Collaborative ISO 20771 Certification from ATC Certification
ISO 20771 is the internationally recognised standard for legal translation services, providing the responsibilities and requirements for operating a quality legal translation service.
Although very similar to ISO 17100, ISO 20771 is designed for individual legal translators, and therefore cannot be implemented by language service companies directly.
In response to this, ATC Certification has developed a collaborative certification process whereby language service companies collaborate with in-house or freelance legal translators to jointly fulfil the requirements of the standard.
Collaborative ISO 20771 Certification Process
The contract for certification is made between ATC Certification and the language service company, who is responsible for the auditing and certification fees.
ATC Certification certifies the language service company’s individual legal translators, either in-house or freelance, who following successful certification hold an individual ISO 20771 certificate. The scope of the certificate is however limited to work carried out for the named language service company.
The language service company contractually agrees who carries what responsibilities for compliance with the standard, with the translators to be certified.
ISO 20771 Requirements
Both the language service company and the individual translators involved in the provision of the service should be familiar with the requirements of ISO 20771 and have arrangements in place to demonstrate compliance.
The ISO 20771 standard can be purchased from the ISO Shop.
Some key responsibilities are as follows:
The language service company should
- ensure that the translator understands the requirements of the standard;
- document how responsibilities for compliance with the standard’s requirements are shared;
- ensure that they comply with the requirements of the standard relevant to them;
- provide a list of translators to be certified (during Stage 1 Audit); and
- ensure all translators to be certified are available during Stage 2 Audit afternoon meeting.
The individual translators should
- understand the requirements of the standard;
- agree to being audited and certified by ATC Certification for work carried out for the language service company;
- ensure that they comply with the requirements of the standard relevant to them;
- agree to the language service company to use their certificate for commercial purposes; and
- make themselves available during Stage 2 Audit.
Start Your ISO 20771 Certification Journey
ISO 20771 Collaborative Certification with ATC Certification helps language services companies set themselves apart in the marketplace, through an impartial external audit involving the company and its translators, whether they are in-house or freelance.
ATC Certification provides language industry specialist certification with expert auditors who understand the industry and its processes.
Contact us to arrange an initial call.
