Standards
The standards you can be assessed against
Pick the ones you hold, or the ones you're going for. ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 suit any kind of firm, BS 99001 is for firms in the built environment, and the National Highways Sector Schemes are for firms that work on the roads. Every sector scheme applies ISO 9001, so a sector scheme assessment includes the ISO 9001 core and scores you against both. You pay for the ISO 9001 core once, however many schemes you pick. Where two standards ask the same question, you answer it once.
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The figures are what's in each question bank today. You start with the key questions: the heaviest questions in every section, every stop item, and at least three questions per section. When you answer one Partly, No or Don't know, that section opens and asks the rest of its questions. You can open any section yourself, or answer every question, which for most firms is about a day's work.
| Standard | Who it's for | Questions | Key questions to start | At the desk, every question | On site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISO 9001 ISO 9001:2015 with Amendment 1:2024 |
Any organisation certified to ISO 9001, or preparing for its first certification visit. | 115 | 38 | About three hours | No site visit |
| ISO 14001 ISO 14001:2026, or the 2015 edition |
Any organisation certified to ISO 14001, or preparing for its first certification visit, on either edition. | 141 | 47 | About two and a half hours | About half an hour |
| ISO 45001 ISO 45001:2018 with Amendment 1:2024 |
Any organisation certified to ISO 45001, or preparing for its first certification visit. | 147 | 49 | About three hours | About three quarters of an hour |
| BS 99001 BS 99001:2022, with ISO 9001:2015 |
Firms in the built environment certified to BS 99001, or preparing for a first visit, answering for the business and one live project. | 147 | 48 | About four and a half hours | No site visit |
| NHSS 12D Issue 5, July 2025 |
Putting temporary traffic management in, looking after it and taking it out again, on ordinary roads and through towns. | 212 | 48 | About four hours | About an hour and a half |
| NHSS 12A/B Issue 4, April 2024 |
Traffic management that stays where it is put, on motorways and fast dual carriageways, and on widening work done while the road is open. | 200 | 51 | About five hours | About three quarters of an hour |
| NHSS 12C Issue 4, September 2024 |
Putting in and taking out mobile lane closures on motorways and dual carriageways. | 176 | 52 | About five hours | About half an hour |
| NHSS 16 Issue 3, December 2021 |
Laying asphalt mixtures by machine or by hand on highway works. | 147 | 43 | About four and a half hours | About half an hour |
| NHSS 23 Issue 1, March 2017 |
Small scale pavement repairs, including potholes, ironwork and surface treatments. | 139 | 43 | About four hours | About twenty minutes |
| NHSS 7 Issue 7, February 2023 |
Applying and removing road markings and installing road studs, on roads and other paved surfaces. | 179 | 52 | About four and a half hours | About an hour |
| NHSS 8 Issue 2, October 2022 |
Overseeing, installing or maintaining highway electrical equipment, such as street lighting, signs and signals, and its cabling. | 187 | 58 | About five hours | About an hour and a quarter |
Question counts include the site observations. Key questions are office questions, and the key questions alone take about an hour to an hour and a half. The site walk always asks every observation. Desk time adds up the estimated minutes for every section of that bank, rounded. If your profile rules sections out, you'll answer fewer.
Holding more than one
Shared questions
Every scheme here is built on one ISO 9001 core. A question about document control, internal audit findings or complaints is the same whichever scheme asks it. You answer it once, and the answer is used for each scheme that asks it.
The two schemes share 76 questions, so a firm holding 12D and 16 answers 283 questions rather than the 359 in the two banks. BS 99001 is built on the same core, with its own versions of many of its questions. ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 have their own questions, written for an environmental and a health and safety system, so a firm holding either with ISO 9001 or a sector scheme answers both sets.
Separate scores
You do one assessment with one set of answers, and get a score and a band for every standard you picked. So the report can show you're ready for ISO 9001 and still have gaps to close for 12D.
Each question says which standards it counts toward, so you can see why it's being asked and which certificate it affects.
Other sector schemes
There are twenty-five certifiable sector schemes. Each one applies ISO 9001, so most would be a pack added to the core that already exists. If you tell us which scheme you hold, we can tell you how long it would take to add.
Sample report and free check
The sample report shows what you'd get, using answers for a fictional firm. The free check has ten questions and takes five minutes. It covers 12D, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and BS 99001.