Prepared and presented by Paul French
AJA Registrars Operations Director
AJA a r e a mu lti -a ccr e dite d In te r n a tion a l Ce r tifica tion Body b a s e d in Por tis he a d in the UK

• Objective of this session
• Benefits of Accredited Certification
• Accreditation Governance
• Certification process
• Audit process
• Auditor competency

OBJECTIVE OF THIS SESSION
To appraise you of:
• The benefits of accredited certification,
• How it is regulated,
• The certification and audit process and
• Auditor competency requirements.

BENEFITS OF ACCREDITED CERTIFICATION
• Reduced risk – greater acceptance of certification by MoD, Central Government and
Blue-chip companies
• Enhanced reputation
• Opportunities for improvement – Observations
• International recognition

• UKAS (UK) other ABs (ANAB – USA etc.)
• IAF
• ACCREDITATION STANDARDS

• NACCB – National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies
• NAMAS – National Measurement Accreditation Service
• UKAS - The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.
• Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of these evaluators.
• UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, limited by guarantee.
UKAS is independent of Government but is appointed as the national accreditation body by the Accreditation Regulations 2009 (SI No
3155/2009) and operates under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government through the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

• IAF - International Accreditation Forum
• Members are Accreditation Bodies, which have been evaluated by peers as competent, sign arrangements that enhance the acceptance of products and services across national borders, thereby creating a framework to support international trade through the removal of technical barriers, These arrangements are managed by the International
Accreditation Forum.
• Accreditation Body members of IAF are admitted to the IAF MLA only after a most stringent evaluation of their operations by a peer evaluation team which is charged to ensure that the applicant member complies fully with both the international standards and IAF requirements. Once an accreditation body is a signatory of the IAF MLA it is required to recognise the certificates issued by conformity assessment bodies accredited by all other signatories of the IAF MLA, with the appropriate scope.

GOVERNANCE –
ACCREDITATION STANDARDS
• ISO/IEC 17011:2004 Conformity assessment - General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies
• ISO/IEC 17021:2011 Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems
• IAF Mandatory documents (Man-day requirements etc.)
• ISO 27006:2007 - Information technology - Security techniques requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of information security management systems
• ISO 22003:2007 - Food safety management systems - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of food safety management systems
• ISO 19011:2005 Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing (now forms part of ISO 17021)

CERTIFICATION BODY
• Impartiality Committee – independent overseers of the Certification Body’s operations to ensure they remain impartial and free from possible conflicts
• AB office audits
• AB witnessed audits

• Questionnaire
– to obtain pertinent details
• Proposal/cotract – costs and description of audit process
• Audit planning
– team selection (ISO 17021) EA/NACE Code & man-day allocation (MD 5)
• Itinerary – Identifies areas of the standard and operations to be audited at which locations
• Stage 1 audit – evaluate documentation, site conditions and readiness for Stage 2
• Stage 2 audit – determine compliance to the management system standard and procedures by interviewing staff members, viewing and evaluating objective evidence etc.
• Report with recommendation
• Certification decision – review of report and audit planning
• Certificate Issue – Certificate and Schedule
• Surveillances –
At least once per year

• Review of documentation
• Review of client’s awareness of the requirements
• Evaluation of site specific conditions
• Ensure that the client has a knowledge of legislation
• Identifying areas of concern

• Opening meeting – to advise the client of the audit methodology and to confirm audit objectives
• Interviewing personnel
• Observing objective evidence
• Recording non-conformance
• Closing meeting – delivery of findings

AUDITOR COMPETENCY – PRE-REQUISITES
• Secondary education
• Work experience - minimum 2 years
• 5 day auditor training
• Minimum of 4 audits with a minimum of
20 days of witnessed auditing as auditor
(Auditor)
• Additional 3 audits with at least 15 days of witnessed auditing (Lead Auditor/Team
Leader

This is a DEMONSTRATION of knowledge of the processes (QMS), significant aspects and operational controls (EMS), Critical Control Points and processes
(FSMS) by means of:
• Sector Knowledge Declaration - the auditor submits a document that describes the processes, general controls, CCPs, aspects, legislation etc. that would be expected in the sector – this is reviewed by a ‘competent’ person
• Technical Interview - the auditor is interviewed by a suitably ‘competent’
(sector knowledge established) auditor/Technical Expert where the a candidate would be expected to describe the processes, controls, aspects, legislation etc. that would be expected in the sector
• Witnessed audit – the candidate is witnessed auditing the technical areas