Consulting only. We do not issue certificates.

WAC Standards Studio
Request a scope

ISO 9001 consultant, SeattleConsulting, not certification

Ready for the certification audit.Not a certificate for sale.

WAC is a small quality management system consultant at 1325 6th Ave in Seattle. We build and repair ISO 9001 systems for plants, labs and offices in Washington, and get them ready for the stage 2 audit a certification body will run. Gap assessment, implementation, documents, internal audit. Each engagement is quoted on a stated basis before anyone signs.

Request a scope Estimate consulting days
A consultant and a shift supervisor walk a production line with an audit clipboard
Clause 8.5.2 · identification checked on the floor, not in the binder
10clauses in ISO 9001:2015Requirements sit in 4 to 10
2stages in an initial certification auditISO/IEC 17021-1, stage 1 and stage 2
3years in a certification cycleSurveillance in years 1 and 2
1ledger line per findingThe WAC finding format, below
  • 4Context of the organization
  • 5Leadership
  • 6Planning
  • 7Support
  • 8Operation
  • 9Performance evaluation
  • 10Improvement
A printed procedure covered in red-pen revisions beside a steel ruler
Draft 3 of a receiving inspection procedureCut from 11 pages to 4

01 Impartiality

We don't certify you.

We do not issue certificates. A certification body does, and it cannot also be your consultant.

That line comes from ISO/IEC 17021-1, the standard accredited certification bodies are held to. A body that helped write your system cannot turn around and audit it, because it would be marking its own homework. So when someone offers you consulting and the certificate in one package, one of two things is true. Either the certificate is not from an accredited body, or the consulting is going to be very light.

We sit on the other side of the table. We read your processes against the clauses, write down what is missing, help your people fix it, and run the internal audit the standard asks for. Then an auditor we have no commercial tie to walks in and decides. That separation is what makes the certificate worth anything to the customer who asked you for it.

Most nonconformities we find sit in clause 10.2. The corrective action was opened in March and nobody closed it.Our most common finding, by some distance

What a certification body does

Plans audit days under IAF MD 5, runs stage 1 and stage 2, grades nonconformities, issues and suspends the certificate, returns for surveillance.

What WAC does

Gap assessment, the documents, training process owners, the internal audit and management review, and the closure of whatever the auditor raises.

02 Five engagements

What a quality management system consultant is actually hired for

Most clients need one of these, not all five. Each has a price basis written on it. None of them includes the certificate, which you buy from the certification body separately.

A worker moves a status card on a shop-floor quality board
01 · Clauses 4 to 10 ISO 9001 implementation A QMS built from zero around the processes you already run. Process map, documented information, trained owners, first internal audit and management review, and at least 3 months of records before stage 2. Typically 16 to 26 weeks elapsed. Basis: fixed fee agreed after a scoping call See the sequence
A consultant checks the identification tag on a pallet of machined parts
02 · Two days on site Gap assessment A gap assessment is two days on site and a ledger of findings, clause by clause. You keep the ledger. Basis: fixed fee per site What we look at
Two people sample inspection records from a binder during a mock audit
03 · Stage 1, stage 2, surveillance Certification audit readiness A mock stage 2 audit run the way a certification body runs it: sampled records, graded findings, a closing meeting. Then we close what it found. Basis: day rate for an agreed number of days Mock audit detail
A document register on a laptop beside a printed controlled copy
04 · Clause 7.5 Documented information If your document control lives in a shared drive called FINAL_v7, we start there. Procedures, forms and a master list with real revision control. Basis: per document set, quoted after review Document control
A hand signs off a corrective action line on a clipboard
05 · Clauses 9.2, 9.3, 10.2 Internal audit and management review The audit programme and the management review run to the standard, by us or beside your own auditors, with corrective actions tracked until someone signs them closed. Basis: per audit cycle Audit programme

Not sure which one? The comparison ledger lays out duration basis, deliverables and what you supply for each.

Compare all five

03 How it is priced

A quote depends on four things, and we tell you which

We do not publish a day rate on a web page and then add travel, report writing and "project management" later. Every engagement is quoted in writing after a scoping call, on the basis shown on its tile, and the engagement letter names the deliverables and the number of days on site.

What moves the number: people in scope, number of sites, what already exists, and which standard. A 20-person machine shop with one building and no system at all is a very different job from a 300-person medical device plant with three sites and a lapsed ISO 13485 certificate. The first mostly needs writing. The second mostly needs records rebuilt and a mock audit that is not polite.

The scope builder runs that arithmetic in the open. For ISO 9001 implementation it starts at 14 consulting days and multiplies by headcount, sites, starting point and standard. A 20-person single site starting from nothing comes out at 17.5 days. That is an estimate for scoping, not a quote, and it covers our days only. Audit days are set by the certification body under IAF MD 5 and invoiced by them.

Implementation
Fixed fee agreed after a scoping call
Gap assessment
Fixed fee per site
Audit readiness
Day rate for an agreed number of days
Documented information
Per document set, quoted after review
Internal audit
Per audit cycle
Certificate
Not sold here. Contracted directly with a certification body of your choosing.
  • 10.2Corrective action log
  • 7.1.5Calibration register
  • 9.3Management review minutes
  • 8.4Supplier evaluation
  • 7.2Training records
  • 7.5Document master list

04 The ledger

Every finding is one line you can act on

Clause, evidence seen, gap, owner, date. No paragraphs of "opportunities for improvement". This is the exact format you receive after a gap assessment or an internal audit.

Format exampleNot a client record. Invented lines in the real layout.
Sample findings ledger, ISO 9001:2015, one site
ClauseEvidence seenGapOwnerDueRating
10.2.2CA log, 14 entries opened since January9 of 14 have no root cause or effectiveness check recordedQuality leadWk 3Red
7.1.5.2Torque wrench on line 2, tag expired 4 monthsTool in use; no assessment of product checked since expiryMaintenanceWk 1Red
7.5.3Three versions of the packing instruction on the floorNo master list; obsolete copies not withdrawnOps managerWk 4Amber
9.3.2Management review minutes, one meeting, last yearInputs c), e) and f) not covered; no decisions recordedGeneral managerWk 6Amber
8.4.1Approved supplier list, 22 suppliers, criteria definedCriteria applied; re-evaluation dates set and metPurchasingNoneGreen

A green line stays in the ledger. An auditor will sample that area too, and you should know what the evidence is before they ask.

An open binder of closed corrective action records with tabbed dividers
Closed actions, tabbed by clause10.2.2

What you keep after we leave

Everything is yours, in formats your team can edit without us. We do not hold documents hostage in a portal with a subscription.

  1. The findings ledger, as a spreadsheet and a signed PDF, with every line owned and dated.
  2. A process map of how work actually moves through your site, drawn with the people who do it.
  3. Controlled documents in Word and Excel, each with a revision block and a line on the master list.
  4. An internal audit programme for the next 12 months, with the first cycle already complete.
  5. Management review minutes that cover every input listed in 9.3.2 and record decisions, not attendance.
  6. A corrective action log with nothing left open that could have been closed.

05 First call to stage 2

What happens, in order

The weeks below are for a full ISO 9001 implementation. A gap assessment alone ends at step two.

  1. Day 1

    Scoping call, 45 minutes

    Standard, people in scope, sites, what exists, and the date a customer or tender is pushing you toward. We tell you if the date is not realistic.

  2. Week 1 to 2

    Written quote, then the gap walk

    Engagement letter with basis and deliverables. Two days on site. You get the ledger and a plan built from its red lines.

  3. Week 3 to 10

    Map, write, train

    Process owners describe what they do; we write it down short. Forms go on the floor as soon as they exist, because records start the day the form does.

  4. Week 10 to 22

    Records run

    At least three months of the system working before stage 2. Internal audit and management review happen inside this window, not the week before.

  5. Week 20 to 26

    Stage 1, mock audit, stage 2

    The certification body you contracted runs stage 1. We run a mock stage 2 against its report, then step back. We are not in the room for the real one unless you ask.

06 Before you call

The questions buyers ask first

We will not write a procedure for a process you do not run. Most of what follows comes back to that.

Can you guarantee we pass the certification audit?

No. The certification body decides, and anyone who promises a pass either does not understand the process or is selling a certificate from a body you should not trust. What we can say is which clauses are weak before its auditor does, and that the records will exist when the auditor samples them.

Do you pick the certification body for us?

We explain how to check accreditation, how audit days are calculated and what to ask about auditor availability. The choice and the contract are yours. We take no referral fee from any certification body.

We already bought a quality manual template. Can you use it?

Usually we cut it down. The 140-page manual bought off the internet is the failure we see most, sitting beside a corrective action log with nothing closed in it. Auditors do not score page count. They pick a record and ask who filled it in.

Can this be done remotely?

Document drafting and review, yes. Gap assessments, process mapping and mock audits happen on site, because the evidence is on the floor and in the drawers, not in the shared drive.

Who is this not for?

Anyone who needs a certificate in four weeks with no records behind it. An accredited body will not issue one, and we will not pretend otherwise. Also anyone who wants procedures written for processes that exist only on paper.

Do you work on standards other than ISO 9001?

Yes, on the same Annex SL structure: ISO 14001:2015 for environmental systems, ISO 45001:2018 for health and safety, ISO 13485:2016 for medical devices, and documentation support for ISO/IEC 27001:2022. The scope builder shows the difference in days for each.

Scope builder

Six choices, one estimate of consulting days

Pick the standard, the engagement, headcount, sites, where you are starting from and your target audit date. The result shows indicative days, the phases, the mandatory documented information for that standard, and a warning if your date is shorter than a feasible sequence.

Open the scope builder

Gap assessment base
2 days
Audit readiness base
6 days
Implementation base
14 days
Headcount factor
×1 to ×2.6
Sites factor
×1 to ×1.7
ISO 13485 factor
×1.4

Tell us the standard and the date

A person reads every inquiry. You get a reply with questions or a scoping call slot, not an automated brochure.