Why is certification important?

When buying services, there are three things that people and businesses tend to look at in a potential supplier: price, speed and quality. Now, price and speed can be ascertained fairly quickly as a buyer will be given a rough price and estimated completion date when they are issued a quote. How then can we be sure that what we’re buying is a quality product? In a nut shell, quality standards.

Ranging from small and industry-specific accreditations through to internationally recognised certifications, quality standards come in all shapes and sizes and vary in their scope of application. Everyone in the UK will be familiar with the BSI (British Standards Institution) Kitemark and some may even have heard of ISO 9001; however, if you’re from outside of the translation and languages services industry, it’s unlikely that you’ll have ever encountered ISO 17100:2015 – Requirements for translation services. This standard does exactly what it says on the tin: it sets the bar for quality translation services.

In the same way that the Kitemark is an indicator of a product that has been rigorously tested and is of proven quality, certification to ISO 17100:2015 is the hallmark of first-class translation services. The standard governs everything from linguist selection and recruitment to project management, quality assurance and data protection. This means that you can rest assured that if you’re using an LSP certified to ISO 17100:2015, you’re getting exactly what you pay for: a fit-for-purpose, top-quality translation you can trust.

If you’d like to find out more about our quality processes and certification, please feel free to get in touch or check out the section on our website here.