IACG accreditation of conformity assessment bodies, i.e. bodies undertaking activities including certification, testing, calibration, inspection, verification, etc, provides those bodies and their customers with confidence that they are working in conformance with international norms, and therefore can be relied upon to provide reliable conformity assessment services.

Recognition of IACG accreditation is wide reaching, not just in the UK but globally due to its membership of international mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs and MLAs), i.e. those operated by EA, ILAC and IAF. This provides confidence in supply chains and reduces the need for suppliers to be assessed by each of their customers, and for the need of additional conformity assessment of goods and services to be undertaken when goods are exported, helping to reduce barriers to trade.

Accreditation, with its many potential benefits for the quality of goods and in the provision of services throughout the supply chain, underpins practical applications of an increasingly wide range of activities across all sectors of the economy, from fishing to forestry, construction to communications.

Accreditation: Accreditation is the formal recognition by an ‘accreditation authority’ to the technical and organisational competence of a conformity assessment body, to carry out a ‘specific service’ in accordance to the standards and technical regulations, as described in their ‘scope of accreditation’. It provides a means to identify a proven, competent evaluator so that the selection of a laboratory, inspection or certification body is an informed choice.

Certification: Certification is the procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process, system or person conforms to specified requirements.

IACG provides a bespoke quote for each organization based upon its specific application and circumstances. Until we receive an application for accreditation which details the size of your operation, it is very difficult to provide you with an accurate estimate of the cost to become UKAS accredited.

All assessment fees are effort related i.e. dependent on the complexity of scope of accreditation being sought. These fees include not just the time the assessment team spend at your site but also office time. A list of current fees can be found in the UKAS Standard Terms of Business.

There are a number of case studies on our website that provide examples of different types of organizations and accreditation scopes, and the potential costs involved. To find out more, please refer to them.

We aim for a lead-in time of approximately three months to arrange the first visit to your organisation, with the exception of applications for accreditation for Medical Laboratories (for ISO 15189), which currently have a lead-in time of approximately six months following receipt of application. However, there are a number of aspects that impact on the timescale for the IACG application/assessment process e.g. a company’s state of readiness to be assessed, response times to improvement actions raised, size/complexity of scope, availability of key assessment personnel etc.

With this in mind, and, depending on the organisation being assessed we would say that the process could realistically take between 6-12 months from application to accreditation. For Medical Laboratories this may take a little longer given the current lead-in time for the first visit after application.