The person maintaining your system is paid as a quality specialist. Their formation is a four-day course. You are covering the gap between what expertise costs and what was delivered — every year, at market rate, for a discipline nobody studied.

You paid for two things: a management system and a certificate. You received one — and only if the audit went well. The price never changed. You were charged for the system and the certificate, and handed the certificate.

A system that runs itself costs nothing to maintain. Yours doesn’t, so someone must be paid to keep the documents current — a consultant on retainer, or a hire. That cost was never quoted. It recurs for as long as you hold the certificate.