Published standards first
Where a published international standard exists for an activity, ASCB applies it directly, without proprietary additions. The published ISO/IEC conformity assessment standards cover the principal activities: management systems certification, inspection, testing and calibration, personnel certification, product certification, and validation and verification, and ASCB accredits against each of them.
Where no published standard exists
Some activities have no published standard written for them. For those cases, ASCB can assess against bespoke standards and can develop bespoke accreditation schemes to meet the needs of clients, scheme owners and other third-party stakeholders, through its Bespoke Standards Development service. A scheme is built for the purpose, carrying the same disciplines as accreditation against a published standard: defined requirements, independent assessment, and a public, verifiable outcome.
Who uses it
Typical users are scheme owners who need independent assessment behind a scheme they operate, industry bodies with sector requirements that no ISO/IEC standard addresses directly, and organizations whose activity sits between the published standards. Where part of an activity is covered by a published standard, that standard applies to that part, and the bespoke scheme covers the remainder.
Next step
Bespoke work is scoped individually. Use the Contact page to outline the activity and the need, and ASCB will advise whether an existing published standard covers it or a bespoke scheme is the right route.