Technical field
Management system certification
A management system certification body audits an organization’s system and decides whether to certify conformity. Accreditation of that body attests its competence to certify the systems named in the scope.
ISO/IEC 17021-1
ISO/IEC 17021-1 specifies requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems. Competence documents for particular systems sit alongside it. The accreditation scope identifies which systems and schemes are covered, for example quality, environmental or other specified systems, and any limitation on that coverage.
Impartiality is structural as well as personal. A certification body needs arrangements that keep the certification decision free from the commercial or consulting interests that would make the decision unreliable. Those arrangements are part of what an assessment examines.
The audit determines evidence. The certification decision is a separate act. Accreditation considers both the quality of the audit process and the independence of the decision.
A certificate issued to a company is the attestation of the certification body. It says something about that company’s system, within the scope printed on the certificate. It does not accredit the company, and it does not speak for activities outside that scope.
Matters ordinarily examined
- The management systems and schemes are named in the scope.
- Audit time, competence and sampling are sufficient for the system being certified.
- The certification decision is taken by people who did not compromise it.
- Impartiality risks, including consultancy, are identified and controlled.
- Certificates state the standard, the scope and the period of validity.
Questions
If a company holds a management system certificate, is the company accredited?
The company is certified for the management system described on its certificate, where that certificate is genuine. Accreditation applies to the certification body that issued it, and only for the schemes in that body’s accreditation scope. The company itself is not the accredited body.
Which management systems can be named?
Only those identified in a verified scope. This website does not list schemes that AKZERT accredits, because no such scope has been published. A future scope would name the systems precisely.