Upgrade your ISO system
with an Integrated Management System (IMS)
Simplify Compliance. Reduce Costs. Perform Better.
Managing multiple ISO standards separately is slowing you down. Duplicate processes, scattered documentation, and time-consuming audits all add unnecessary complexity.
An Integrated Management System (IMS) brings everything together, so your business runs smarter, not harder.
Ready to simplify your ISO systems?
An IMS brings every ISO standard
into one smarter, leaner system
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What is an Integrated Management System?
An Integrated Management System (IMS) combines multiple ISO standards into one streamlined, easy-to-manage framework, eliminating the need for separate systems, duplicated processes, and unnecessary complexity.
Instead of managing each standard individually, an IMS aligns everything into a single structure, helping your organisation operate more efficiently while maintaining full compliance.
Powered by Annex SL: The Foundation of Integration
This integration is made possible by Annex SL: the unified framework used across modern ISO standards. Annex SL ensures that all your systems follow the same structure, terminology, and core requirements. The result? Consistent policies, aligned processes, and a much simpler way to manage compliance.
In short: all your ISO standards “speak the same language.”
Which Standards Can Be Integrated?
An IMS is flexible and scalable, allowing you to combine multiple standards into one cohesive system. Commonly integrated ISO standards include:
- ISO 9001:2015 — Quality Management
- ISO 14001:2015 — Environmental Management
- ISO 45001:2018 — Occupational Health & Safety
- ISO/IEC 27001:2022 — Information Security
- ISO 50001:2018 — Energy Management
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Why This Matters for Your Business
Lower your overall implementation and audit costs by eliminating duplication across systems. With IMSM, you can also benefit from special IMS pricing structures, making integration even more cost-effective.
Replace multiple sets of policies and procedures with one integrated system. This ensures consistency, reduces confusion, and keeps everyone aligned across the organisation.
Instead of managing multiple audit cycles, an IMS enables a single, streamlined audit programme, saving time, reducing disruption, and allowing your team to stay focused on core operations.
An IMS ensures that key policies apply across the entire business, not just within individual departments. For example, ISO/IEC 27001 information security requirements are embedded company-wide, strengthening governance and risk control at every level.
Choose the certification approach that best suits your business:
- Unified IMS Certification (via QAS International Ltd) — combine multiple ISO standards into a single certification cycle, including surveillance audits.
- Separate Certifications — maintain individual ISO certifications while still benefiting from an integrated internal system.
An IMS gives you a leaner, more efficient, and more scalable management system. It reduces complexity while strengthening compliance, control, and overall performance across your entire organisation.
Learn more about IMS
Download your free Integrated Management System guide.
How IMSM Makes Integration Simple
We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. Our experts work closely with you to build an IMS tailored to your business.
1. Review your current ISO systems
We start by understanding what you already have in place. Our experts audit each of your existing ISO management systems to map current documentation, processes, controls and audit cycles.
2. Identify overlaps and inefficiencies
Next, we identify where your standards overlap and where duplicated effort is costing you time and money. This is where the biggest gains from integration come from.
3. Design a unified, streamlined framework
Using Annex SL as the foundation, we design a single integrated framework that aligns all your ISO standards under common policies, procedures and controls — tailored to how your business actually operates.
4. Implement & prepare you for certification
We support the rollout of your new IMS with minimal disruption to your team and prepare you for a successful certification audit — either as a unified IMS certification or as separate certifications, whichever suits your business best.
Is an IMS Right for You?
Implementing an IMS reduces costs, simplifies management, and creates a consistent framework across all your ISO standards.
This approach is ideal if you:
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Upgrade Your ISO System Today
An Integrated Management System isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a smarter way to run your business.
Reduce complexity. Improve performance. Stay compliant with confidence.
Book your free consultation today and let’s explore how an IMS can transform your ISO systems.
Is an IMS suitable for small businesses?
How long does it take to implement an IMS?
Will an IMS work alongside my existing certification bodies?
How much can an IMS save my business?
An IMS supports the following Sustainable Development Goals:
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“We decided to use IMSM to help and support us through the process. We were fairly new to this as a company and to have a company like IMSM guiding us through the requirements saved us time and gave us the confidence to present to the external auditors, knowing we had everything covered”
"Our ISO certifications help us provide consistent, quality-focused services that our clients have come to depend on and appreciate.”
“We can now demonstrate, via externally internationally recognised accreditation, that Pall-Ex is the number one pallet network for quality. This also allows us extensive yearly external auditing by our certification provider against a measured standard.”
"Our IMSM Assessor put in a lot of time and effort; they did a really good job for us, helping to organise what we had here. We had a lot of the pieces in place, they just weren’t put together, which IMSM helped us to do. We have a system in place now and we continually follow up on everything. “
Typical savings from running an IMS
Real numbers from IMSM clients who consolidated separate ISO management systems into one integrated framework.
IMS vs running separate ISO certifications
A simple side-by-side of what changes when you integrate.
| Separate ISO systems | Integrated Management System | |
|---|---|---|
| Documentation | Three or four separate manuals, each with its own policies and procedures. | One unified manual aligned to Annex SL — consistent terminology across all standards. |
| Audits | Separate audit cycles for each standard, often back-to-back disruption for the team. | One combined audit programme — less downtime, fewer days off the floor. |
| Internal effort | Duplicated processes, version-control headaches, conflicting requirements. | Shared controls, single risk register, one continual-improvement loop. |
| Cost over a 3-year cycle | Full surveillance + recertification fees per standard. | Special IMS pricing structures; lower combined audit fees through QAS International Ltd. |
| Governance | Information security may sit only with IT; H&S only with HR. | Controls applied company-wide — ISO/IEC 27001 obligations embedded everywhere. |
| Adding new standards | Each new standard is a fresh implementation project. | Annex SL makes new standards a bolt-on rather than a rebuild. |
How an IMS plays out by industry
Common combinations of ISO standards we integrate for clients in different sectors.
Manufacturing & engineering
Typical IMS: ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 + ISO 45001
One quality, environment and safety framework on the shop floor — useful for supplier audits, tender submissions and regulatory inspections in a single visit.
Tech & SaaS
Typical IMS: ISO 9001 + ISO/IEC 27001
Information security controls baked into the quality system, so engineering, support and sales all operate against the same governance, risk and compliance model.
Healthcare & life sciences
Typical IMS: ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 + ISO/IEC 27001
Patient data protection, quality of care and environmental controls under one auditable system — with clear evidence chains for regulators and commissioners.
Construction & facilities
Typical IMS: ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 + ISO 45001 + ISO 50001
Quality, environment, occupational safety and energy under one combined audit cycle — the integrated approach most public-sector tenders now expect.
What is Annex SL, and why does it make an IMS possible?
Annex SL is the high-level structure that every modern ISO management-system standard now follows. It defines 10 common clauses, identical core text, shared terms and shared definitions. That is what lets ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO 50001 plug into a single management system rather than fighting each other.
The 10 Annex SL clauses are:
- Scope
- Normative references
- Terms and definitions
- Context of the organisation
- Leadership
- Planning
- Support
- Operation
- Performance evaluation
- Improvement
If you already hold one Annex SL-aligned standard, you have already done roughly 30-40% of the work for the next one. An IMS captures that shared work once, not three or four times.
More IMS questions, answered
What is Annex SL in plain English?
Annex SL is the shared blueprint every modern ISO management-system standard follows — same clause numbers, same terminology, same structure. It is what makes integration possible. You build the chassis once and bolt each standard onto it.
How much does an IMS cost?
It depends on which standards you integrate, how many employees and sites you have and how mature your existing systems are. Most clients pay materially less for a combined IMS than for the same standards run separately because audits, documentation and surveillance are consolidated. We will quote a fixed fee after a short scoping call.
Will my staff need to be retrained?
Usually no full retraining is needed. Because Annex SL aligns terminology across standards, staff who already know one standard pick up the rest very quickly. We provide a short awareness briefing as part of implementation.
Can I add a new ISO standard to my IMS later?
Yes — that is one of the strongest reasons to start with an IMS. New Annex SL-aligned standards bolt onto your existing framework rather than triggering a fresh implementation project, so you scale compliance without scaling overhead.
Does an IMS work for small businesses?
It is especially useful for smaller teams. Running several ISO systems in parallel is far more painful for a 20-person business than for a 2,000-person one. An IMS removes most of that admin load and keeps compliance proportionate to your size.
How long does implementation take with IMSM?
Most IMS projects with IMSM take 3 to 6 months end-to-end, depending on how many standards are in scope, your starting point and the size of the business. Our typical clients integrate two to three standards inside one engagement.
