From right: First Balfour president and COO Anthony Fernandez, Corporate Quality head Jose Lagdan Jr., TUV SUD lead auditor Eunice Sol Diamante, First Balfour EVP Rey Villar and TUV SUD account executive Ednalyn OliviaFollowing its successful transition to the ISO 9001:2015 standard for quality management, First Balfour received its new ISO certificate from TUV SUD PSB Philippines on November 20.

Since the beginning of the year, Corporate Quality has been organizing awareness and transition courses to facilitate First Balfour’s seamless transition to the new standard. Published in September 2015, changes introduced in this latest version of the standard include an increased focus on risk-based thinking and a much simpler integration with other management systems.

First Balfour underwent its Stage 1 audit in August while the implementation audit was held in September.

The TUV SUD auditors were highly appreciative of the company’s risk management system and process-approach auditing, the use of technology in project delivery and the support of the top management in the implementation of the business management manual.

“This successful transition has demonstrated that we are fully committed to continual improvement, therefore giving our stakeholders the reassurance that First Balfour only offers the highest quality of engineering and construction services,” said Corporate Quality head Jose Lagdan Jr.

The turnover ceremony was attended by the First Balfour management team and TUV SUD PSB representatives.

First Balfour received its first ISO 9001 certification for its Quality Management System in 2002. In 2003, it received two other certifications under the standard ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001, making it one of the first triple ISO-certified construction companies in the Philippines. (Story/Photos by: Dolly Pasia-Ramos)