ISO 37001:2025 Anti-Bribery Management
ISO 37001 without audit: no site visit, certificate within 4 hours
You answer 38 yes/no questions about your anti-bribery management system, online and at your own desk. SICE reviews every assessment, and Zertify issues the certificate within 4 hours after you pass and pay. No auditor comes to your premises.
01: Method
How the self-assessment replaces the on-site visit
In the classic route, an auditor travels to your company, reads your documents and talks to your staff. Zertify moves this check into a questionnaire that you complete yourself. The questions follow the structure of ISO 37001:2025: bribery risk assessment, anti-bribery policy, compliance function, due diligence, controls and the reporting channel.
Answer 38 questions
Each question is answered with yes or no. You answer for your company as it works today, not as you plan it to work.
Meet the 14 core questions
Fourteen questions are must-meet. All of them need a yes. They are the core questions of the assessment, not a list of every requirement of the standard.
Reach 16 yes answers among the other 24
The remaining 24 questions need at least 16 yes answers. A few gaps in this group do not stop you from passing.
Review and certificate
SICE reviews the assessment. After you have passed and paid, Zertify issues the certificate with a number and a QR code.
02: Scope
What does an ISO 37001 certificate without audit confirm?
The certificate states that your company completed the Zertify assessment for ISO 37001:2025 and met the pass criteria. It rests on your own answers and on the SICE review of them. No one has inspected your premises or interviewed your staff.
- Issuer
- Zertify issues the certificate under licence from SICE.
- Basis
- An online self-assessment. There is no on-site audit.
- Verification
- Every certificate can be checked publicly by its number or QR code. A purchasing department or a customer auditor can do this in a few seconds.
- Validity
- The certificate is valid for 3 years. Each year a short online re-audit confirms it.
The certificate does not claim that bribery never happens in your company. It shows that the organisational precautions asked for by the standard are in place. Your answers have to be honest, because the whole procedure relies on them.
03: Audience
Which companies suit a certificate without audit?
The route works best where a customer wants evidence of an anti-bribery system and accepts a verifiable certificate that was issued online. For the following groups, the question comes up regularly.
- Suppliers to groups
- The supplier questionnaire asks for anti-bribery controls, and the group has a code of conduct. You attach the PDF and the verification link.
- Companies with public sector customers
- Tenders and framework agreements ask about integrity measures. A certificate gives your quote a document to point to.
- Exporters and internationally active SMEs
- Sales through agents and distributors raise the bribery risk. The standard asks for due diligence on exactly these business associates.
- Construction, engineering and infrastructure
- Permits, subcontractors and public clients make this a core compliance topic.
- Healthcare and medical technology
- Contacts with hospitals, distributors and institutions call for clear rules and controls.
- Commodity trading and logistics
- Customs, intermediaries and cross-border payments are typical risk points that the assessment asks about.
04: Comparison
ISO 37001 without audit compared with the classic audit route
The main differences are the form of the check, the time to the certificate and the cost. The figures for the classic route are indicative ranges and depend on company size, number of sites and the certification body you choose.
| Criterion | Zertify | Classic route with on-site audit |
|---|---|---|
| Form of the check | Online self-assessment with 38 questions, reviewed by SICE | Auditor on site, with document review and staff interviews |
| Time to certificate | Within 4 hours after passing and payment | Indicative: several weeks to a few months from the first enquiry |
| Effort for your team | Questionnaire completed at your desk | Audit days to schedule, with managers and staff available |
| Cost | CHF 749 in the first year, then CHF 499 per year including the online re-audit | Indicative: a few thousand francs or more for the first audit, plus follow-up audits in later years |
| Yearly confirmation | Short online re-audit | Follow-up audit by the certification body |
Anyone who needs a certificate for a tender deadline or a supplier questionnaire will feel the difference in time first. The cost difference shows over the full three years.
05: Zertify
How Zertify fits in
Zertify is an online platform that issues ISO certificates based on a self-assessment. The ISO 37001 certificate is issued by Zertify under licence from SICE, and SICE reviews every assessment before the certificate goes out. You do not need an account to buy.
The fee is an automatic yearly subscription that includes the online re-audit. You can cancel at any time in your customer account, effective at the end of the current year. If you cancel, the certificate ends with the year you have paid. Prices include 8.1% Swiss VAT for customers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
If you need more than one standard, the discount is 20% for two standards and 30% for three or more. It also applies to the yearly fee.
06: Limits
When the classic route is the better choice
Some tenders and some customers name a certification body audit on site in their requirements. Read the exact wording of the requirement before you decide. If the document asks for an on-site audit, only the classic route meets it.
A company with high-risk business may also want an external auditor to question its staff in person. That is a legitimate wish, and the self-assessment does not offer it. The guide on certification routes sets the two options side by side.
07: FAQ
Questions about ISO 37001 without audit
Yes. With Zertify you complete an online self-assessment instead of an on-site audit. SICE reviews the assessment, and Zertify issues the certificate under licence from SICE. The certificate is publicly verifiable.
SICE reviews every assessment before the certificate is issued. Each year a short online re-audit confirms the certificate again. Your answers must still be truthful, as the procedure builds on them.
You should have a documented bribery risk assessment, an anti-bribery policy and a named compliance function. You should also have a due diligence procedure for business associates, financial and non-financial controls, and a reporting channel with protection against retaliation. The questions ask about exactly these points.
Yes. Every certificate has a number and a QR code on the PDF. Anyone can look it up on the public verification page, including your customer's purchasing department.
You can cancel at any time in your customer account. The cancellation takes effect at the end of the current year. The certificate ends with the year you have paid.
That depends on the customer. Many supplier questionnaires ask only for evidence of an anti-bribery system. Check the requirement text in your tender or contract, and ask the customer if it is unclear.
08: Guide
Related pages
Find out where your anti-bribery system stands
Answer the 38 questions of the ISO 37001 self-assessment and see whether you pass.
Free and without registration.