ISO 9001 halves surety costs

In this article we delve into the details of an important advantage provided by ISO 9001 certification, which is often overlooked even by those companies that already hold the famous corporate quality certificate.

What advantage is involved

We are talking about the possibility for ISO 9001-certified companies to reduce the surety costs necessary to participate in important tenders, contracts and orders. In many business contexts, companies find themselves having to bear the costs of a surety bond as a guarantee for funds that will be required for the achievement of activities in a tender, contract or order. These costs, especially for large amounts of work, can be quite onerous for companies that can, therefore, find benefit in being able to halve them by presenting UNI EN ISO 9001 accredited certification.

Legislative references

Permitting the use of ISO 9001 for the halving of the surety costs is Legislative Decree no. 163 of 12 April 2006, ‘Code of public contracts relating to works, services and supplies in implementation of Directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC’. In particular, the rule for the halving of the surety costs is specified in item No. 7 of Article 75 of the aforementioned Legislative Decree, which we quote below:

‘The amount of the guarantee, and of its possible renewal, is reduced by fifty per cent for economic operators to whom is issued, by accredited bodies, in accordance with the European standards of the UNI CEI EN 45000 series and the UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17000 series, the certification of the quality system in compliance with the European standards of the UNI CEI ISO 9000 series, or the declaration of the presence of significant and interrelated elements of such system. In order to take advantage of this benefit, the economic operator shall indicate, when submitting its bid, its possession of the requirement, and shall document it in the manner prescribed by the regulations in force.’