinated team
- 2003the year the group began implementing ISO management systems; the same method, refined, since
- 8,100+client engagements across the group, from single-site SMEs to multinationals
FAQs
Questions clients ask before they engage us.
The specific answers for your organisation come from the discovery call. These are the general ones.
Do we need a consultant at all?
Not necessarily. An organisation with an experienced quality, HSE or security lead and the time to spare can implement a standard itself. Most organisations come to us because they do not have that time, because a deadline is fixed, or because a previous attempt produced documents nobody uses. Design™ exists for the first case; Drive™ for the other two.
How much of our team's time does it take?
One weekly working session with your consultant, plus the time process owners spend putting the agreed changes into use. Under Design™ your team also drafts on our templates between sessions; under Drive™ Sterling carries that work. Management time is concentrated in scope decisions and the management review.
How long does ISO certification take?
Typically three to six months for a single-site organisation, depending on the current maturity of your processes, the scope, the locations and the number of employees; multi-site and integrated programmes take longer. The system has to operate long enough to produce the evidence the auditor will ask for, and the certification body needs time to schedule Stage 1 and Stage 2. Share your deadline at the start and we will tell you what is achievable.
What if the audit finds nonconformities?
Minor nonconformities at Stage 2 are common and are closed with a corrective action the body accepts; a major nonconformity has to be closed before the certificate is issued. Either way, under the Sterling Promise we stay with you until the agreed certification outcome is achieved, supporting the response to every finding. The decision itself always belongs to the certification body.
Can we keep the certification body we already use?
Yes, provided it is accredited for the standard and scope you need. We work with any accredited body, help you compare quotations and audit arrangements where you have a choice, and check accreditation status on the public registers. The contract with the body is yours.
Can you certify several standards or several sites in one programme?
Yes. Shared document control, internal audit and management review support an integrated system on the harmonised structure the ISO management system standards share, audited as one programme. Multi-site programmes run with one engagement team, one Effivity workspace and, where the certification body agrees, one multi-site certificate.
Is remote delivery available?
Remote workshops, document reviews and coaching cover most activities. We agree where site access, observation or in-person work is necessary for your operations, and Sterling's regional offices keep travel short.
Does Sterling issue the certificate?
No. Sterling provides consulting, software, training and audit readiness. An independent, accredited certification body conducts the certification audit and makes the certification decision. A provider that offers to do both is offering paper.
How soon can we start?
The discovery call can usually be held within a few days of your enquiry and the proposal follows it; the scope and gap analysis stage starts as soon as the proposal is accepted and your project owner is named.
Keep exploring
More Sterling services
Talk to a consultant
Plan your certification with confidence.
Tell us your goals, locations and target date. We’ll help you define the scope, timeline and next steps.
hello@sterling-grc.com+1 201 263 4443 (global headquarters) · your nearest office and its number are at the top of this page
What would you like to achieve?
Choose a starting point. The enquiry form takes about a minute.
Book my free discovery callContinue to the enquiry form to share your details. Please do not include passwords, sensitive personal information or confidential files. A Sterling consultant replies within one working day. Privacy notice