Accreditation

Accreditation

When an organization decides to implement and obtain certification to ISO 9001:2015 QMS or any other standard, the first work is to choose a certification body from which the organization will obtain the certification. A number of certification bodies are operating in our country, so you have a wide choice to select a certification body. It is always suggested to obtain accredited certification. A question may arise in our mind - What is accreditation? Accreditation is a link in the chain of trust. If an organization meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 QMS standard, the organization will receive a certificate of conformity to the standard from a certification body (also known as assessing body or conformity assessment body) after formal assessment. This certificate has most value if the certification body is professional, impartial, competent and independent. The accreditation body with the aim of checking the expertise, impartiality and independence of certification bodies carries out accreditation task. If the results are positive, an accreditation mark is issued to certification body. Accreditation is a term widely used in certification industry. It provides us confidence in the certification body that grants us management systems certification, such as ISO 9001 certification, ISO 14001 certification etc. In simple terms, accreditation is the action or process of officially recognizing someone as having a particular status or qualified to perform a particular activity. It is an acknowledgement of someone's responsibility for achievement of something.

Accreditation really means 'creating trust'. Accreditation by an authoritative body is the formal recognition of the competence of the certification body to perform a specific task such as analysis, calibration, inspection or certification. Accreditation is the mechanism for indicating that the assessing organization for a demarcated area, the 'scope', justified confidence. Accreditation is the formal recognition that is based upon a series of international standards that focus particularly on the elements of expertise, independence, impartiality and continuity.

Nationally and internationally buyers want to be able to trust blindly the quality and safety of products/services provided by the certified organizations. If these are guaranteed, it not only benefit the buyer but also to the organization that supply the product/service. This strengthens the supplier organization's position in the market. In order to be able to provide an objective guarantee, the organization can have its quality management system assessed by an accredited certification body.

When an organization opts for ISO 9001:2015 QMS or any other standard certification, it finds in the initial stage that the certification body is accredited from an accreditation body. There are a number of accreditation bodies operating in the world that carry out the accreditation work. In India, NABCB (National Accreditation Board of Certification Bodies) grants accreditation to certification bodies. There are many accreditation bodies in the world, such as UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) in UK, RvA (The Dutch Accreditation Council - Raad Voor Accreditatie) in Netherlands, ANAB (ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board) in USA, JAS-ANZ (Joint Accreditation System) in Australia and New Zealand etc.

RvA Public Report 2016 says, "Accrediting really means: creating trust. Nationally and internationally buyers want to be able to trust blindly the quality and safety of products and services provided. If these are guaranteed, it not only benefits the buyer but also the supplier. This strengthens his position in the market. In order to be able to give an objective guarantee, the supplier can have his products and services assessed by an accredited organization. This also applies to every area imaginable: health, environment, construction, energy, food, transport, finance etc."

The certificate issued by a certification body which has been accredited by an accreditation body which is an IAF MLA signatory for the scope covering the certificate should be acceptable in the world under the principle of international equivalence. This is a very significant reason for making an appropriate choice of a certification body.

International Accreditation Forum (IAF)

The International Accreditation Forum (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 other similar programmes of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them that accredited certificates may be relied upon. Accreditation assures users of the competence and impartiality of the body accredited.

Accreditation in India

Since 1992 a need had been felt for the establishment of an accreditation body in India to establish internationally acceptable mechanism for recognition of conformity assessment results. As regards laboratories, an accreditation body under the Ministry of Science and Technology was already functioning. A committee which included various interested ministries and stakeholders including industries was established to make suitable recommendations. The work was coordinated by the then Department of Industries (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) and the recommendations were submitted to the Cabinet in 1996. Key recommendations included the Need for establishing an organization jointly by the Government and the industry and the need for the organization to be self-sustaining and be away from the government. Accepting the recommendations, the Cabinet Committee decided to set up Quality Council of India (QCI) as a non-profit autonomous society registered under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 to establish an accreditation structure in the country and to spread quality movement in India by undertaking a National Quality Campaign. Accordingly, QCI was established as the National body for Accreditation on recommendations of Expert Mission of EU after consultations in Inter-ministerial task force, Committee of Secretaries and Group of Ministers in 1996.

There is a governing council (known as Council) as the apex level body responsible for formulating the strategy, general policy, constitution and monitoring of various components of Quality Council of India (QCI) including the accreditation boards with objective to ensure transparent and credible accreditation system. Following accreditation boards are working under the structure of QCI:
- National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies - NABCB
- National Accreditation Board for Education and Training - NABET
- National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers - NABH
- National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories - NABL - However, it should be noted that NABL continues to be a separate legal entity.
The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) provides accreditation to Certification and Inspection Bodies based on assessment of their competence as per the Board's criteria and in accordance with International Standards and Guidelines. The National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) is internationally recognized and represents the interests of the Indian industry at international forums through membership and active participation with the objective of becoming a signatory to international Multilateral / Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MLA / MRA).
NABCB is a member of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) & Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC) as well as signatory to its MLAs for Quality Management Systems, Environmental Management Systems and Product Certification. Global G.A.P., Food Safety Management Systems and Information Security Management Systems NABCB is also a full member of International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) as well as signatory to its MRAs for Inspection. National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), linked to Quality Council of India (QCI), grants accreditation to certification bodies. In addition to this, many foreign accreditation bodies have also granted accreditation to certification bodies operating in India. Some of the foreign accreditation bodies are:
- UKAS - United Kingdom Accreditation Service
- RvA - Raad voor Accredatie (The Dutch Council of Accreditation)
- ANAB - ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board
- JAS-ANZ - Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand
- SCC - Standards Council of Canada
- JAB - Japan Accreditation Board
- IAR - IAR Accreditation Service

There are accreditation bodies in neighbouring countries too, some of which are:
- CNAS - China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment
- PNAC - Pakistan National Accreditation Council
- SLAB - Sri Lanka Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment

Many of the accreditation bodies are the members of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and these accreditation bodies agree to the IAF Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MLA) recognizing the equivalence of other embers' accreditation to their own.

There are more than fifty certification bodies operating in India, which have been granted accreditation either from NABCB or from any other foreign accreditation body. In such a situation, first you should collect information about the certification bodies operating in your country and then you should contact the certification bodies with brief description about your organization, nature of your business and your assessment requirements. You should also find out whether the certification body is accredited to provide certification in your area of business. In this connection, it is important to check that its accreditation scope includes the technical sector of your organization. The certification bodies are accredited scope wise. There are 39 scope sectors as mentioned by IAF, a few of them are as under:
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing,
- Mining and quarrying,
- Food products, beverages and tobacco,
- Nuclear fuel,
- Chemicals, chemical products and fibres,
- Pharmaceuticals,
- Transportation, storage and communication,
- Information technology,
- Engineering services,
- Education, etc.

Selection of a certification body

Since there are too many certification bodies operating in our country, you need to select a accredited certification body, for which you should know the details of accreditation, certification services and cost of certification. Therefore it is better to write letters or send emails to several certification bodies asking their accreditation, certification services and cost of certification. Upon receipt of your letter/email, the certification body will advise you the certification process and a quotation for the costs including the certification fee. Accordingly, you will have quotations from several certification bodies and you will be in a position to decide a certification body by which you will obtain ISO 9001:2015 QMS certification. Quotation will normally include a one-time certification fee (covering a period of three years), costs per day of auditing work (before, during and after certification), travel and other expenses. The number of workdays required for each audit will depend on the size of operation and the location of the organization to be audited. Please note that while deciding a certification body, don't just go for a cheap or non-accredited certification. You need to make a wise choice to get maximum benefits out of certification.

Best wishes,

Keshav Ram Singhal