Translation of ISO certificates and declarations of conformity

An ISO certificate, a CE declaration of conformity or a test report are the documents that determine a company's market entry, participation in a tender and the customs clearance of a product. A standard number wrong by one digit, the name of an accreditation body carried over incorrectly or an omitted validity period is enough for a tender commission or a market surveillance body to reject the document. We translate technical certificates and conformity documentation in full compliance with the official names of standards, the formal structure and the certification requirements.

Which documents are translated in this area

• Management system certificates: ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 45001 (occupational safety), ISO 27001 (information security), ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000 (food safety), ISO 13485 (medical devices), IATF 16949 (automotive industry).
• Declarations of conformity: the EU Declaration of Conformity for CE marking, the UKCA declaration, the EAC declaration and certificate for the Eurasian market.
• Product certificates and test reports: reports from ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratories, type examination certificates, RoHS and REACH conformity confirmations, ATEX and IECEx certificates for explosive atmospheres.
• Material and component documents: EN 10204 material certificates (types 3.1 and 3.2), welding procedure specifications (WPS/PQR), calibration certificates.
• Audit reports and non-conformity reports in the certification or supplier assessment process.

Where Georgian companies need translations of these documents

State and corporate tenders

A foreign-language certificate to be submitted in the unified electronic system of public procurement must be accompanied by a Georgian translation, often notarized. In international tenders, conversely, a Georgian ISO certificate and accreditation documents are translated into English.

Import, customs and market surveillance

Georgia's technical regulations, harmonised with the European directives under the Association Agreement with the EU (machinery, low-voltage equipment, electromagnetic compatibility, construction products), require that a product be accompanied by documentation confirming conformity. In dealings with the Market Surveillance Agency and the Revenue Service a Georgian translation is essential.

Foreign audit and supplier qualification

When a Georgian enterprise joins the supply chain of a European or Turkish company, the buyer requests the ISO certificate, the audit report and the quality manual in English or German.

The specifics of translating an ISO certificate

Standard numbers and official names

The designation of the standard (for example, ISO 9001:2015) stays unchanged, while its name is translated not freely but in the form adopted by the Georgian National Agency for Standards and Metrology (GEOSTM) or, where none exists, as closely as possible to the official English name of ISO. The scope of the certificate is the most difficult field, because it is precisely this that describes the company's activity, and compliance with the tender requirements is checked by its wording.

Accreditation marks and formal fields

The accreditation body's logo on the certificate (UKAS, DAkkS, ANAB, TÜRKAK, the Georgian Accreditation Centre), the IAF MLA mark, the certificate number, the dates of issue, last amendment and expiry, the certification cycle number and the signatory's position are translated with full formal precision. Where there is a seal or signature on the document, a corresponding note is made in the translation.

The structure of a declaration of conformity (DoC)

The content of a European declaration of conformity is defined by Annex III to Decision 768/2008/EC, and all the mandatory elements must be preserved in the translation:

• the unique identifier of the product (model, type, batch or serial number);
• the name and address of the manufacturer and, where applicable, of the authorised representative;
• a statement that the declaration is issued under the sole responsibility of the manufacturer;
• the object of the declaration and the list of relevant harmonisation legislation;
• references to the harmonised standards or technical specifications applied;
• the name, number and certificate issued of the notified body;
• the place, date, name and position of the signatory.

The names of directives and regulations are translated in accordance with the official Georgian translation, while the numbers (for example, 2014/35/EU) stay unchanged.

The particularity of test reports and material certificates

Unlike a certificate, a test report is a multi-page technical document: measurement methods, calibration data of the instruments used, environmental conditions, measurement uncertainty and results tables. A material certificate (EN 10204 3.1) gives the chemical composition, mechanical properties and heat treatment regime. In these documents the translation concerns only the text fields, while numerical values, units and material grades (S355J2, 1.4404, 6061-T6) stay unchanged. We check that the table column headings and footnotes are translated so that the engineer does not need to compare with the source.

Certification: agency seal, notary, apostille

For a tender and a state body a notarized translation is usually needed, which we provide on a one-stop basis. A Georgian certificate to be submitted abroad may need an apostille, which is issued by the Public Service Hall. For certification bodies and foreign buyers a translation certified with the agency's seal is often sufficient. We always advise confirming the exact requirement of the receiving party before the order starts.

Typical errors that cause a document to be rejected

• mixing up or omitting the version of the standard (2008 and 2015);
• transliterating the company's legal name in a way that does not match the form in the register extract and other documents;
• interchanging "certificate" and "declaration", which are legally different documents;
• shortening or paraphrasing the scope, so that it no longer matches the tender requirement;
• ignoring logos and seals in the translation, which gives the notary grounds to refuse certification.

A certificate is usually accompanied by a product catalogue or datasheet and an operating manual, in which the product name and model must be identical to the certificate. That is why we translate the whole package in one terminology base.

Frequently asked questions