ISO Accreditation

ISO accreditation is different from ISO certification, and it is important to note that. ISO accreditation is achieved when a company gets an ISO/BS standard certification via accredited certification body by UKAS or equivalent, and every country has its own accreditation body which is not always akin to the government but governs certification bodies. There is only one true accreditation per country, so any other accreditation body is misleading. Accreditation in most countries is not an obligation, but a choice as even BSI and ISO admits that being accredited doesn’t mean you are the top quality, there are other companies with reputations that overlook accreditation because they don’t even need them. The quality of their services and products speaks for them and sees accreditation as an overrun of expenses.

Which one is better: Accreditation or Certification?

Their difference might be invisible, but at least one is better than the other. Accreditation body cannot implement the systems during certification as any other certification body does. They can only perform assessment and audit and cannot be involved in the process of setup. They will, therefore, need the services of a certification body as a consultant in the process. This means additional expenses and delay in the whole process. Certification body has added advantages because they can be involved in the system setup and at the same time certify when everything is in place which cuts the cost.

Does ISO certify?

ISO only develops standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and more, but they are not involved in the processes of certifications. Certification is done by external bodies; hence, no company or organisation can be certified by ISO. However, CASCO a conformity committee has produced several standards that deal with the certification process to be used by certification bodies.

How to choose a certification body

When you want to choose a certification body, you should place on your desk several certification bodies and evaluate them on certain criterion. The first step is to check whether the certification body uses CASCO standards by ISO. The next step is to check whether the body is accredited. As stated earlier, accreditation is not a compulsory thing, nor does it mean none accreditation is non-reputable. But it plays a role in providing confidence incompetence. It is not difficult to find national accreditation body in a country, you visit the international accreditation forum, and you will get the one national accreditation body for your country. Atlas Certification are a ISO accreditation providers that you could consult.

How to display your certificate

It is not correct to say ISO certified or to say ISO certification when labelling a system or a product. But it is correct to say ISO 9001:2015 certification or ISO 9001:2015 certified for example. It is not permitted to use the ISO logo because it is a registered trademark.

Why ISO certification is important

ISO certification act as an important statement that tells your stakeholders how your business wishes to operate under a set of framework for it to achieve its objectives, it can be customer care objectives, production objectives, sales and marketing objectives,  environmental objective and more. It will prove your commitment to meet the objectives and credibility, which will boost your brand and increase the confidence level of your clients. An example of how to act per the certification achieved is by putting in place quality management and control systems to measure your process and procedures.

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