UKAS, ASCB – ARTSM accepts both.
UKAS stands for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service. UKAS has been appointed as the
National Accreditation Body for the UK. This means they perform accreditation with authority derived from the State and represent the UK in the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
Commonalities between ASCB and UKAS:
- They have both been operating since 1995
- They operate with worldwide recognition
- They have issued over 25,000 certificates within their regime
- Their certificated clients satisfactorily provide products and services to all levels of local and national government regardless of local ‘policies’
- They operate an ISO 17011 Quality System for Accreditation Bodies
- They assess Certification Bodies such as ourselves against the requirements of ISO 17021.
The key difference is that the ASCB is not a member of the IAF. Only one accreditation body per EU country may be a member of the IAF, responsible for representing the UK in international discussions concerning accreditation and certification.
This enables UKAS and other parties to promote UKAS as “the sole national accreditation body” and “the only government approved accreditation body”. While both these statements are true, they are commonly used to imply that there cannot be any other Accrediting Bodies – which is simply not true. For example: the Government has itself appointed non-UKAS bodies to accredit its Cyber Essentials certification scheme.
ASCB Background
To date ASCB has accredited over 90 Certification Bodies and registered over 3500 Assessors, Auditors and quality related personnel achievements. ASCB work in accordance with the requirements of the ISO Standards.