Accreditation
UAS certification is to perform duties in an authoritative and impartial way, to bring awareness, third party assessment and confidence to the businesses and organizations, to collaborate with other businesses at different geographical locations.
The business environment we live in is growing quickly and drastically with different new and emerging risks. Many examiners and certifiers are taking advantage of operating without accreditation. Without reliable accreditation there is no certainty that goods and services can be depended upon. It is your responsibility to check whether the institutions offering accreditation are reliable and authentic.
Accreditation provides certainty where certifications are an essential part of the business economy. International recognition of UAS accreditation is a symbol of assurance that bring various benefits:
• Highlights your independence, impartiality, competence and credibility
• Offers international recognition with other international accreditation organizations
• Enables to benchmark your performance against relevant values
• Highest level of assessment and professionalism is conveyed to your clients
• Fortifies your aptitude to contest overall.
UAS accreditation process is systematic and comprehensive in its assessment. Before we grant an accreditation, we refer the conditions of accreditation as set out in our accreditation policy and detailed accreditation manual, which must be met. We follow transparent, fair and ethical steps to award accreditation. Once accreditation is granted, you sign an accreditation deed and agree to all of its undertakings. We follow a process of monitoring compliance with our procedures and standards. We withdraw your accreditation should you not be fully complying with our policies and guidelines. Our policies and guidelines are
available on our website. After expiry of accreditation, bodies need to apply to be re-accredited.
Our Schemes
Management system certification bodies are accredited on the basis of the requirements of ISO/IEC 17021 standard. Assessment of certification bodies are based on their independence, integrity and technical competence. They have to prove a level of competence, within their area of expertise. Audit organization management systems accreditation must fulfil the requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000 or other relevant international standards.
A certification body’s scope of accreditation indicates which management systems it is accredited to assess and certify:
• Environmental Management Systems
• Food Safety Management Systems
• Occupational Health Safety Management Systems
• Quality Management Systems
• Energy Management Systems
• Service Management Systems
• Business Continuity Management Systems
• Management Systems For Manufacturers of Medical Devices
Product certification bodies are awarded accreditation on the basis of the ISO/IEC 17065 standard. They do not just inspect a single sample or a single batch but they also inspect the company. Product certification bodies determine whether products, services or manufacturing processes meet requirement. They also verify if a batch of products meets the specified requirements and validate the uniformity if the next batch is produced in the same manner. Product certifying body provides ongoing supervision.
Inspection bodies are given accreditation based on the requirements of the ISO/IEC 17020 standard. Inspection covers product design, product service or process/plant. Inspection involves determining conformity with specific requirement or the professional judgmental area. Inspection carries great significance in maintaining the safety of plant machinery, equipment and systems that are used in operations
Personnel certification bodies are given accreditation based on the requirements of ISO/IEC 17024 standard. It is the process of assessing and publicly recognizing the credibility, impartiality and technical competence of personnel certification services. Personnel certification bodies provide services for many professional and trade persons, such as auditors, operators, Riggers, CSO etc…
Laboratories are accredited based on the requirements of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. UAS accreditation is only granted for specific tests and calibrations in specific fields. Laboratories are only allowed to issue endorsed reports for accredited tests and calibrations.
UAS offers programs in the following domains:
• Calibration
• Environmental
• Agriculture, food, animal health, and plant protection
• Proficiency testing
• Forensic
• Mineral analysis
• Test method development and non-routine testing
Broad description of the steps involved in becoming accredited through UAS are mentioned here. For more detailed requirements the application pack shall be issued for your reference.
The time taken to become accredited depends on the quality and completeness of application pack and other requirements. Incomplete application pack will be returned to you for further action for completion of application pack. Incomplete application will delay your process. You can visit more details about application pack and guidelines on our website.
To assess and determine your organization’s suitability that can we actually accredit your organization, you need to go through our pre-application process. You need to complete this application inquiry form. You will then be sent a link to a portal where you will be asked to submit information regarding your application. We will review the information provided by you, and specify whether you will be able to proceed to the application stage.
After successful pre-application process, you can then start the assessment procedure. For this you need to:
• Review our Accreditation Manual
• Sign the Applicants MOU and upload all required documentation through our web portal and pay the application fee.
Your application shall be reviewed. We are under no obligation to progress your organization to accreditation in case our policy and manual requirements are not fulfilled.
Note: You need to ensure that your organization meets the requirements and conditions of accreditation. This is all explained in the Accreditation Manual.
If your application is accepted:
• To assess systems and examine your documentation on-site visit shall be conducted. It will be required that you invest time and effort in preparation of appropriate system documentation.
• For compliance assessment we shall conduct an office assessment and witness assessment in addition to documentation assessment. You will need to demonstrate us your system capabilities.
Findings noted during assessment are forwarded to Review Board for their reference and decision on whether to grant accreditation or not.
If your application and assessment results are approved by our Board, you will be issued a Accreditation certificate.
In case your application is not approved you are sent a letter by email outlining reasons of rejection.
After accreditation certification your compliance with UAS polices and manual shall be monitored by UAS throughout your four-year accreditation term. This will include scheduled and unscheduled.
Surveillance visits and assessments covering a range of activities shall be performed. For example, we may visit your premises to assess work environment, your performance, conduct integrity and authentication tests etc. The number of scheduled visits may vary based on your performance. If we find you compliant your accreditation continues until the end of the four-year term. If problems are noted by our assessors, you will be required to rectify the problems noted to maintain your accreditation. In case of termination of your accreditation you will notified in writing of the reasons and you will be given the opportunity to appeal these decisions.
You will be required to let us know about the changes in the business requirements and your compliance in changing scenarios. You will be required to mention us how you are tackling the problems and challenges due to changes in business environment and related factors. In
case of changes that we incorporate in our manuals and polices we shall be communicating the same through our web portal.
We consider various factors when it comes to cost and timeframe for awarding accreditation. The costs of accreditation differ based on the following factors:
• Size and complexity of the organization seeking accreditation
• The number of locations from which services are offered to customers
• The number of schemes and standards that the organization wishes to apply for accreditation
• The scope organization is seeking accreditation for, that is the number of technical sectors and
• The number of countries that the organization wishes to be accredited for.
These factors also affect the type and number of assessments that we undertake during the initial assessment stages and for ongoing monitoring.
After accreditation, the annual fees and certification fee are charged. These are conveyed through our accreditation manual.
Regarding the time taken for accreditation process it will be dependent on how well prepared the applicant is for assessment and accreditation. Poor quality documentation, lack of evidence of implementation of the structural requirements of the accreditation criteria and lack of evidence of implementation of procedures as per our policy and manual requirements cause the delay in the process. If you are well prepared for assessment and accreditation then the time for completion reduces accordingly. In case all things are in order, UAS can usually schedule the first visit within three months of receipt of application, with the complete process taking between 6-8 months from application to accreditation.
We require detailed information with application so that we can complete a pre-application review. This information is mentioned on a pre-application form which is accessible through our portal. You may also contact us for further queries.
Complaints are taken seriously and we deal with complaints in good and transparent ways. We refer our complaints policy for handling complaints. Our complaint policy:
• Is fair, transparent, systematic and straightforward.
• Is confidential.
• Provides broader guidelines to deal with different types of complaints.
All complaints must be in writing and addressed to the Chief Executive Officer with complete complaint form and necessary details. We only deal with complaints that meet all these conditions at a minimum:
• Compliant is made only after the complainant has made every effort to resolve the problem before approaching us.
• Complaints are validated with appropriate evidence and not subject to legal or regulatory or administrative action.
• Complaints are valid and justified.
• Complaints are not an attempt to discredit or engage in lobbying and/or influencing.
• Complaints relate to the performance of UAS employee or a certification or inspection body that we have accredited.