Time required to achieve SQF certification?
Hello i wanted to ask how much time is required in order to achieve the certification in a low risk facility? management is full committed but only one person is dedicated 5 hours a day to develop and implement all the requirements.
Thank you i just need an average time nothing too exactly.
Are you already running a HACCP program?
Are you already running a HACCP program?
Yes i do, it's already developed based on the flow diagram process. as i said is a low risk facility. we do not handle food.
5 hours/day, about 2 to 4 months for low risk 1 HACCP plan system should give you enough time to write up what you need that isn't already covered under your existing record/documents. I would start with an excel tab for program/policyies/records/SOPs and SSOPs that you already have, then go bullet by bullet through SQF and relate as much as you can to an exiting document.
Then you will know what needs developed from scratch. Make sure you allocate extra time to review and review again. Oh, and training still takes time no matter the risk level so ensure you allocate for that as well
Wow, what a wide open question - I'll try though.
Start to finish - 6 months to 8 months.
The fastest I've seen is a full documentation development by a qualified consultant working 10 hours a day/6 days a week and completed it in about 25 days. The facility was in great shape, no worries there and implementation was 3 months - with certification in about 5 months and that included a pre-audit, the desk audit and finally the cert audit.
Really a lot of factors to come into play to guess at a time frame.
Years back when I was an SQF Auditor someone at SQFI said it would be about 8 hours a day for someone in a typical company and total time about a 8-12 months.
Most DIY's I see are about 6-8 months and will consutant assist 4.5-5 months total time.
Hello i wanted to ask how much time is required in order to achieve the certification in a low risk facility? management is full committed but only one person is dedicated 5 hours a day to develop and implement all the requirements.
Thank you i just need an average time nothing too exactly.
Hi jean,
IMEX it is probably more meaningful to ask how long your Company will give you. IMEX somewhere between 6-9 months.
I had a quick look at a few Consultant sites and there appeared to be a noticeable absence of predicted Qualification times. Too many variables presumably.
There are so many unknowns in yr query, eg -
(1) How much of the SQF documentation required already exists ?.
(2) How much of the SQF Validation/Verification Data already exists ?
(3) How much SQF-related help you can directly call on regarding documentation / implementation.
Just as a vaguely related analogy, here is a quite detailed evaluation of the time to implement iso9001/HACCP in a seafood processing facility-
http://www.fao.org/d...E06.htm#ch5.2.4
You might consider allocating your own estimated times into the chart.
Alternatively you might consider the SQF Certification Package available on this site which comes with considerable free Guidance from its author - Tony-C. Yr query might be (approximately) answerable in advance. See -
Hi Jean,
As well as the advice offered up previously I would say that you have to remember that Management Review and Internal Audits are also requirements and so it is not just a case of implementing compliant procedures there are also audits to do and reviews to carry out and resulting corrective, preventive actions to take and improvement demonstrated (hopefully).
On your own I would say a reasonable timescale is 9 - 12 months. With a consutlant or implementation package a reduction of this timescale of at least 3 months is achievable.
Kind regards,
Tony