“Certification” refers to the issuing of written assurance (the certificate) by an independent external body that it has audited a management system and verified that it conforms to the requirements specified in the standard.
“Registration” means that the auditing body then records the certification in its client register. So, the organization’s management system has been both certified and registered.
“Registration” means that the auditing body then records the certification in its client register. So, the organization’s management system has been both certified and registered.
Therefore, in the ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001:2004 context, the difference between the two terms is not significant and both are acceptable for general use. “Certification” is the term most widely used worldwide, although registration is often preferred in North America, and the two are used interchangeably.
On the contrary, using “accreditation” as an interchangeable alternative for certification or registration is a mistake, because it means something different.
“Accreditation” means the evaluation and periodic review of the competence of Certifying Bodies or auditors or training bodies. To see ISO's World Wide Directory of Accreditation Bodies - visit http://www.praxiom.com/accrediters.htm
Accreditation and Certification Mechanism in General
In the ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001:2004 context, accreditation refers to the formal recognition by a specialized body – an accreditation body – that a certification body is competent to carry out ISO 9001:2000 or ISO 14001:2004 certification in specified business sectors.
In simple terms, accreditation is like certification of the certification body. Certificates issued by accredited certification bodies may be perceived on the market as having increased credibility.
6 comments:
Nomenclature can be so confusing! Would it not be proper for an organization to say they are "ISO accredited" once they have been inspected, registered, and certified?
Pardes
No. We can't say an organization as "ISO Accredited". Since ISO standards like ISO 9001, 14001...etc are certifiable standards (being audited by certifying agencies), an organization can claim as “ISO certified” but not ISO accredited.
Then only the certifying agency can claim that they are ISO accredited to certify organizations? Is that correct.
Thanks,
Caroline
Yeah.... u r right.
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iso 9000
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