Frequently Asked Questions
What is Accreditation?
Third-party verification related to a ‘conformity assessment body’ conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.
What is certification?
Third-party verification related to products, processes, systems or persons.
How do we recognize accreditation?
AIUKs Accredited Certification Bodies are recognized by the use of the AIUKs Accreditation Mark. The accreditation can be verified directly through AIUKs either through the website or from asking directly on [email protected]
How do I check a company’s certification?
You can either contact the certification body directly or use the Global Register on the AIUKs site at http://www.aiuks.com/verify
Is it mandatory that an Accreditation Body be a member of International Accreditation Forum?
Absolutely not. There is no legislation – UK, European or Global – that says being part of IAF is mandatory. Under European free trade laws it is not legal for any country or group of countries to dictate any such legislation or legislate that there can only be ‘one of any type’ of organization operating in any of its territories due to monopolies regulations.
Where can I find the Accredited Certification Bodies list of AIUKs?
You can verify a certification body’s AIUKs accreditation at http://www.aiuks.com/verify
Is the certificate issued by an AIUKs Accredited Certification Body for my organization going to be recognized in other countries?
The decision for recognition of certificates issued by accredited bodies by any country is left to the respective countries recognition process. All potential clients of accredited bodies should verify this if required. To this point we are not aware of any Certificate issued by an AIUKs Certification Body being rejected by any country or indeed any organization.
What would be the cost of accreditation?
The costings comprise of an application fee and assessment fees with on going surveillance fees, travel, etc. Please refer to our rates and terms and conditions or contact Wendy Brise at AIUKs via email [email protected] AIUKs will always provide a quotation prior to the accreditation process.
What is the time period taken for the entire accreditation process?
Applications are sent to the AIUKs applications team and managed on a first come first served basis. Lead times of one to two working days can be expected before the first response is received. The accreditation process involves a document review, pre-assessment, final assessment and subsequent accreditation. At each of these stages, comments and improvement opportunities can be raised by the AIUKs Lead assessor or the assessment team. These should be responded to by the applicant body as soon as is possible as not to slow down the process. Due to number of processes involved and the diversity of different organizations processes it is not simple to put a precise time frame for the complete accreditation cycle. Nevertheless, AIUKs will be able to provide you with an approximate time frame once we have all the required details. ‘How to get accredited’ explains more on this matter.