Tailored ISO 9001 System: your way of working, built into ISO 9001 for you
In short: The Tailored ISO 9001 System is your current way of working, written into a complete ISO 9001:2026 quality management system for you. We interview you and your team, remotely or on site, and build the system from your existing documents. Mike Armstrong reviews and signs off every document himself. It suits businesses that want it done for them, especially those that need an accredited certificate to win tenders. Prices start from $12,000, fixed once your free gap analysis is complete.
I’ve been writing management systems for over 30 years, for businesses as different as maritime security, home care (domiciliary care) and online retail. I start where the work happens, by interviewing the people who do it, and I check everything with experts in the field. One maritime security system I built went on to accredited certification with LRQA, a UKAS-accredited body, and helped the company win the kind of contracts that keep coming back. I’ll build yours the same way.
Request my free gap analysis and get the process started
There’s one thing worth knowing before you go further, because it protects the value of your certificate.
Independent from the start, so your certificate carries weight
What you buy from us is your quality management system: built, checked and ready to run. You don’t buy a certificate from us, and you can’t.
Here’s why. While we build your system, we advise you on it. A certification body that had advised you couldn’t then assess your system independently, because it would be marking its own work. So Plain Standards never certifies a system it built. When yours is ready, you take it to an independent, accredited certification body of your choice, and that body decides. It’s also the route you need if a customer or tender asks for an accredited certificate.
Who it suits
A tender or a major customer wants ISO 9001, and you haven’t the time or the people to build the system yourself. There are more than a million ISO 9001 certificates across 189 countries, so the buyer usually has a certified competitor to turn to instead.
- Businesses that want the system built for them, rather than building it themselves.
- Businesses that need an accredited certificate, for example to win tenders or get onto a big customer’s supplier list.
- Complex or multi-site businesses, where getting every process right matters most.
- Owners who already have procedures and forms, and want them turned into a system an assessor will recognise.
What you get
- A complete ISO 9001:2026 quality management system, written from your own documents and the way your business really works.
- A system your team can run day to day, and your certification body’s auditor can follow easily, so your audit runs more smoothly. It’s built on the same structure as our 42-document template system, with extra documents wherever your business needs them, every one numbered, linked to the documents it works with, and listed on one master list.
- Every document reviewed and signed off by Mike personally.
- Editable Microsoft Word files that belong to you.
- A handover call, so you know how to run the system before you take it to a certification body.
How it works
- Enquire. Fill in the form below. We reply by email, then arrange a face-to-face meeting to understand your business.
- Free gap analysis. We send you the gap analysis. You return it with the documents that make up your current system: procedures, policies, blank forms and registers. We don’t need filled-in records or personal data.
- Fixed quote. We tell you the price and how long the work will take, with our terms of engagement. The price is fixed and never changes once you accept it.
- Interviews. We interview you and the people who do the work, remotely or on site, to see how the business really runs.
- Build. Your material is shaped into the Plain Standards structure, and Mike reviews and signs off every document.
- Review. You receive the finished documents as PDFs marked “Draft for review”. Two rounds of changes are included.
- Sign-off. When you’re happy, you sign off, and the editable Word files are yours.
- Handover. A handover call, then you take your system to the accredited certification body of your choice.
Request my free gap analysis and get the process started
How long it takes
It depends on the size of your business, and the completed gap analysis will tell us exactly. As a rough guide:
- About one month for a business with up to 10 staff.
- About two months for 11 to 50 staff.
- Three months or more for over 50 staff.
Staff numbers are only a guide. The number of sites and how complex your work is matter too, and the completed gap analysis confirms it.
The biggest factor is how quickly your people are free for interviews. An on-site visit speeds things up, because we can gather most of what we need in one or two days.
Price and payment
Prices start from $12,000. Your exact price comes from the completed gap analysis, because it depends on how much of a system you already have, not on how many staff you employ. Once you accept the quote, it’s fixed.
- 50% when you accept the quote.
- 50% when you sign off the finished system, after which the editable Word files are released.
If you change your mind before the interviews start, we refund your first payment in full. And if we ever can’t finish the work, we refund everything you’ve paid for work not delivered.
Request my free gap analysis and get the process started
Optional on-site visit
If you’d like, we can spend one or two days at your premises. It’s never required. A visit lets us see how the work really happens, it’s faster than weeks of video calls, it means fewer corrections later, and it suits complex or multi-site businesses. It doesn’t lower the price. You pay all travel, accommodation and expenses, with business class for any flight over five hours.
Why we take on only two clients a month
Every system gets our full attention, from the first interview to the last signature, and Mike signs off every document himself. To keep it that way, we take on no more than two clients a month. Enquire to check when we can start yours.
What we can, and can’t, promise
We promise a system that meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2026 and describes how your business really works, with every document signed off by Mike. We can’t promise you’ll be certified, and nobody honestly can. The certification body is independent and makes its own decision. And it doesn’t just read your documents: it checks how you run the system day to day, whether records are kept, staff follow the procedures and there’s evidence built up over time. Only you control that.
Start with a free gap analysis
Tell us a little about your business, and we’ll reply by email. The gap analysis is free, and there’s no obligation to go ahead.
These questions help us prepare, so our first conversation is useful from the start.
Prefer to build it yourself?
A tailored system suits businesses that want it done for them. If you have the time to do it yourself, or the budget isn’t there yet, there’s a lower-cost route to the same standard.
Our ISO 9001:2026 Certification-Ready System gives you all 42 documents for $997, ready to adapt to your business. When your system has run for about three months, you can have it assessed through our remote, unaccredited certification for $1,497.
Frequently asked questions
Can Plain Standards certify the system you build?
No. We advise you while we build it, so we can’t also assess it independently. You take it to an accredited certification body of your choice.
How much does a tailored ISO 9001 system cost?
From $12,000. The completed gap analysis sets your exact, fixed price, based on how much of a system you already have.
Can you guarantee we’ll pass certification?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. The certification body decides independently, and it judges how you run the system day to day, which only you control.
We have a tender deadline. Can you meet it?
Tell us the date in the form. The completed gap analysis shows how long your build will take, and we’ll tell you honestly whether we can meet it before you commit to anything.
Who owns the finished system?
You do. The Plain Standards structure behind it is licensed to you for use within your own business, with no time limit.
Do you use AI?
Yes. We use AI tools to help draft your documents from your material. Mike reviews and signs off every one. It means your fee pays for experience and judgement, not hours of typing.
Do you need to visit us?
No. We work remotely by default. An on-site visit is optional and you cover the travel costs.
About the author
Written by Mike Armstrong, senior ISO consultant, former company director, and founder of Plain Standards. In over 30 years running companies at director level, Mike built his own management systems to drive profit long before he adopted ISO 9001, so he comes at this from the owner’s side, not the auditor’s. Plain Standards helps small and medium sized businesses get ISO certified without a consultant.