Product Certification and Management Systems Certification: what's the difference?

Quality Management Systems Certification and Product Certification perform different roles, but the two are often confused.

The simplest way to look at it is that quality management systems certification focuses on how a business manages quality, while product certification focuses on how a product is made against the required product Standard(s).

Quality Management Systems (QMS) certification, such as ISO 9001, assesses whether an organisation has documented processes and controls in place. It considers areas such as responsibilities, procedures, risk, record keeping and corrective action, and whether the business is following its own systems.

While these are very important, QMS certification does not assess processes against the required product Standard(s).

Product certification goes further. It examines the product, its intended application and the physical production process used to manufacture or process it against the applicable product Standard(s).

For construction steel, this means looking beyond the paperwork. ACRS auditors assess what is happening on the factory floor, including input material controls, production processes, sampling, testing, inspection, traceability and the handling of non-conforming product.

ACRS also independently samples and tests products and reviews production data. This helps verify that the processes described in the quality documentation are being followed in practice and that the finished product consistently meets the relevant requirements.

A manufacturer may have a well-run and properly documented quality management system. That does not, on its own, provide independent assurance that a particular product complies with the applicable product Standard.  That is the key distinction.

Quality Management Systems certification assesses the quality systems a business uses. Product certification assesses the specific product production process itself.

For specifiers, builders and purchasers, understanding that difference is essential when checking whether construction steel has been appropriately certified.