ISO 17100 certification checklist for translation service providers

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An ISO 17100 certification checklist turns a dense translation-services standard into owned tasks, named evidence, and review cadences your team can execute before a certification body arrives.

ISO 17100:2015 sets requirements for translation service providers (TSPs)—not interpreting, and not raw machine translation plus post-editing as a substitute for the standard’s human translation-and-revision model. If you sell translation as a service and want third-party proof that your processes meet the standard, this checklist is the operational spine.

Certification is typically issued by an accredited certification body (CB) after Stage 1 (documentation readiness) and Stage 2 (implementation sampling). This guide stays practical: owners, evidence, and workflows—not linguistic QA theater.

This guide covers:

How to confirm scope (and what ISO 17100 typically excludes)
An actionable checklist with owners and evidence columns
Competence, resources, and project lifecycle items auditors commonly sample
How to keep evidence owned and reviewable between audits

Checklist progress when certification prep finally feels organized

GIF via GIPHY

Related guides:

Key takeaways

Treat the checklist as a program spine—map every item to an owner, evidence location, and last-reviewed date before Stage 1.
ISO 17100 is for translation services; interpreting and raw MT+PE workflows are typically outside the standard’s intended scope model.
Mandatory second-person revision is a frequent audit focus—project records should show translation and revision by a different qualified person.
Translator competence commonly rests on a translation degree, another degree plus about two years’ experience, or about five years’ full-time professional experience—document which path applies.
Evidence ownership beats last-minute folders—competence files, agreements, complaints/CAPA, and technical resource records should live in named systems with recurring reviews.

What this ISO 17100 certification checklist covers

Use this checklist when you are preparing for first-time certification or tightening readiness before surveillance. It is organized around how TSPs actually fail audits: missing competence proof, projects that cannot show revision, unclear client agreements, and policies that exist on paper but not in workflows.

The checklist is not a substitute for buying the standard text or for linguistic quality evaluation. SecureSlate’s angle here is evidence ownership, policies, confidentiality/security controls, and recurring reviews—so you can prove the system operates, not so a platform “replaces” revisers.

For a deeper requirements tour, see ISO 17100 requirements: a complete breakdown. For whether certification is worth pursuing for your business model, see Who needs ISO 17100 certification?.

Confirm scope and exclusions first

Before you assign owners, write a one-page scope statement:

Languages, domains, and delivery models in scope
Legal entities and locations covered by the certificate
Subcontracted linguists vs employed staff (and how competence is still controlled)
Explicit exclusions (commonly interpreting; workflows that are only raw MT+PE without meeting the standard’s translation-and-revision expectations)

If marketing claims “ISO 17100 certified” for services outside that scope, you create audit and commercial risk. Align sales collateral with the scope statement early.

Actionable ISO 17100 certification checklist

Use the table as your working register. Copy it into your project tracker and fill Owner, Evidence, and Status for every row.

Checklist item	Typical owner	Evidence to retain	Status
Documented scope and exclusions	Quality / Ops lead	Scope statement signed by management	Not started
Translation process map (pre → production → post)	Operations	Process diagrams + SOPs	Not started
Translator competence criteria + records	Talent / Vendor Mgmt	CVs, degrees, experience proofs, assessments	Not started
Reviser competence criteria + records	Talent / Vendor Mgmt	Reviser quals + assignment rules	Not started
Mandatory second-person revision rule	Project Mgmt	Project tickets showing distinct translator & reviser	Not started
Client agreements / order confirmation	Sales Ops	Signed SOWs, NDAs, specs, acceptance criteria	Not started
Pre-production analysis & query logs	Project Mgmt	Briefs, queries, client replies	Not started
Technical resources inventory (CAT, TMS, style guides)	IT / Ops	Tool list, access controls, version notes	Not started
Confidentiality & information security controls	Security / Compliance	Policies, access reviews, incident logs	Not started
Complaints, feedback, and CAPA process	Quality	Complaint register + corrective actions	Not started
Internal audit of ISO 17100 processes	Quality	Audit plan, findings, closures	Not started
Management review of quality system	Leadership	Meeting minutes + actions	Not started
Certification body selected & contract	Compliance	CB quote, agreement, audit dates	Not started
Stage 1 documentation pack ready	Quality	Controlled document index	Not started
Stage 2 sample projects prepared	Project Mgmt	Complete project files with revision proof	Not started

Treat “Status” as binary only when evidence is retrievable in under five minutes. If someone has to dig through chat threads, the item is not ready.

Resources and competence checklist items

Human resources

ISO 17100 expects TSPs to ensure people doing translation and revision meet competence criteria. Translator qualification paths commonly documented in the market include:

A degree in translation, or
A degree in another field plus roughly two years of documented translation experience, or
Roughly five years of full-time professional translation experience

Revisers typically need demonstrated competence in the relevant language pair and domain, plus the ability to revise another person’s work. Keep a clear rule that the reviser is a second person—not the same translator “checking themselves.”

Competence file hygiene

For each active linguist (employee or contractor), aim for a file that includes:

Identity and contact details
Language pairs and domains
Which qualification path applies, with supporting documents
Onboarding / assessment notes where you use them
Confidentiality agreements
Last competence review date

For domain nuance, see ISO 17100 translator and reviser competence requirements.

Technical and support resources

List CAT/TMS tools, terminology resources, style guides, and secure file-transfer methods. Auditors commonly ask how you control access, versions, and client confidentiality—especially for freelancers working remotely.

Pre-production, production, and post-production

Pre-production

Confirm that projects capture client requirements, feasibility, resources, and agreements before work starts. Evidence often includes order confirmations, project briefs, and query logs.

Production

Show that translation is performed by a qualified translator and that revision by a second qualified person occurs as required. Project records should make the two roles obvious (names, timestamps, or system roles).

Post-production

Document final verification/delivery steps, client feedback handling, and archiving. Complaints should route into corrective action with owners and closure dates—not vanish into email.

If you also run a general QMS, clarify how ISO 17100 process controls relate to ISO 9001 so teams do not duplicate conflicting procedures—see ISO 17100 vs ISO 9001: what's the difference?.

Evidence readiness before you call a CB

Before contracting a certification body, run a dry-run internal audit against this checklist. Prefer sampling complete projects end-to-end over gathering policies alone.

A practical readiness bar:

Document index is controlled (owners, versions, review dates)
At least several recent projects clearly show translation + second-person revision
Competence files exist for everyone who touched those projects
Complaint/CAPA samples show follow-through
Confidentiality and access controls are demonstrable, not aspirational

For cost planning after the checklist is green, see How much does ISO 17100 certification cost?. For the end-to-end path, see How to get ISO 17100 certified: step-by-step.

Ongoing maintenance after the certificate is issued is a separate discipline—bookmark Maintaining ISO 17100 compliance: ongoing best practices.

Streamline ISO 17100 evidence with SecureSlate

ISO 17100 readiness fails most often when evidence is scattered across email, shared drives, and vendor portals. SecureSlate helps TSPs and compliance owners keep policies, assignments, and recurring reviews organized—without claiming to replace linguistic QA.

With SecureSlate you can typically:

Assign owners and due dates for checklist items and management reviews
Centralize policies for confidentiality, access, vendor onboarding, and quality workflows
Track recurring reviews so competence refresh and internal audits do not slip
Store evidence links mapped to controls so Stage 1/Stage 2 packs assemble faster
Connect security-related controls (access reviews, incident handling) that auditors often ask about alongside quality processes

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FAQ: ISO 17100 certification checklist

Is ISO 17100 the same as a linguistic QA checklist?

No. Linguistic QA evaluates text quality. An ISO 17100 certification checklist evaluates whether your TSP system—competence, processes, revision, agreements, and improvement—meets the standard and can be audited.

Does the checklist include interpreting?

Interpreting is typically outside ISO 17100’s translation-services focus. Keep interpreting out of scope unless your CB and scope statement say otherwise.

Can machine translation count toward ISO 17100 projects?

Raw MT+PE is commonly treated as outside the standard’s human translation-and-revision model. If you use technology, document how human translation and mandatory second-person revision still occur as required—confirm with your CB.

Who should own the checklist?

Usually a quality or operations lead owns the register, with Talent/Vendor Management owning competence files and Project Management owning sample project evidence.

How long does checklist prep take?

Timelines vary widely by maturity. Smaller TSPs with clean project data may prepare in weeks; larger or fragmented operations may need several months of remediation before Stage 1.

Do we need ISO 9001 first?

Not necessarily. Some organizations hold both; others pursue ISO 17100 alone. Compare intent in ISO 17100 vs ISO 9001: what's the difference?.

Disclaimer (legal note)

SecureSlate is not a law firm, and this article does not constitute legal advice, certification advice, or a guarantee of audit outcomes. ISO 17100:2015 requirements, scope decisions, and certification body expectations should be confirmed against the official standard text and with qualified counsel or your auditor. Use this checklist as an operational aid only.