B
Bickstoke
Ok, I decided to post on here after having completed my assessment this weekend with no non-conformities (Woo Hoo!).
So, as I have realised how much of a good source of information this place is; I decided to try and input a little information, seeing as I have been taking so much from here over the last couple of weeks!
I used NAPIT as my assessment organisation, and to be honest can't speak more highly of them. Originally the date they gave me was a long way away, and with just a little nudge, they were happy to move an assessor to a saturday to bring the date forward. Our assessor (I won't put his name) was brilliant, helpful, understanding and put me at ease very quickly, and even offered advice during the assessment.
After initially looking at the install (for literally about 15 minutes) we were straight down to the QMS, and his long list of questions. THIS is exactly where you need to be vigilant. In this section I would suggest the following:
- Read & understand the MCS 001 appendix A!!! I can't stress this enough! I sat with this in front of me, while he had his assessment sheet in front of him, and the appendix is so accurate to the assessment that I was able to find and show the relevant paperwork before he had even read it himself. And more to the point, read all 19 points in the appendix carefully; they are not all just one question, but more frequently three or four elements for each clause which he or she may ask you for! Use this as the basis of your QMS!!
- In addition to the above, I would really recommend researching the software option for a QMS!! I wont actually advertise what I use, but do some research, as it makes the whole process of organising the paperwork so much easier when everything is stored away and backed up on multiple servers!! In addition, good software will supply a list of all your procedures such as (corrective/preventative, non-conformity, complaints, contracts, quoting procedure, warranty, order cancellation, data back-up)! The assessor will ask you for each of these and need to see a hard copy of them!!
- Have your handover pack for your initial install ready, printed, signed and waiting! He explained to me that he usually has to wait while individual pages are found, loaded or printed and having it ready made it much easier. Right from the closing letter, cover sheet, quote, contract etc. through to the sales invoice, data sheets and commissioning certificate.
- Make sure you have plenty of meeting notes, they do say 'at least quarterly' but for the sake of writing up one or two additional meetings, which could take all of half an hour to do, is totally worth it and will get you an easy tick in that box.
- If you use any other MCS accreddited suppliers, have their number ready (can be found on mcs database)
- Finally, I had a mad rush the day before to get my insurance sorted for this, together with my sub-contractors. Get it sorted... BUT it is not actually a requirement for the MCS assessment, so don't get in a panic over it the night before!!
I hope this helps....
So, as I have realised how much of a good source of information this place is; I decided to try and input a little information, seeing as I have been taking so much from here over the last couple of weeks!
I used NAPIT as my assessment organisation, and to be honest can't speak more highly of them. Originally the date they gave me was a long way away, and with just a little nudge, they were happy to move an assessor to a saturday to bring the date forward. Our assessor (I won't put his name) was brilliant, helpful, understanding and put me at ease very quickly, and even offered advice during the assessment.
After initially looking at the install (for literally about 15 minutes) we were straight down to the QMS, and his long list of questions. THIS is exactly where you need to be vigilant. In this section I would suggest the following:
- Read & understand the MCS 001 appendix A!!! I can't stress this enough! I sat with this in front of me, while he had his assessment sheet in front of him, and the appendix is so accurate to the assessment that I was able to find and show the relevant paperwork before he had even read it himself. And more to the point, read all 19 points in the appendix carefully; they are not all just one question, but more frequently three or four elements for each clause which he or she may ask you for! Use this as the basis of your QMS!!
- In addition to the above, I would really recommend researching the software option for a QMS!! I wont actually advertise what I use, but do some research, as it makes the whole process of organising the paperwork so much easier when everything is stored away and backed up on multiple servers!! In addition, good software will supply a list of all your procedures such as (corrective/preventative, non-conformity, complaints, contracts, quoting procedure, warranty, order cancellation, data back-up)! The assessor will ask you for each of these and need to see a hard copy of them!!
- Have your handover pack for your initial install ready, printed, signed and waiting! He explained to me that he usually has to wait while individual pages are found, loaded or printed and having it ready made it much easier. Right from the closing letter, cover sheet, quote, contract etc. through to the sales invoice, data sheets and commissioning certificate.
- Make sure you have plenty of meeting notes, they do say 'at least quarterly' but for the sake of writing up one or two additional meetings, which could take all of half an hour to do, is totally worth it and will get you an easy tick in that box.
- If you use any other MCS accreddited suppliers, have their number ready (can be found on mcs database)
- Finally, I had a mad rush the day before to get my insurance sorted for this, together with my sub-contractors. Get it sorted... BUT it is not actually a requirement for the MCS assessment, so don't get in a panic over it the night before!!
I hope this helps....
