Guiding Principles of Accreditation
A foundational framework that ensures transparency, consistency and continuous improvement in accreditation.
Briefly
Accreditation serves as a vital benchmark for ensuring the quality, credibility and reliability of organizations, institutions and their services. It is a process through which an authoritative body formally recognizes that an entity meets specific standards of excellence and competence.
The guiding principles of accreditation provide a foundational framework that underpins this process, ensuring transparency, consistency and continuous improvement. These principles are designed to uphold the integrity of accreditation, fostering trust among stakeholders, including customers, clients, regulators and the public at large.
Principles IACAB applies as an accreditation body
IACAB operates in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011, the international standard for accreditation bodies. The following principles guide every assessment and accreditation decision:
Impartiality
Accreditation decisions are based on objective evidence and are free from commercial, financial, political or other pressures. IACAB identifies, analyses and manages risks to impartiality on an ongoing basis, and the people who make accreditation decisions are not those who carried out the assessment.
Competence
Assessments are carried out by assessors and technical experts who are qualified in the relevant standard and technical sector, and whose competence is evaluated, monitored and maintained.
Consistency
The same requirements, methods and decision criteria are applied to every applicant and accredited body, regardless of size, location or nationality, so that accreditation means the same thing everywhere.
Openness
IACAB publishes its accreditation process, rules, fee structure and the status of accredited bodies, so that applicants, their clients and the public know what to expect.
Confidentiality
Information obtained during the accreditation process is kept confidential and is used only for the purposes of accreditation, except where disclosure is required by law or agreed with the body concerned.
Responsiveness to complaints
Complaints and appeals are received, investigated and decided fairly and promptly, by people who were not involved in the matter concerned.
Responsibility
Accredited bodies remain responsible for their conformity assessment results; IACAB is responsible for assessing sufficient objective evidence on which to base its accreditation decisions.
Continual improvement
IACAB reviews its own management system, assessor performance and stakeholder feedback, and uses the results to improve the accreditation service.
Principles for accredited certification bodies
IACAB expects the certification bodies it accredits to apply these principles in every management system audit.
Keep the focus on the Standard
Eliminate excessive accreditation fees and administrative rules. Burdensome, non-value-add rules translate to the customer in the form of additional audit cost, institutionalized administrative burden and fees.
The audit should provide value
The audit should be a positive, structured process that provides value to the customer. There is no conflict between an audit that both promotes and enforces that requirements be met, and one that is aligned with the improvement principles of all ISO management system standards.
Relationships based on trust, transparency and value
Auditor and client relationships based on trust are critical to a successful management system audit. By eliminating the gamesmanship of an audit, real value can be recognized from the Standard and from the auditor's knowledge, experience and skill. Audits should be effective reviews of a management system that identify systemic areas for improvement and eliminate systemic conformance gaps.
Auditor competence is critical
The greatest risk to proper implementation and maintenance of an ISO Standard is an auditor who lacks competency in the industry, ISO requirements and audit methodology. We place high value on auditor competency requirements.
The audit process must maintain integrity and credibility
A registrar has a responsibility to certify only those organizations that demonstrate, through objective evidence, that the requirements, spirit and intent of the Standard are met. Until conformance with the Standard's requirements is fully met, Certificates of Registration with the IACAB logo must not be used.
IACAB rules enforcement
IACAB enforces the Registrar Rules for Management Systems Auditing and Certification through assessment at initial accreditation (on-site), annual surveillance, and full reassessment at the end of each accreditation cycle.
How IACAB puts the principles into practice
- Separation of assessment and decision-making: the Accreditation Approval Committee decides on accreditation based on the assessment team's report and recommendation.
- Risk-based assessment programmes that take account of each body's scope, size, number of sites and past performance.
- Witnessing of a sample of the accredited body's auditors and inspectors at their clients' premises.
- Regular surveillance and full reassessment to confirm that accredited bodies continue to meet the requirements.
- Suspension, reduction of scope or withdrawal of accreditation where requirements are not met, and publication of the current status of accredited bodies.
- Rules for the use of the IACAB accreditation mark, checked at every assessment.
Together, these principles ensure that an IACAB accreditation is a reliable indication of competence — for the accredited body, its clients, regulators and the end consumer.
Apply for accreditation
Contact IACAB to discuss the scheme, scope and timeline for your organisation.