Management system certification Certification is third party attestation related to products, processes, systems, or persons; ISO/IEC 17000:2004.

The most well known examples of management system certification are the certification of quality management system, food safety management system and environmental management system as conforming, respectively, to ISO 9001, ISO 22000 and ISO 14001 standards. Likewise, the bodies that issue ISO 9001, ISO 22000 or ISO 14001 certificates are referred to as "certification bodies".

In order to facilitate harmonization of best practices and consistency in their activities the certification bodies should be accredited to ISO/IEC 17021:2006, Conformity Assessment - General Requirements for bodies providing assessment and accreditation for management systems. Management System certification is among the services of QSAE that has already been operational.

QSAE CERT, has established, documented and implemented the necessary system in accordance with the international standard, ISO/IEC 17021:2006. Currently, the Certification body is providing a third party accredited quality management system certification service that is based on ISO 9001:2008 International standard. It has already established a pool of Quality Management System Lead auditors, auditors and technical experts.

The QSAE Cert has been accredited by the German Association for Accreditation GmbH, TGA, which has a high international reputation and also is a full member of the IAF (International Accreditation Forum).

An International Accreditation of the QSAE Cert will help companies certified by the certification body:

- have easy access to and meaningful market share in the international market in order to sell their products and services.

- have easier access to regulated markets and strengthens success in the market place. ? assure customer confidence and satisfaction, consistency in quality of product/ service with timely delivery, company credibility and consistent control of company’s management processes.

- lead to less material wastage, production down time, rework, etc. through an increase in quality know-how and efficiency.

- motivate all employees and ensures their involvement/participation.

- improve internal controls, better service, quick complaint settling or resolving, increased business efficiency and a more competitive selling position.

- Save time and money by reducing the need for assessment (audit or inspection) of suppliers.

- ensure optimum utilization of resources and reducing scrap and time consuming rework and repairs.

- complement other key management functions such as financial and strategic planning and also ensure high productivity, continual quality improvement apart from achieving quality control/quality assurance and make the system transparent through quality records.

Operating quality systems as per quality system standards leads to doing right things on time all the time and always to the customer's satisfaction.

QSAE Cert scope of Accreditation

QSAE Cert has been granted International accreditation for the QMS Certification service it provides in the following economic sectors;

1. Agriculture and Fishing, EA 1

2. Food products, beverages and tobacco, EA 3

3. Textile and Textile products, EA 4

4. Leather and leather products, EA 5

5. Chemicals, chemical products and fibers, EA 12

6. Rubber and plastic products, EA 14

7. Concerte, cement, lime, plaster, etc., EA 16

8. Construction, EA 28

9. Education, EA 37

10. Engineering services, EA 34/2

Note:

The above accreditation scope will be extended from time to time to include other economic sectors Steps to be followed for Obtaining QSAE Cert QMS Certification.

• Establish and implement a documented quality management system and ensure its effectiveness by conducting internal audit and management review.

• Submit a letter requesting for certification service accompanied by a duly completed application form.

• Sign certification agreement

• Submit the quality manual, system level procedures and related documents, when asked for.

• A Quality System Audit Team Leader consults the applicant to fix the audit date. When agreement is reached an audit plan is prepared and communicated to the applicant.

• The applicant shall take corrective actions on non-conformities identified during the audit (if any) and get them verified.

• Settle the Certification service fee when informed to do so.

• Sign an agreement on the use of the certification/accreditation mark.

• Obtain the Certificate

• Get prepared for the surveillance audit which takes place every year after the grant of the certificate

• Get prepared for the re-certification audit which takes place every three year after the grant of the certificate.

Brief description of QSAE Cert QMS Certification Scheme

A Company interested in obtaining quality systems certificate as per the ESISO 9001:2008 standard should submit an official letter accompanied with a completed application form, OF/QCD/2.1 to QSAE Cert. The applicant will also be informed to submit copies of its Quality Manual, system level procedures and related documents if its application is accepted and registered by the QSAE Cert. The Quality Manual and related documents are examined/reviewed by the Quality System Certification Body for verifying the conformance to the relevant standard. After that, QSAE Cert arranges an initial stage 1 audit to know the size, nature of operation and firm's readiness for the initial stage 2 audit as well as to reconfirm the scope of the audit and the number of mandays required for the initial stage 2 audit.

An audit team from QSAE Cert visits the firm for initial stage 2 audit for assessment of the firm's compliance to the procedures and activities enumerated in the documented quality system and relevant quality system standard. Based on the findings of the audit team and satisfactory audit report, the QSAE Cert certification committee may decide to grant to the firm a certificate for a period of three years after which re-certification is carried out. Grant of a certificate will be followed by surveillance audit once in a year by QSAE Cert auditors to verify the implementation and maintenance of the quality system established by the firm.

Notes:

1. The applicant is obliged;

• to sign the certification agreement before the commencement of document review.

• to sign an agreement for the use of certification/ accreditation mark before receiving a certificate

• to pay certification service fee before receiving a certificate

• to pay surveillance audit and re-certification services fees immediately after the services are provided.

2. Relevant QSAE Cert Certification processes documents are available on request. Moreover, to access QSAE Cert’s Brochure, Impartiality Policy and Descriptions on Complaints and Appeals Handling Procedure, click on the following documents.

QSAE-CERT Brochure OF QCD 2.3 .(232KB PDF).

QSAE CERT Impartiality Policy OF/QCD/1.52. (228 KB PDF).

Description on Complaints and Appeals Handling Procedure,

OF/QCD/2.12 (64KB PDF).

To visit the list of companies Certified by QSAE Cert, Click here, Publicly Accessible Information of Certified Companies.

N.B: For more information and inquiries, please contact us at the following address, P.O.Box 2310 Tel. 251116460565, Fax: 251116460880/81, E-mail: qsae@ethionet.et,