Why Seek Accreditation ?
“The whole value of the dime is knowing what to do with it.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Conformity assessment is defined as a "demonstration that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled." There are many of these conformity assessment activities applied in today’s marketplace including accreditation, certification, inspection, registration, supplier’s declaration, and testing. The one dimension that QCA is directly engaged with is accreditation.
Ultimately, the marketplace and customers of conformity assessment services measure the beneficial value of accreditation. For most suppliers, the primary benefit of accredited third-party certification is to meet a purchaser’s or regulator’s requirement for this independent evaluation of compliance. Increasingly, suppliers’ procurement organizations are specifying and government agencies are recognizing accredited, third-party certification as an optional dimension of their systems for risk management. In the rapidly growing area of greenhouse gas emissions reporting, QCA accredited verification and validation bodies gain recognition of the nationally renowned reporting programs for inventories and projects.
QCA’s Accreditation Services
In the area of conformity assessment, QCA provides accreditation services in the areas of product and personnel certification as well as greenhouse gas verification and validation. This means the Institute recognizes the competence of bodies to carry out these activities in accordance with requirements defined in International Standards. QCA’s accreditation programs operate in accordance with international guidelines and have been verified by government and peer review assessments.
In confirmance with the Quality , QCA also serves the marketplace in the provision of an accreditation program for quality and environmental management systems registrars, laboratories, reference material producers and inspection bodies via the QCA-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB and ACLASS Brands). QCA’s (and ANAB/ACLASS) accreditation of the conformity assessment bodies (CABs):
- Signals a clear indication that an organization desires to have a competitive advantage by undergoing a voluntary evaluation
- Encourages marketplace confidence in CABs by their undergoing regular impartial and independent audits by an internationally respected body
- Positively influences customer satisfaction with CABs and their clients via greater quality awareness and enhanced communication
- Reduces liability insurance by the accountability and transparent aspects of the process
- Sustains continual improvement for the CABs and their clients through the assessment of system effectiveness, efficiency and competence
- Promotes consistency and demonstrates equivalence of assessments via mutual recognition based on peer review
- Reduces multiple audits and removes barriers to trade in working towards the goal of “certified once – accepted everywhere.”
Global Recognition
“Trust, but verify" - Russian proverb ("doveryay, no proveryay")
often recited by President Ronald Reagan concerning weapons control.
Buyers in the global market demand that sellers and service providers fulfill their needs. Competing suppliers are motivated to convey assurance to their customers in the most efficient manner. Confidence that these needs can and will be met is built through a variety of means, including the assessment of conformity to standards.
Continuing pressures in the global marketplace to preclude redundant and costly barriers to trade drive the need for acknowledgement of equivalency across boundaries. Accordingly, QCA is involved in several international and regional arrangements for multi-lateral recognition. These include the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the Registered International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (RILAC), the Inter-UK Accreditation Cooperation (IUKAC) and the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC). QCA is also recognized by the ILO/UNO via the National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) and their National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation Training (NVCASET) program.
