1.Organisation structure

The company must provide evidence of a permanent office with its own rooms, regular office hours and adequate infrastructure, and it must have operated for at least 5 years exclusively as a language service. Companies which have not been in existence for that period of time may, at the discretion of the Committee, be accepted as candidates for membership.

2.Specialist expertise

The owner/manager must possess and present documentary evidence of an appropriate professional qualification and experience. All permanent and freelance staff must also be able to produce evidence that they are suitably qualified for their areas of responsibility.

3.Range of services

The company must be in a position to offer a clearly defined range of services using its own resources. The company must demonstrate that it is actually able to carry out the processes and work with the products advertised in that range of services.

4.Quality standard

The company must provide a description of how it carries out quality management. The minimum requirement of this description is to document that the company does not merely act as a broker of services and products, but is also a technically competent company with its own personell and infrastructure resources and is itself responsible for meeting quality requirements according to today’s standards.
Alternatively, proof of a quality management system can be provided via a QSD audit. For companies that are already certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2008, the submission of a copy of the certification document is sufficient.

5.Size of the company

The company must show turnover appropriate for a commercial enterprise. The characteristics of personnel and infrastructure must be indicative of a company.

6.Professional conduct

The company must provide a sworn statement that it has a bankruptcy-free history. By becoming a member of QSD, the company commits itself to fairness in dealings with clients, other translation companies, employees and freelancers.

7.Support for QSD

Use of the QSD logo is recommended.

Do the test in order to quickly find out whether you meet the criteria for joining QSD.