What is accreditation?
We want to be able to blindly trust that the quality of products and services is correct. We want to know that the results of blood tests are correct, that meat does not contain too many bacteria, that escalators are safe to use, that electronics engineers are acting professionally.
Trust in products and services
Organizations that certify, inspect, test, calibrate and verify are also called TIC companies. These companies check whether companies and suppliers comply with the rules and requirements that apply to their products and services. If this is the case, the TIC company provides a certificate or report as proof, also called a declaration of conformity.
These certificates and reports are only valuable if they deliver what they promise. That is why it is essential for public confidence that TIC companies are honest and do their work well. The RvA assesses whether this is the case. This is done through expert, impartial and independent supervision. If a TIC company works professionally and consistently and is impartial, it will receive an accreditation statement from the RvA.
Accreditation literally means giving confidence. The work of the RvA is aimed at underlining the confidence in the certificates and reports that TIC companies issue, so that everyone can count on the products and services that we use every day being good and safe.
This is the chain of confidence
- Companies can have their products, processes and services objectively assessed by a laboratory, inspection body, certification body or verification body.
- Does the company meet the requirements? Then it receives a declaration of conformity: the certificate or report.
- This statement is most valuable if the assessing organisation is expert, impartial and independent. The RvA checks this.
- In case of a good result, an organization is accredited. The RvA is the last link in the chain of trust.
Standards-based accreditation
The RvA assesses a TIC company (conformity assessment body or CAB) on the basis of international standards (ISO or ISO/IEC). These standards focus in particular on the expertise, impartiality, independence, process monitoring and improvement culture of the CAB.
Organisations that meet the standards receive formal accreditation. This means that they are allowed to use the accreditation mark. Certificates and reports that are profided with this mark are accepted in almost all countries worldwide. Global agreements have been made about this. In this way, accreditation promotes international trade.
Conformity assessment bodies are divided into different disciplines; calibration, testing, certification, validation and verification. These also have a subdivision.
Scope of accreditation
The RvA grants accreditation for a specific field of work. Because expertise plays an important role, the RvA does this on the basis of a specific, established method. In accreditation, this is called the ‘scope’. This is the demarcation of what does and does not fall under accreditation.
The fact that an organization is accredited only really tells you something in combination with the scope for which the accreditation was issued. Compare it to a driver’s license for convenience: you are not allowed to drive a bus if your driver’s license is only valid for driving motorcycles.
Method or scope
The method applied by the conformity assessment body can be determined in various ways:
- In national or international standards, such as ISO, IEC, NEN, ASME and OIML.
- In legislation and regulations, such as the European directives for product safety, national
commodity law decrees for inspection during the use phase of machines, lifts and pressure equipment, and the soil quality regulations. - In conformity assessment schemes which specify the requirements for the object of conformity assessment and the requirements for the CAB and the way in which the CAB carries out its activities. A scheme may be drawn up by a conformity assessment body (CAB) itself or by an external scheme owner.
- In a proprietary method that the CBI itself developed.
In everyone’s interest
In our daily lives, trusting the quality of products and services plays a prominent role. Whether it concerns the drinking water company that supplies our drinking water, the elevator inspector who checks the safety of an elevator, the family doctor who has our blood tested or the municipality that issues a building permit. the question about whether the requirements are being met is relevant in all cases.
Accreditation ensures that our trust in products and services is justified. This is extremely important, especially when it comes to products and services that pose a risk in the areas of safety, public health and the environment. From pressure vessels, pleasure craft, asbestos locations to soil samples and construction products. It is for a good reason that the law stipulates that in some of tese areas these assessments have to be performed by accredited bodies.
However, organisations are increasingly choosing to accredit other assessment activities they undertake as well, for example in the field of sustainability and working conditions. Consequently, this continuously extends the scope of our work.
The disciplines of work in which the RvA can grant accreditation, are laid down in the RvA-BR001 ‘Policy Rule Accreditations’.
Accreditation process
Discover the different steps in the accreditation process. From application and assessment to decision.