ISO-Certified translations

Translation at EnglishBusiness has been certified according to ISO 17100 since the end of 2018. This isn’t just a good thing for us, it’s also a quality guarantee for our customers and an indication of what they can expect.

ISO 17100 2016 is a standard for translation service providers, specifically specialist translators. The requirements concern translators, proofreaders, quality assurance, information security and stable processes. Our conformity guarantees the customer a high standard of quality and security.

Our translation unit established practices early on to offer our customers translations that are not only linguistically correct, but also stylistically and technically in keeping with the source text. Even before our certification, we were conforming with many of the standard’s requirements so it was a natural step to have our quality officially recognised.

This certification is valid for three years and recognisable by this symbol:

EnglishBusiness Partner AG für Englisch Training Sprachkurse Seminare Event Moderation Übersetzungen docConsult_Prüfzeichen_ISO_17100

The advantages of an ISO-certified translation service provider at a glance:

Transparent processes and clear conditions
High quality through qualified language experts and project managers
Tried and tested processes for quality assurance and information security
Adaptation to customer requirements through feedback and effective, secure archiving of projects

How do we put these standards into operation?

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Specialist skills on every level

A quality translation begins with the choice of translator. We work exclusively with native speakers of the target language who also specialise in finance, investor relations, law, marketing HR or technical areas. To ensure linguistic quality and consistency, we employ close to 50 freelance translators and 6 full-time internal editors. These language specialists don’t just translate and edit, they also take care of our linguistic resources.

They are picked according to very strict criteria. ISO 17100 requires a tertiary qualification in the field of translation or at least five years work experience. If a candidate possesses these qualifications, we test their technical and linguistic skills through a test translation. We even go so far as to ensure that our translators are translating into their native form of English, i.e. British or American.

Because even the best translators are still only human, we double-check every translation, meaning every translation is read over by a second, equally qualified proofreader. This is to ensure that the text is an accurate representation of the source text, as well as to check for correct terminology and language.

Our internal editors keep our terminology databases and translation memories, maintained and are constantly updating them according to the needs of individual customers. This extra work results in linguistic consistency and higher efficiency for all translations.

The project managers at EnglishBusiness are experienced translation professionals and are supported by a modern software system that brings together customers and their texts with suitable translators and proofreaders. They lead the communication with the customer and make sure feedback from our internal editors is saved in our internal customer-specific language resources. This way the valuable translations can be constantly improved and saved to suit exact customer needs.

Thanks to new project management software our employees are able to analyse requests as quickly as possible and create specific offers with realistic deadlines and clear conditions. The combination of precise and technologically-supported data and personal contact with the responsible project managers offers the customer maximal transparency, flexibility and trust.

ISO 17100 also sets out minimum standards for information security. This concerns communication with customers and the saving and storing of customer documents and related language resources.

What happens during an audit and who can conduct it?

The audit is carried out by a certification body, in our case docConsult Zertifizierung UG. The auditor themselves works according to ISO standards, which dictate the qualifications and processes they must have and carry out. The audit is a three-hour process during which the company’s conformity to ISO 17100 is checked on site step by step. If a company passes the audit, the certification lasts for three years. At the end of the first and second year there is an interim audit as well.

Do you need a translation of your IR communication documents, contracts or marketing materials? Then get in touch for a quote with no obligation.

Robert Rothe
Marketing and Partner Manager

Robert grew up in Hamburg, but has strong South African roots. At EnglishBusiness he is the German translation editor, manages our pool of external translators and creates our marketing content. In his free time you’ll find him running around the Alster. In this blog he writes about the German language, South Africa, sports and our beautiful port city.