An Accredited Certification Body is an entity whose competence to carry out certification under a specific standard has been confirmed by an independent accreditation service. The difference compared with non-accredited certification is critical when it comes to recognition: a certificate from a non-accredited body may look identical, yet a customer, a public procurer or a foreign partner may not accept it, and both money and time will have been wasted. Before signing, therefore, check whether the body holds valid accreditation specifically for the standard and scope you need, since accreditation is granted for specific areas. Also check independence – the same entity should not first provide consulting to prepare the company and then certify it. Also check what is included in the price: audits, travel costs, the number of certificates, and language versions.
See also: Certification audit, Surveillance Audit, Pre-certification gap analysis.
