Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as

certification body 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 ...

, 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 The International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and ...

(IAF) and

International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation The International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation or ILAC started as a conference in 1977 with the aim of developing international cooperation for facilitating trade by promotion of the acceptance of accredited test and calibration results. ...

(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 ...

(PNAC) and

National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) provides accreditation to Conformity Assessment Bodies (Laboratories) in India. NABL Schemes include Accreditation (Recognition) of Technical competence of testing, cali ...

(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 (UKAS) is the largest in Europe. The

National Association of Testing Authorities The National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA) is the recognised national accreditation authority for analytical laboratories and testing service providers in Australia. It is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, governe ...

(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 being the largest in Africa. For most of the accreditation schemes, international standards 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 Art ...

(ISO) are used.

Fields involved

Accreditation processes are used in a wide variety of fields: * Accredited investor * Accredited in Public Relations * Accredited registrar * 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 ** Higher education accreditation ***

ACGME The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is the body responsible for accrediting all graduate medical training programs (i.e., internships, residencies, and fellowships, a.k.a. subspecialty programs) for physicians in the ...

(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 This is a list of unrecognized higher education accreditation organizations, as identified by the organizations themselves, government authorities in their respective countries, or other independent authorities. This article includes entities ...

****

Accreditation mill An accreditation mill is an organization that purports to award educational accreditation to higher education institutions without having government authority or recognition from mainstream academia to operate as an accreditor. Implicit in the term ...

****

List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning This is a list of colleges, seminaries, and universities that do not have educational accreditation. In many countries, accreditation is defined as a governmental designation. Degrees or other qualifications from unaccredited institutions may n ...

Pre-tertiary education accreditation Pre-tertiary-education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process used in the United States under which services and operations of pre-tertiary schools and educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to det ...

Email sender accreditation Sender accreditation is a third-party process of verifying email senders and requiring them to adhere to certain accreditee usage guidelines in exchange for being listed in a trusted listing that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) reference to allow ...

* Food safety **

Global Food Safety Initiative The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is a private organization working as a "Coalition of Action" from The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) bringing together retailers and brand owners (manufacturers) from across the CGF membership operating as multis ...

Health & Safety Compliance (UK)
* Healthcare
American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities
**

Accreditation Commission for Health Care The Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) is a United States non-profit health care accrediting organization. It represents an alternative to the Joint Commission and CHAP, The Community Health Accreditation Program. ACHC was established ...

** Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission ** Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) **

International healthcare accreditation Due to the near-universal desire for safe and good quality healthcare, there is a growing interest in international healthcare accreditation. Providing healthcare, especially of an adequate standard, is a complex and challenging process. Healthca ...

Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1966 with the assistance of Mary E. Switzer, then U.S. Social and Rehabilitation Services commissioner. For some institution ...

** Hospital accreditation **

Joint Commission The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c) organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs. The international branch accredits medical services from around the world. A majori ...

(USA) ** United Kingdom Accreditation Forum *

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, ...

* Personal trainer accreditation * Professional certification * Systems engineering *

Translating Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

and interpreting **

National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters The National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd (known as NAATI) is the national standards and accreditation body for translators and interpreters in Australia. NAATI's mission, as outlined in the NAATI Constitution, ...

(Australia) * Sustainability ** Sustainable

Forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, protection, and forest regulation. This includes management fo ...

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 A conventional idea of a sustainable fishery is that it is one that is harvested at a sustainable rate, where the fish population does not decline over time because of fishing practices. Sustainability in fisheries combines theoretical discipli ...

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 such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) ** Sustainable tourism 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. 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: "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: "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