If you are unhappy with your current certification body, you are not stuck with them until your certificate expires. An accredited ISO certificate can usually be transferred to another accredited certification body, and you keep your existing three-year cycle rather than starting over.
This article explains when a transfer is possible, how it works, and what it means for your certificate.
Why companies switch
The reasons we hear most often:
- Auditor turnover, so nobody understands your business any more
- Scheduling problems, with audits pushed late or booked at short notice
- Slow responses to simple questions about scope, nonconformities or certificates
- Cost, especially when audit days grew without an explanation
- Accreditation concerns, where a customer or tender questioned the certificate
What a transfer actually is
A transfer means a new accredited certification body takes over your existing certification, including the remainder of your three-year cycle. You do not repeat the initial Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits.
Transfers follow international accreditation rules that every accredited body must apply, so the process is broadly the same wherever you go.
When a transfer is possible
Your certification can normally be transferred when:
- Your certificate is currently valid (not expired, suspended or withdrawn)
- It was issued by a body accredited by a recognized accreditation body, such as ANAB, for the standard in question
- There are no unresolved major nonconformities from your last audit
- You are not in the middle of a dispute or investigation with your current body
Transfers generally are not accepted from non-accredited certificates. In that case what you need is initial certification, not a transfer, because there is no accredited certification to carry over.
How the process works
1. Pre-transfer review. The new certification body reviews your current certification: the certificate itself, your scope, your last audit reports, any open nonconformities and any complaints. This is usually a desk review.
2. Clarifying anything unclear. If reports are missing or nonconformities are still open, they have to be resolved first. Sometimes a short audit is needed to confirm the system is working.
3. Transfer and certificate issue. Once the review is accepted, the new body issues its certificate for the remainder of your cycle, carrying its accreditation mark.
4. Your audits continue as normal. Your next surveillance or recertification audit takes place on the existing schedule.
What to have ready
Gather these before you ask for a transfer quote:
- Your current ISO certificate (showing scope, expiry and accreditation mark)
- The last audit report, and the one before it if available
- Any open nonconformities, with the corrective actions taken
- Your employee count, sites and shifts
- The date of your next scheduled audit
Common questions
Do we lose our certification during the transfer?
No. A transfer is designed to keep certification continuous. Your existing certificate stays valid until the new one is issued.
Do we go back to the start of a three-year cycle?
No. You keep the remainder of your current cycle, and recertification falls due as it would have.
Do we have to wait until renewal?
Not necessarily. Transfers often happen near a surveillance or recertification audit, because it is efficient, but the review can be done at other times.
What if we have open nonconformities?
Major nonconformities have to be closed before a transfer completes. Minor ones are reviewed and normally carried into the next audit.
Will our customers notice?
Your certificate number and issuing body change, so tell any customer who holds a copy. The standard, scope and accreditation status stay the same.
Thinking about switching?
Apex Systems Registrar is an affiliate of American Registration Inc., an ANAB-accredited certification body, certifying ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 27001 across Canada and the United States.
Send us your current certificate and last audit report and we will tell you plainly whether a transfer is possible and what it would involve. Request a quote – no charge, no obligation. You may also want to read how much ISO 9001 certification costs in Canada.