The certification of a product or process
The certification of a product or a process constitutes a transversal path that involves not only the phases and the context control of the procedures that are implemented but activates the analysis procedures of the individual processes through control interventions of the activities that will be implemented from the moment of programming to the execution of the testing of the works, services and supplies.
In practice, in the case of works the applicability extends to:
- programming;
- design;
- quality of materials;
- project verification;
- project validation;
- execution of the works;
- quality of workmanship;
- modifications and variations;
- testing;
- intervention management.
In analyzing the individual phases necessary for the realization of a work from its first definition, in programmatic terms, to the planning of activities over time, it is possible to understand the breadth and complexity of the control action that must be activated. And precisely in relation to the quantity and timeliness of the actions that must be carried out, it becomes essential that the management of these processes is carried out on the basis of defined and scientifically tested methodologies in order to ensure the clearest and most effective operational program possible.
For these reasons, the requirement for some processes to carry out a series of checks through structures that are certified and therefore capable of guaranteeing the contracting authority an adequate level of reliability of the results produced has already begun some time ago.
Verification of the project
One of the examples is constituted by the project verification activity in the context of the public contracts code which provides (Article 34, first paragraph, of Annex I.7 to Legislative Decree 36/2023), for example interventions of amounts between 20 million euros and the community threshold (now 5,404,000 euros) that the central requirement is that the activity is carried out by qualified ISO 9001 operators.
In this case the regulatory obligation has a specific impact on a particular activity (project verification) but, in cases of interventions with high levels of complexity or requests from the client relating to specific parts or processes to be carried out, the application of the certified procedures becomes a real operational guide for each subject involved.
A guided tour
The use (prescribed or not) of certified processes determines recurring conditions in all phases and which are attributable to two very significant consequences, among others:
- know and be informed both as direct operators and as subjects in charge of controls, at all times, what operations are to be carried out and how to develop them;
- always have the possibility to verify, even independently by the interested party with respect to the general monitoring activity initiated, the correctness of their actions.
This condition progressively generates a habit of using a way of operating that refers to known, defined, clear and easy to understand procedures of which all the steps are known and whose readability finds, in the monitoring results, a further moment of confirmation or realignment.
For the operators involved in the execution and for those assigned to monitor the implementation, the audit trails (prepared for process controls) and the check-lists (used for the controls of the individual activities) become an essential tool.
Similarly to what was observed for the design, the certified path also generates important consequences in the execution phase of the works for all the subjects involved in the implementation of the contract. In this case we delve into the merits of provisions that fall under the exclusive responsibility of the executor (implementation function) and of specific operational guidelines that are part of the duties of the works manager (control function) and which concern a series of areas which, in summary for the works, are related to:
- use of certified materials for works, structures, systems (contractor);
- methods of carrying out the works (contractor);
- management of the construction site in reference to the provisions relating to safety and environmental sustainability – point 2.5.1 of annex 1 to the Ministerial Decree 24/11/2025 – (contractor);
- control activities on the compliance of the execution with the project specifications (works manager);
- verification of situations related to modifications, extensions, suspensions and critical issues that may have emerged (works manager);
- control of contract execution times and costs (works manager);
- management of the technical and accounting documents of the contract (works manager).
As already verified in the implementation of projects and works guided by ISO 9001 certified procedures (therefore not only checks of the project but implementation of interventions in their entirety), a series of elements such as the overall quality of the work, the control of times and costs, the management of the construction site, the preparation of maintenance, have determined concrete advantages for both the contractor and the contracting authority, demonstrating the fact that the benefits of the application of certified processes have a transversal character that positively affects all interested parties.
The fallout
The above highlights a series of benefits, of various nature, which are generated by the certified processes for the benefit of the subjects directly involved (contracting authority and executor) but there is another category of subjects, of even greater importance, which are the users (stakeholders) of what is created and who, in addition to being the main recipients of the implementation process guided by the certified procedures are also the natural users of the public or private functions contained therein and whose presence – directly proportional to the level of quality and attractiveness of the created – constitutes the true recognition of the success of the intervention and the achievement of the required public objectives.
Conclusions
Outside of the certified processes, there is also the possibility, through a simple consultation of the index of the standard (for example of the processes relating to ISO 9001) and some operational paragraphs, to understand the methods with which to carry out this type of checks as a simple technical-economic monitoring activity of the various phases.
