What is Accreditation?

Third-party attestation of competence.

Accreditation is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented.

Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies — sometimes known as “accredited certification bodies”. The accreditation process ensures that their certification practices are acceptable: competent to test and certify third parties, behaving ethically and employing suitable quality assurance.

In everyday language the terms Accreditation and Certification are often used interchangeably, but they have specific meanings. ISO’s formal definition of accreditation is “third-party attestation related to a conformity assessment body conveying formal demonstration of its competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.”

Accredited organizations are known as Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). They provide certification and inspection services. Common certified management systems include: