|
Home
Resources & Info
Join newsletter
E-letter archive
|
Quality Coach is an e-letter of hints, ideas and perspectives
to help you create an intelligent quality system : simple, practical and
flexible.
Here's a question applicable to any 1-person or particularly
small business.
Q: I am a Civil Engineering consultant and provide a range of services to
mainly Local Government in traffic engineering, road, drainage design etc. I
operate as a sole practitioner, but have strategic links to other sole
practitioners who assist me to complete projects. If I have a certified ISO
9001 quality system in place I can be registered with the State authority to
provide services to them as well as being listed on their web site as a
pre-qualified consultant.
My question is: can a sole practitioner who uses other practitioners (who
aren't certified) have a quality system that is acceptable?
A: Yes, of course you can get certified.
The 9001 Standard specifically states that it (ie, the 9001
Standard) is intended to be 'applicable to
all organizations, regardless of type, size and product'. (clause 1.2 -
my bolding)
The biggest issue for a one-person or very small company to consider first is whether it is worth becoming certified. There's an obvious cost involved: the
cost of
certification itself, plus any other costs eg, consulting/buying a kit, work
associated with developing your system.
That can be a burden for a sole practitioner or any really small
business.
It's something you have to weigh up to see if the cost-benefit ratio
stacks up: that is, whether it's worth it for you and
your particular business. And only you can answer that question. It is
not as simple as 'everyone should'.
If, for example, it will get you no more work or no more customers, I'd
definitely query if it's worth the cost & time. But if having
certification gets you work that you otherwise couldn't get, or stops
you losing a large customer that you would otherwise lose, or makes you
eligible to apply for tenders that currently exclude you, that would
tip the scales strongly.
One of my clients was quite literally a one-man band - his main business was
import & export: he moved things around the world largely via email, phone & fax.
He achieved certification to ISO 9001. Was it worth it? In his case, yes.
Because his single largest
customer (a multi-national corporation accounting for around 80% of his business) insisted. No
ISO 9001 = no further business from them.
Another client had only 2 principals (and 2 very part-time casual
employees). But they had also particular reasons to get ISO 9001 as it was
similarly required by
their largest customer and was also consistent with their business
strategy and growth plans.
There are a few challenges in designing a system where you're a 'one-man
band' , but none are insurmountable.
Regarding. the other people or organisations you use, no, they don't have to be
certified. This applies quite regardless of size, whether you're a 1-person
or a 500-person business. They are suppliers to you. While they don't have
to be certified (in your example, they presumably subcontract to you), you'd
definitely have to show how your quality system selects, monitors &
manages them to ensure that your client gets the standard of work they
expect and you agreed to supply.
But that, like so much of ISO 9001 is just sheer good business sense.
If you do decide to go ahead, as always: keep it simple, workable &
practical.
Back to Top
How we can help -
What clients say -
|
|
