An accredited certificate has been checked at two levels. The certified organization was assessed by a certification body, and the certification body was itself assessed by an independent accreditation body. That second check is accreditation. It is what separates a certificate that can be verified at each level from one that cannot be checked beyond the body that issued it. ASCB is an independent accreditation body established in 1995. It assesses and accredits conformity assessment bodies against the international standards that govern their work, operating throughout to ISO/IEC 17011, the international standard for accreditation bodies.
What sits behind an accredited certificate
Accreditation is a periodic, risk-based assessment of a conformity assessment body against the requirements of the relevant international standard, carried out by sampling and repeated across the accreditation cycle: an initial assessment before accreditation is granted, surveillance at planned intervals, and reassessment. Accreditation is a standing status rather than a one-time award. A body that no longer meets the requirements can have its accreditation suspended or withdrawn by the accreditation body that granted it.
The precision of that description matters, because accreditation is sometimes described in stronger terms than any periodic assessment can carry. What it provides is independent, repeated assessment of the body that issues certificates, against published requirements, by an accreditation body with the standing authority to act on what it finds. A reader weighing a certificate is not asked to accept anything unverified; each check behind an accredited certificate can be confirmed.
What ASCB accredits, and against which standards
ASCB accredits certification bodies that certify management systems against ISO/IEC 17021-1, bodies that certify persons against ISO/IEC 17024, and bodies that certify products, processes and services against ISO/IEC 17065. It accredits inspection bodies against ISO/IEC 17020, testing and calibration laboratories against ISO/IEC 17025, and validation and verification bodies against ISO/IEC 17029, in each case together with the sector-specific requirements that apply to the scope concerned. Training providers and training courses are accredited against ASCB's own published standards, ASCB TP:2025 and ASCB TC:2025. Each of these standards is covered in the Standards Library.
How ASCB assessment reporting goes further
ASCB assessment reporting applies a metric scoring system based on the performance maturity levels developed by ISO Technical Committee 176, alongside the traditional findings of minor and major nonconformities, opportunities for improvement and recommendations. The scoring follows published rules that can be interrogated and challenged, and it adds no requirements beyond the published standard. Accreditation is decided on what the assessment finds, and on nothing else. The method is described in How ASCB assesses: the scoring methodology.
A track record that can be weighed
ASCB has operated for more than 30 years, since its formation in 1995. In that time it has accredited more than 230 conformity assessment bodies, serving clients in more than 140 countries, and more than 30,000 entities have been certified across all schemes by ASCB-accredited bodies. The organizations certified by ASCB-accredited bodies have a combined annual turnover of more than USD 250 billion and a combined workforce of more than 1 million people.
Checking the accreditation behind a certificate
What sits behind an accredited certificate can be verified, and the two checks answer different questions. Whether a body is ASCB-accredited, and the full scope of its accreditation, is shown by the accredited-body search on ascb.com. Management system certificates and training records issued by ASCB-accredited bodies are also recorded on IRQAO, an independent register and validation service on which a certificate's current status can be confirmed; for certificates issued under other schemes, the certificate is confirmed with the body that issued it. How the two checks fit together is set out in Verify an ASCB-accredited certificate.
What the distinction means in practice
For the organization that holds one, an accredited certificate is evidence that has been through two independent checks rather than one, and that can be confirmed by anyone it is shown to. The certificate does the work on its own; the holder does not have to argue for the credibility of the body that issued it.
For a buyer or specifier, the operative distinction is between certification and accredited certification. Writing accredited certification into qualification criteria, rather than certification alone, keeps the credential verifiable end to end. How that distinction is carried into tender and supplier qualification is covered in Using accreditation evidence in procurement and tender qualification.
For a conformity assessment body, accreditation is independent evidence, renewed across the accreditation cycle, that its arrangements meet the requirements of the relevant international standard. What the process involves, from application to decision, is described in How ASCB accreditation works.
Common questions
What is accreditation?
Accreditation is the independent assessment of a conformity assessment body, such as a certification body, inspection body or laboratory, against the requirements of the relevant international standard, carried out by an accreditation body on a periodic, risk-based, sampling basis.
What is the difference between certification and accreditation?
Certification applies to an organization: a certification body certifies that the organization meets a standard such as ISO 9001. Accreditation applies to the certifying body itself: an accreditation body assesses it against the standard that governs its work, such as ISO/IEC 17021-1. Accreditation is the independent check on the certifier behind the certificate.
What does ASCB accreditation mean on a certificate?
It means the body that issued the certificate has been assessed by ASCB against the relevant international standard and holds a current accreditation at a stated scope, which can be confirmed on the
accredited-body search on ascb.com.
Does accreditation guarantee a certified organization's products or services?
No. Accreditation is a periodic, risk-based assessment of the certifying body against the requirements of the relevant standard, reflecting what was found at the time of assessment. What it adds is an independent, repeated check on the body behind the certificate, which is the one check no certificate can supply for itself.
What standard does ASCB itself work to?
ISO/IEC 17011, the international standard setting the requirements for accreditation bodies. Accreditation bodies are not themselves accredited by a higher body; what stands behind an accreditation body is the standard it works to.