Why UKAS Accreditation Shows You’re Serious About ISO

10 Oct Why UKAS Accreditation Shows You’re Serious About ISO

What’s the big deal about UKAS?
UKAS is an acronym for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and is a UK Government approved accreditation body that assesses organisations providing certification to ISO standards. It is the only Government appointed accreditation body and is recognised as the most prestigious marker of ISO quality.

The UK Government is actively promoting the importance of UKAS accredited certification, as they believe it benefits both UK business and society. And interestingly, UKAS accredited ISO certification is expected to become the norm in the near future as more and more people are acknowledging its value.

UKAS has global status
UKAS is recognised all around the world, as are the certificates from UKAS accredited certification bodies. For this reason, UKAS opens up international opportunities for a company – increasing growth opportunities on a huge scale.

UKAS goes hand in hand with tendering
Having UKAS accredited ISO certification can make all the difference when it comes to tendering for new business. In this increasingly systemised world, a failure to tick the UKAS box can have devasting effects on a company’s tender success rate. As systemisation is progressively replacing personal relationships, a decrease in human communication means that it can be easy to lose a tender by unknowingly having incorrect certification.

For this reason, many businesses believe that UKAS is an obvious choice.

The truth about ISO certification bodies
Did you know that anyone can set themselves up as an ISO certification body and not all are UKAS accredited? This means they can effectively choose the length and frequency of the audits they carry out. Plus, alarmingly, without being UKAS accredited there are no rules or standards to which they must adhere. For example – they can unfairly lock clients into long-term contracts and in theory, they could provide consultancy and then certify their own work! This is something to be hyper-aware of, and finding an ISO certification body with UKAS to its name is well worth the extra research time.

Excellence and fairness
UKAS is known to have meticulous and highly experienced auditors. This gives you, and most importantly your customers and prospects, peace of mind that UKAS accredited ISO certification bodies are constantly working to the highest standards set by UKAS – and operating in a competent and impartial manner.

With a rule that certification bodies can only audit and assess, but not consult, UKAS ensures that all practice is transparent and just. They also support the notion of giving clients the freedom to move certification bodies – eliminating the risk of being bound by lengthy contracts or buyout obligations.

EmmersonWills specialises in UKAS
As ISO consultants, EmmersonWills uses only UKAS accredited certification bodies. This is something we are immensely proud of, as it supports our ethos of ‘simplicity with compliance to UKAS certifiable standards.’

Our clients will always see the UKAS ‘crown and tick’ mark on their certificates, and it is handy to know that all the certification bodies we use are listed on the UKAS website. You can search Find an Organisation on the Quality, Environmental, and Health & Safety UKAS web pages to check this.

Reassuringly, UKAS has also invested in a user-friendly Cert Check platform where clients and prospects can check the validity of a supplier’s certificate directly, by simply entering the company name or certificate number. As all UKAS certificates are issued electronically, each and every one of their certificates is on the UKAS database, making it simple to differentiate between genuine and imitation UKAS certificates.

Choose your ISO certification body carefully
When it comes to ISO, the benefits of UKAS accreditation are clear, but it can still feel overwhelming having to ‘go it alone’ and organise your own ISO standards system.
EmmersonWills are here to support and guide you through the process, creating a hassle-free management system that both complements your business and evolves with you.
If you would like to discuss your ISO requirements, please feel free to reach out to us on 0800 433 2207 or via the contact page at EmmersonWills.com.