Five steps to KOMO certification
There are five steps to become certified for KOMO. Read them here.
Step 1
First you check our Assessment Directives database to determine whether or not an Assessment Directive exists for your product, system, realisation process, service or management system. With respect to the result, a distinction is made between whether or not an Assessment Directive exists.
Situation 1: An Assessment Directive exists
Step 2
You check whether and to what extent your product, system, realisation process, service or management system:
- Belongs to the subject (scope of the applicability) of the KOMO Assessment Directive;
- Or whether there is compliance with the requirements in accordance with the stipulations in the KOMO Assessment Directive;
- Or whether your quality system meets the requirements.
If in your opinion your product, system, realisation process, service or management system is fully compliant, you can submit a request for certification to a certifying body that has been authorised for the relevant subject, along with the required and associated documents.
However, if your product, system, realisation process or service is an innovation and a standard or directive does not exist (yet), you can request a KOMO innovation certificate by submitting an application to a certifying body. This procedure is found in innovation certificate application.
Situation 2: There is no Assessment Directive yet
If you do not find an Assessment Directive in our Assessment Directives Database, the following options are available:
- An Assessment Directive is being developed for the subject, you can check this on our web page with the data on Assessment Directives currently being developed. You can then contact the responsible certification institution or certification scheme administrator.
- It concerns an entirely new subject for which there is currently no Assessment Directive and for which no Assessment Directive is being developed.
- It concerns an innovation for which no standards or guidelines exist.
Does it concern an entirely new subject for KOMO? If this is the case, you can contact a certification institute which is active for the type of products. If it does not concern an innovation, the certification institute will send you a proposal that includes an action plan for drawing up both an Assessment Directive and the Admission Test. Afterwards, the certification institute will draw up an Assessment Directive in consultation with you, under the supervision of a Committee of Experts. With regard to the certification subject, all relevant market parties are represented in a Committee of Experts.
After the KOMO Assessment Directive has been determined, the procedure continues as described under step 3.
Situation 3: It concerns an innovation
The conditions for the certification of an innovation are:
- That there is no standard or directive for the product, system or realisation process and that it therefore really does concern a true innovation;
- That within a period of 3 years after the Innovation Certificate has been issued, the Innovation Assessment Directive is converted into a regular Assessment Directive and the Innovation Certification into a regular certificate.
The certifying body will send you a proposal that includes an action plan for a Risk Analysis, an Innovation Assessment Directive and the Admission Test for the Innovation Certificate. Subsequently, in consultation with the applicant, an Expert Team will be established consisting of:
- One or more technical experts from the applicant;
- An independent technical expert who is not permitted to communicate with third parties about the technical details of the innovation;
- One or more technical expert from the certifying body.
First of all, the Expert team will draw up a risk analysis in which the potential risks will be identified in terms of what the possible risks are that the innovation will not have the desired quality and result. Afterwards, an Innovation Assessment Directive based on this risk analysis will be drawn up and its existence will be mentioned on the KOMO website. However the content of the Assessment Directive and Innovation certificate will not be published unless you give permission for the publication. After the Innovation Assessment Directive has been determined, the procedure continues as described on the webpage providing details on becoming certified on the basis of an existing Assessment Directive.
Step 3
After receipt of your application, the certification body will send you a proposal with an accompanying plan of approach for the admission process. During the admission process, the certifying body checks whether your products, processes, systems, services or management system and your system of internal quality control (IQC, in Dutch: IKB) meet the requirements of the Assessment Directive. Checks are also made to determine whether the persons involved in the process meet qualification requirements and possess the required expertise.
Step 4
If all requirements appear to be met you will receive the requested KOMO certificate. This is published on the KOMO website, so that customers can always easily find the certificate. If the certificate has a connection with Dutch law, this will also be stated on the certificate and on our website.
A KOMO certificate generally has an unlimited period of validity. The certification body obviously makes regular checks to establish whether you continue to meet the requirements. In the event of non-compliance, the certifying authority will impose measures (sanctions) on you and even suspend or even withdraw your certificate. The Assessment Directives and associated certificates are also regularly adapted to new (market) developments, regulations and standards. It is therefore important to use our website to check whether the certificate is still valid.
In deviation from the preceding stipulation, the Committee of Experts may decide that certificates with a limited period of validity must be issued.
KOMO attestations have a maximum validity period of five years. There are no intermediate checks for this.
Step 5
Monitoring your internal quality control system plays a key role in the certification. For that purpose, a certifying body carries out both announced and unannounced checks several times a year.
In product certification, during these reinspection visits product samples are taken for examination by an independent laboratory. Samples from the market can also be examined. The frequency and type of examination are defined by the Committee of Experts in the Assessment Directive. This is the way the quality of the product is guaranteed externally.
In process certification, regular company reinspection visits are made to check on internal quality control, but realisation projects are also visited and the end result checked. The frequency and type of examination are defined by the Committee of Experts in the Assessment Directive. The product quality is monitored this way.
In personal certification, regular reinspection visits are made to the company and/or projects to determine whether the person concerned still meets the requirements and to check the end result of the individual’s activities. The type of examination and the frequency are defined by the Committee of Experts in the Assessment Directive for process certification. The product quality is monitored this way.
In management system certification, regular reinspection visits are made to the company to check on the internal quality control. The frequency and type of examination are defined by the Committee of Experts in the Assessment Directive. The standard of internal quality control is monitored this way.
