What comes after ISO 14001 certification

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After you achieve your goal of ISO 14001 certification, you now have to maintain the quality management system and to continue to work to develop operational excellence. There are two steps to maintaining your certification.

  1. ISO 14001 Certification Surveillance

    Surveillance assessments are the heart of the post-certification process for ISO 14001 certification. The ISO 14001 surveillance audits assure ongoing conformity, determine whether your management system remains effective, and encourage continual improvement, thereby helping enhance your profitability. The last ISO 14001 surveillance audit is always a recertification audit to ensure accreditation conformity and full assessment of the requirements.

    As your ISO 14000 registrar, SQA offers two surveillance scheduling options for maintaining your ISO 14001 certification:

    1. Semi-annual ISO 14001 surveillances are performed every six months. Certain core elements are reviewed during each visit and management system processes are selected accordingly throughout the course of certification. The advantage of this option is that each audit is approximately half the duration of an annual surveillance and the system is reviewed routinely. The majority of SQA ISO 14001 certification clients select this schedule option.

    2. Annual ISO 14001 surveillances are conducted once a year. Again, core elements are reviewed each year and management system processes are selected accordingly throughout the course of ISO 14001 certification. This alternative involves fewer, but longer visits.

  2. ISO 14001 Certification Renewal:

    Once every three years (the third year of each 3-year ISO 14001 certificate period), SQA will assess the quality management system in its entirety. The duration of this ISO 14001 re-assessment is typically equal to about 2/3 of the audit days required for the initial assessment. By assessing the entire quality management system during one ISO 14001 assessment activity, the relationship of all the processes comprising it can be fully evaluated for effectiveness.

SQA stands out in the crowd of ISO 14000 Registrars – contact us today to begin.


An SQA representative would like to discuss your certification needs. Contact us at 330-762-4231 today.


SQA, one of America's leading ISO 14000 registrars is an active member of the Independent Association of Accredited Registrars (IAAR)

Choose SQA for your ISO 14001 Registrar

The decision to pursue ISO 14001 certification involves a substantial commitment of time and resources. Smithers Quality Assessments recognizes that this is a very personal decision requiring a solution tailored to your needs. To arrange for a SQA representative to review your certification needs, contact us at 330-762-4231 today.