Accreditation

Organisations check conformity and compliance with standards and regulations through testing, verification, inspection and calibration. Through UKAC accreditation test results can be trusted, measurements relied upon, certificated activities respected and inspected equipment and processes can be relied upon to operate safely and accurately.

• System Certification Bodies Accreditation as per ISO/IEC 17021-1

Quality, Environment, Food, safety, energy, information management systems are present in so many sectors of the economy.
Certification of such systems by a third party is a means of getting their conformity with international standards recognised, and in this way certifying that the organisation in place meets precise requirements.
Use of accredited certification allows a customer to obtain assurance that the Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) whose services it is using is competent and impartial.
It is a token of confidence in the quality of the service delivered. In certain sectors of activity, benefiting from accredited certification can prove decisive for capturing new markets.

• Product Certification Bodies Accreditation as per ISO/IEC 17065

Product certification demonstrates that a product, process, or service meets set requirements of established international schemes.
Accreditation requirements are specified in ISO/IEC 17065- Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services.
Owners of product certification schemes include industry associations, regulatory authorities and conformity assessment bodies.
These owners can apply to UKAC for either public or private schemes.

• Inspection Bodies Accreditation as per ISO/IEC 17020

UKAC accredits Inspection Bodies to the standard ISO 17020 whose functions include the examination of materials, products, installations, plant, processes, work procedures or services and the determination of their conformity with requirements including the subsequent reporting of the results of these activities.
Examples of inspections that these organisations perform include periodic inspection of Lifting equipment, cranes, pressurised gas cylinders and inspection of buildings for the presence of asbestos, lifts, hoists, cranes, electrical installations, escalators etc.
The requirement for the independence of inspection bodies may vary according to legislation and market needs.
There may be a requirement to have inspections carried out by an Inspection Body having third party status, that is, that are independent relative to the seller/producer and purchaser.
They generally perform inspection of facilities, equipment, installations etc. in respect of which the authorities have special regulations for safety reasons.

• Testing and Calibration laboratories Accreditation as per ISO/IEC 17025

Inaccurate testing/measurement results can have serious consequences on manufacturing processes and generate additional costs for businesses.
The reliability of the measurements carried out is therefore essential, and this involves the testing and calibration of the equipment used. Carried out by a competent and impartial body, accredited testing/calibration guarantees that the laboratory delivers services that are reliable and traceable in the International System of Units.Thanks to multilateral arrangements, the testing/ calibration certificate issued is recognised in many countries around the world, which facilitates trade. Getting recognition for your laboratory technical competence of is a means of capturing new markets, since many organisational standards used by businesses require the traceability of measurements according to the International System of Units.

• Personnel Certification Bodies Accreditation ISO/IEC 17024

UKAC offers an internationally recognized accreditation program for the certification of persons.
UKAC accreditation program for bodies performing the certification of persons provides services for many professional and trade persons, such as auditors, welders, career professionals and doctors.
Certification bodies assess an individual’s skills and ensure that the skills match the requirements of the work being performed.
UKAC accreditation evaluates and publicly identifies the credibility, impartiality and technical competence of an organization’s certification services.
Certification bodies from around the world seek UKAC accreditation as proof that their work is in line with the most current national and international standards and regulations.

Benefits of Accreditation

UKAC accreditation delivers a number of important benefits to conformity assessment bodies that enhance confidence in conformity assessment.

Highlight your competence

By meeting UKAC’s internationally-recognized policies and procedures on a regular basis you highlight your competence in performing conformity assessment activities.

Demonstrate your independence

For an effective assessment to occur the independence of the conformity assessment body is paramount. UKAC accreditation emphasizes the independence of the conformity assessment body in performing the assessment.

Benchmark your performance

Regular assessments by UKAC’s audit teams allow you to determine whether you are performing your assessment activities correctly and to appropriate standards, as well as providing your business with a benchmark for measuring future performance against.

It’s the mark of the Professional

UKAC operates in a third party assessment environment. Third party assessment is recognized around the world as the highest level of assessment, and UKAC accreditation demonstrates to your customers and others that your conformity assessment services are meeting the highest levels of professionalism in the conformity assessment industry.UKAC accepts applications for accreditation from conformity assessment bodies around the world.

How to become Accredited?

A typical process is as follows:

  • Initial enquiry
  • Preliminary response
  • Submission of application request together with administration fee. Please note: Applicants are expected to comply with the requirements of applicable standards (e.g. ISO 17021). Personnel competence will require demonstration.
  • Application performance of accreditation routines dependent upon assessment and certifying standards.
  • Send manual, procedures, require formats or applicable documents in hard or softcopy.
  • We shall review and comment. If necessary we will require you to amend and respond before the next step.
  • Demonstrate impartiality of your organization in respect of independence from ‘related bodies’ and that it is a legal entity.
  • For the first six assessments you must advise UKAC before hand that you intend to carry out an assessment.
  • You send us photocopies / e-mails of all the documents related to those assessment and certification assignments demonstrating compliance with the documents that we had earlier reviewed.
  • We shall issue a draft accreditation certificate. Your accreditation reference will be defined at this time. This will be subject to a satisfactory site witness of your activity.
  • UKAC witnesses your next assessment and certification activity.
  • You conduct a further four assessments and send us copies of the paperwork.
  • We witness the next convenient assessment.

During the course of the preceding actions we would have expected to conduct several face to face meetings and visits to your operating premises.

  • Issue of accreditation certificate if appropriate.
  • You continue to assess and certificate but don’t need to send paperwork.
  • We will monitor the level of your activity and conduct accreditation reviews to suit.
  • You must inform us of all certification activity.
  • Ongoing surveillance and accreditation including allocation of accreditation numbers.