It is
very important to understand the difference between Accreditation &
Certification, So if any Certification body perform certification audits they
need to take first the License of the Accreditation for which they are
Providing ISO Certification & That License is called Accreditation &
After Getting the License for the ISO Certification the Certification body is Authorized
to issue the ISO Certificate after doing all the documentation work.
So,
certification bodies are getting accredited, while companies are getting
certified. (The certification body needs to be compliant with the standard ISO
17021 if they want to get accredited for certifying management systems).
The
good thing about accreditation bodies is that they usually publish the list of
accredited certification bodies in their countries & accreditation bodies also need to be
compliant with a standard – this is ISO 17011, a standard which defines the
process of accreditation.
The
main difference being that an accredited certification body can only perform
the functions of an assessment / audit body and must not have any involvement
in the set-up to certification process the way we or any other certification
body is able to. This can therefore mean having to employ a company such as
ourselves as the consultant to implement the system and have the accredited
body in to certify it. This not only adds additional expense to the client but
can also delay the time it takes to achieve the certification.
ISO certification certifies that a management
system, manufacturing process, service, or documentation procedure has all the
requirements for standardization and quality assurance. ISO (International
Organization for Standardization) is an independent, non-governmental,
international organization that develops standards to ensure the quality,
safety, and efficiency of products, services, and systems.
ISO
certifications exist in many areas of industry, from energy management and
social responsibility to medical devices and energy management. ISO standards
are in place to ensure consistency. Each certification has separate standards
and criteria and is classified numerically
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