We’re going to take a quick step away from the usual, well known ISO standards, and have a quick look at the 3 most popular ISOs in the 17000 family of standards. These are ‘accreditation’ standards rather than certification standards (Check out our blog here if you want to know the difference) and these are the ones that apply to companies doing inspections, issuing certificates, testing and calibrating things.
These standards are:
ISO 17020
This is the standard for companies wanting to work in Inspection Services
ISO 17021
This is the standard for companies wanting to be certification bodies or registrars
ISO 17025
This is the standard for companies working as testing laboratories or calibration offices
The idea behind these standards is fairly simple. How do you make sure that the people you hire to do inspections know what they are doing; that they understand the technical aspects of it; that they are sufficiently independent from what they are inspecting and aren’t financially motivated to approve something that should fail or raise false issues with something that is fine.
These standards all build on establishing the competence of the people doing the inspections but have different focus points;
17020 is more geared towards ensuring impartiality and consistency in the inspections themselves
17021 concentrates on the competence of certification bodies and has a lot of supplementals that specify the competence requirements for auditing specific standards. Cert Bodies such as BSI, ISOQAR, Lloyds and Approachable are subject to this standard and they have to be proved as competent for each of the usual ISO standards before they can issue certificates for them, this is why you may find some UKAS accredited cert bodies that ONLY do ISO 27001 or only do 9001, 14001 & 45001, etc.
17025 turns its focus towards how you ensure the accuracy and the reliability of the results gathered from the testing within the labs.
If you want to be accredited to any of these standards in the UK, then you’re going to end up having a rather personal and direct relationship with UKAS, the United Kingdom’s Accreditation Service.
Nobody Expects the UK Accreditation Service!
Quick! Run for cover; they’ve heard us talking about them!
Image: Courtesy of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Spanish Inquisition
In the UK, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the national accreditation body. There are other legitimate international accreditation bodies that are members of the IAF (the International Accreditation Forum) or members of ILAC (the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) BUT UKAS are the only national body recognised in the UK. Accredited bodies like UKAS ensure that test and inspection providers (the people who issue the certificates) meet the requirements in these standards and that their inspection results are valid and reliable.
Understanding ISO 17020 and Its Relevance to UK SMEs
We’ve said many times in the past that SMEs are the backbone of the UK, and that remains the same despite the government’s latest attempts to cut small businesses down at the ankles.
Many of these small businesses either complete inspection works themselves (like asbestos inspectors) or they use products or services that have inspection works carried out (use any tools to measure stuff in your work? If so, how do you know they are accurate, have they been calibrated? Or, have you ever been PAT tested?).
The kinds of SME we’ve seen interested in this standard have included:
Asbestos Inspectors
Construction and infrastructure work
International Trade Goods Inspectors
Fire Safety Inspectors
Construction and infrastructure work
Environmental Auditing
E.g., air and water quality testing, waste management audits
Food Safety Inspectors
Hygiene inspections, organic certification bodies
Gas and Electrical Safety Inspectors
Vehicle Inspection Companies
MOT testing stations, fleet maintenance auditors
Structural Integrity Inspectors
Construction and infrastructure work
ISO 17021, Management System Certification
17021, as mentioned, is the standard that applies to certification bodies (CBs); if you want ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 or any of the many other standards, these are issued by CBs instead. Those CBs do however need to checked to make sure they are doing a proper job. This is where UKAS become involved; companies like BSI and ISOQAR get audited by UKAS to check their competence, independence and that they are doing there assessments properly too.
ISO 17025, Calibration and the Verification of Accuracy
Labs and calibration businesses also have to be considered competent and reliable so 17025 was developed just for them with a focus on the accuracy and reliability of the measurements that they take on top of their own competency levels. This standard can get very technical in some fields, like calculating the degrees of uncertainty in a reading based on the impacts of temperate on the measurement equipment etc. A standard not for the faint of heart, we’d recommend you have in house resources for this standard.
How Accreditation Standards Affect SME’s
17020, 17021 and 17025 (and others in this series) provide a structured framework for conducting inspections, tests and certifications effectively and impartially. Key requirements include:
Competence and Training
Businesses must ensure that personnel are adequately trained and qualified to perform their roles.
Impartiality and Independence
Businesses should demonstrate that their services are free from undue influence or conflicts of interest.
Inspection Methods and Procedures
CBs must document and follow standardised procedures to maintain consistency in their assessments.
Record Keeping and Reporting
Detailed recording of results must be maintained to provide evidence of compliance and facilitate audits.
Quality Management Systems
Businesses must implement a quality management system to continually monitor and improve their processes.
When you follow these principles and document evidence to support them, it helps demonstrate your credibility, builds the trust your customers will have in you and can also improve your efficiency in the work you complete.
UKAS Accreditation and Processes
In the UK, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the national accreditation body responsible for assessing and certifying organisations against ISO 17020. There are other legitimate accreditation bodies that are members of the IAF (the International Accreditation Forum) or members of ILAC (the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) BUT UKAS are the only national body recognised in the UK. Accredited bodies like UKAS ensure that inspection bodies (the people who issue the certificates) meet the stringent requirements set out in the standard and that their inspection results are valid and reliable.
How UKAS Interacts with SMEs
Despite my earlier quip, whilst UKAS are certainly not perfect, we’d still rather have them operating in the UK and regulating industry properly, than having a free-for-all where you have no idea of the competence or honesty of the people providing our goods and services.
In our experience UKAS can be bureaucratic and expensive at times; but this is how the process works:
1. Application and Assessment:
Following initial contact, UKAS will want to know basic information from you like number of employees, what kind of work it is you are planning to do etc. you’ll then be asked to fill out an application form detailing the formal scope of inspection/certification/test activities you want to do and some information about your processes. They’ll send you a quote for the process, then draft up a Customer Agreement which is essentially a terms and conditions/contract that you’ll need to sign and send back to them. UKAS will then schedule in an initial assessment to review your management system documentation and your on-site activities.
1. Application and Assessment:
Following initial contact, UKAS will want to know basic information from you such as number of employees, what kind of work it is you are planning to do etc. you’ll then be asked to fill out an application form detailing the formal scope of inspection/certification activities you want to do and some information about your processes. They’ll send you a quote for the process, then draft up a Customer Agreement which is essentially a terms and conditions / contract that you’ll need to sign and send back to them. UKAS will then schedule in an initial assessment to review your management system documentation and your on-site activities.
2. Audits and Compliance Checks:
You will be visited by UKAS auditors to verify your compliance, they will check personnel competence records, your levels of impartiality to the people you are inspecting/certifying and your overall adherence to your own documented methodologies. This visit can be intense and usually UKAS send auditors in pairs, one being knowledgeable about management systems, and the other an industry/technical expert for the industry that YOU work in. For example, grain inspections on cargo ships, they will send someone with experience of grain and international shipping etc. Obviously, this can be a challenge for very specialised industries; one “expert” we have met was well into his seventies and came out of retirement just to do the visit. The number of days this process takes are based on the complexity and size of your org.
3. Accreditation and Monitoring:
If successful (when successful if you use us!), you’ll receive your accreditation, valid for a specified period. UKAS will then conduct periodic surveillance visits to ensure continued compliance. This can include them coming with you to your customers to witness your inspections. UKAS attendance during CB customer audits is very common (there have been several times we’ve had customers undergoing certification for ISO 9001/14001/27001 etc. only to find the auditor was also being assessed by UKAS).
Obtaining UKAS accreditation is a big and sometimes scary process; but it’s a brilliant way of demonstrating your professional credibility and gaining access to larger clients and government contracts.
Conclusion
Many SMEs across a plethora of diverse industries and sectors can find themselves needing to demonstrate their impartiality, credibility and technical competence. These ISOs are a great way prove you’ve got those aspects within your business.
UKAS are the UK’s ONLY national accreditation body, don’t be fooled. They provide independent verification of compliance and are recognised by the UK government and the IAF. If you want to establish yourself as a trusted provider of these types of service in the UK, then UKAS are your best bet.
We’ve got significant practical experience in dealing with UKAS and taking our customers through accreditation to these standards. If you are interested in going through this process yourselves or just have any extra questions burning away in your head then feel free to drop us a message using our contact form.
Contact us HERE