Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks (such as certification, inspection and testing). Accreditation bodies are established in many economies with the primary purpose of ensuring that conformity assessment bodies are subject to oversight by an authoritative body. Accreditation bodies, that have been peer evaluated as competent, sign regional and international arrangements to demonstrate their competence. These accreditation bodies then assess and accredit conformity assessment bodies to the relevant standards. An authoritative body that performs accreditation is called an '

accreditation body Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

'. The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) provide international recognitions to accreditation bodies. There are many internationally recognized accreditation bodies approved by the IAF and ILAC. The Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) is the largest accreditation body in Middle East region, whereas in South Asia the

Pakistan National Accreditation Council The Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) ( ur, ) is a department subordinate to the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of Pakistan, of which Fawad Chaudhry is minister from 18 April 2019. Formation and Objective The Pa ...

(PNAC) and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL),

Quality Council of India The Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up as a public private partnership model on the model existing in Netherlands at the time, where although the NAB was not owned by the government, yet it was supported by it and was exceedingly used as a ...

(QCI) are the largest. In East Asia, the China National Accreditation Board is the largest, while the

United Kingdom Accreditation Service The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. It e ...

(UKAS) is the largest in Europe. The National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) and the

Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) is an independent, third party accreditation body that provides internationally recognised accreditation services. JAS-ANZ was established by International treaty titled ''Agreeme ...

(JAS-ANZ) being the largest in the Oceania region, with the

South African National Accreditation System The South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) is the official accreditation body for South Africa. Founded in 1996, SANAS is headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa. SANAS accreditation certificates are a formal recognition by the G ...

being the largest in Africa. For most of the accreditation schemes,

international standard international standard is a technical standard developed by one or more international standards organizations. International standards are available for consideration and use worldwide. The most prominent such organization is the International Or ...

s issued by the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...

(ISO) are used.

Fields involved

Accreditation processes are used in a wide variety of fields: *

Accredited investor An accredited or sophisticated investor is an investor with a special status under financial regulation laws. The definition of an accredited investor (if any), and the consequences of being classified as such, vary between countries. Generally, acc ...

Accredited in Public Relations The Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), Accreditation in Public Relations and Military Communications (APR+M), and Certificate in Principles of Public Relations are voluntary certifications in the USA for persons working in the field of public ...

Accredited registrar An accredited registrar, also called an accredited certification body (CB), is an organization accredited by a recognized accrediting body for its competence to audit and issue certification confirming that an organization meets the requirements of ...

* Construction *

Diplomatic accreditation A letter of credence (french: Lettre de créance) is a formal diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to anot ...

Educational accreditation Educational accreditation is a quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated and verified by an external body to determine whether applicable and recognized standards are met. ...

Higher education accreditation Higher education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of post-secondary educational institutions or programs are evaluated to determine if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accr ...

*** ACGME (USA) ***

List of recognized higher education accreditation organizations This is a list of recognized higher education related accreditation organizations. The list includes agencies and organizations that play a role in higher education accreditation and are recognized by the appropriate governmental authorities. Int ...

*** List of unrecognized higher education accreditation organizations **** Accreditation mill **** List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning ** Pre-tertiary education accreditation * Email sender accreditation * Food safety ** Global Food Safety Initiative
Health & Safety Compliance (UK)
* Healthcare
American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities
** Accreditation Commission for Health Care ** Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission ** Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) ** International healthcare accreditation ** Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities ** Hospital accreditation ** Joint Commission (USA) **

United Kingdom Accreditation Forum The United Kingdom Akkreditering Forum (UKAF), founded in June 1998 by a group of leading healthcare accreditation organisations, is a London-based network of hospital accreditation, healthcare accreditation organisations formed with the intention o ...

Information assurance Information assurance (IA) is the practice of assuring information and managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information. Information assurance includes protection of the integrity, availability, authenticity, n ...

* Personal trainer accreditation *

Professional certification Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply ''certification'' or ''qualification'', is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Not all certifications ...

Systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...

* Translating and

interpreting Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous inter ...

** National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (Australia) * Sustainability ** Sustainable Forest management such as the

Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council A. C. (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. It is an example of a market-ba ...

(FSC) ** Sustainable fishing such as the

Marine Stewardship Council The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organization which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a te ...

(MSC) ** Sustainable

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

such as the

Aquaculture Stewardship Council The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is an independent non-profit organisation and labelling organization that establishes protocol on farmed seafood while ensuring sustainable aquaculture. The ASC provides producers with a certification of e ...

(ASC) **

Sustainable tourism Sustainable tourism is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs of host communities. Su ...

such as the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC)

Accreditation standards

Many accreditation bodies, such as the UKAS, EIAC, EGAC, PNAC, IAS, NABCB operate according to processes developed by the ISO as specified in

ISO/IEC 17011 ISO/IEC JTC 1, entitled "Information technology", is a joint technical committee (JTC) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Its purpose is to develop, maintain and p ...

. Accredited entities in specific sectors must provide evidence to the accreditation body that they conform to other standards in the same series: *

ISO/IEC 17020 ISO/IEC JTC 1, entitled "Information technology", is a joint technical committee (JTC) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Its purpose is to develop, maintain and p ...

: "General criteria for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection" (2012) * ISO/IEC 17021-1: "Conformity assessment. Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems" (2015) *

ISO/IEC 17024 ISO/IEC 17024: Conformity assessment - General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons is an International Standard which specifies criteria for the operation of a personnel certification body (also known as a 'certification ...

: "Conformity Assessment. General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons" (2012) *

ISO/IEC 17025 ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories is the main ISO/IEC standard used by testing and calibration laboratories. In most countries, ISO/IEC 17025 is the standard for which most labs must ho ...

: "General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories" (2017)

References

External links

Asia * https://eiac.gov.ae/ * https://www.cnas.org.cn/ * http://www.pnac.gov.pk/
National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB)

International Organization for Standardization
Americas
ANSI Accreditation ProgramsInternational Accreditation ServiceStandards Council of Canada (SCC)Accreditation Canada
Europe
European co-operation for Accreditation
{{Authority control Quality assurance

Fields involved

Accreditation standards

See also

References

External links