Consulting Support
Gap Analysis
An honest measurement of the distance between here and certifiable.
Impartiality notice — please read before engaging
Under ISO/IEC 17021-1, a certification body must not provide management system consultancy to an organisation it certifies. If GMSCPL delivers advisory work to your organisation, your certification audit must be conducted by a different certification body for the cooling-off period defined by the applicable accreditation rules. We will tell you this before any engagement begins, in writing, and we will never present advisory work as a route to a faster GMSCPL certificate.
Read our full impartiality policyWhy organisations certify
Key benefits of Gap Analysis
What certification actually returns, stated specifically rather than generically.
Credibility
An evidence-based gap register is a defensible baseline, not an optimistic self-assessment.
Market Access
Knowing the true gap lets you commit to customer certification deadlines you can actually meet.
Risk Reduction
Identifying gaps before the audit removes the single largest cause of certification delay and repeat-audit cost.
Operational Efficiency
A prioritised plan directs effort at what blocks certification, instead of spreading it evenly across clauses that are already satisfied.
Customer Trust
Realistic timelines told to customers in advance protect the relationship far better than a missed deadline explained afterwards.
Regulatory Compliance
Establishes the compliance obligations register that most standards require regardless.
How it works
Our process for Gap Analysis
A milestone-based engagement with a defined end point — the measure of success is that you no longer need us.
- 01
Diagnostic
1–2 weeks
A structured review of where you are today against the requirements of the target standard.
- 02
Roadmap
1 week
A prioritised action plan with owners, effort estimates and target dates — sized to your team, not to a template.
- 03
Build & Embed
2–6 months
Documentation developed, controls implemented, staff briefed and internal audits run until the system is genuinely operating.
- 04
Readiness Check
1 week
A dry-run assessment against the certification criteria so there are no surprises on audit day.
Preparation
Documents required
What we will ask to see. Having these ready before Stage 1 is the single biggest factor in a certification that runs to schedule.
- Existing management system documentation, if any
- Organisation chart, process map and scope description
- Previous audit reports, internal or external
- Applicable statutory licences and regulatory approvals
- Records demonstrating current operational controls
- Customer requirements or contractual obligations relevant to the standard
Not sure whether your scope is right?
Scope is the single thing most often got wrong, and it appears verbatim on your certificate. We will review yours before you apply, at no charge — it costs us less than fixing it at recertification.
Talk to a specialistOften certified together
Related standards
Standards sharing the High Level Structure can be operated as one integrated system and audited together, which reduces total audit days.
Documentation Support
Development of management system documentation shaped around your real processes and retained information needs.
Learn moreImplementation Guidance
Hands-on guidance embedding a management system into daily operations until it runs without external support.
Learn moreQuality Management System
Certify a quality management system that delivers consistent products and services and satisfies customers.
Learn moreCommon questions
Gap Analysis — frequently asked questions
Direct answers, including where the honest answer is inconvenient for us.
Typically one to three days on site depending on headcount, sites and the number of standards in scope, plus about a week for the report. Multi-site or multi-standard assessments take longer.
Yes — this matters, so we state it plainly. Advisory work creates an impartiality conflict under ISO/IEC 17021-1. If we conduct your gap analysis as a consultancy engagement, your certification must be performed by a different certification body for the applicable cooling-off period. A pre-audit conducted under our certification process is a different thing and does not carry that consequence; we will help you choose the right route before you commit.
They overlap in method and differ in purpose and consequence. A pre-audit is part of the certification process and identifies findings without recommending solutions. A gap analysis is advisory and includes recommendations on how to close what it finds — which is precisely why it triggers the impartiality rule.
Question not answered here? Ask a certification specialist — we answer technical questions without requiring an enquiry first.
Talk to us
Talk to a certification expert
Tell us your scope and headcount and we will send a fixed quotation for Gap Analysis with the audit-day calculation shown.
- Quotation within 2–3 working days
- IAF MD 5 audit-day calculation included
- Full three-year cycle cost, not just the first audit
- Your details are used only to answer this enquiry
Next step
Ready to certify to Gap Analysis?
We will scope it honestly, show you the calculation behind the price, and tell you plainly if the timeline you need is not achievable.