8-458: The United Kingdom Accreditation Service ( UKAS ) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. It evaluates these conformity assessment bodies and then accredits them where they are found to meet relevant internationally specified standards. UKAS
16-535: A Written Statement to Parliament. In the statement, Lord Drayson said: “The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has a long standing and effective relationship with UKAS that both parties value highly. We will continue to work together not only to ensure that the requirements of the EC Regulation are fulfilled but to improve the quality and breadth of accreditation in the UK.” Outside of Europe, there
24-443: Is a non-profit-distributing private company, it is operated in the public interest as a company limited by guarantee . It employs 190 staff and over 250 technical external assessors / experts. UKAS has members (instead of shareholders) who represent those who have an interest in accreditation – national and local government, business and industry, purchasers, users and quality managers. The present members are: In 2010 UKAS acquired
32-642: The CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation) from the medical royal colleges . It started ISAS (Imaging Services Accreditation Scheme) for the Royal College of Radiologists and the College of Radiographers . Accredited registrar An accredited registrar , also called an accredited certification body (CB), is an organization accredited by a recognized accrediting body for its competence to audit and issue certification confirming that an organization meets
40-598: The European Commission for Enterprise and Industry set out a European-wide policy for accreditation. This ensures consistency in the accreditation market and is designed to protect the consumer. Accordingly, it is mandatory for every European member-state to have a single national Accreditation Body (NAB). In the UK, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the formally appointed National Accreditation Body, following
48-570: The adoption the European regulation. The new Regulation (EC Regulation 765/2008), which came into force on 1 January 2010, requires each member state to appoint a single national accreditation body. UKAS has therefore been appointed by statutory instrument providing, for the first time, a legal basis for its role. The accreditation Regulations 2009 (Statutory Instrument No 3155/2009) making the appointment were signed on 30 November 2009 by Lord Drayson, Minister for Science and Innovation, and announced in
56-417: The requirements of a standard (e.g. ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 ). Accreditation means that certification and inspection bodies have been assessed against recognized standards to demonstrate their competence, impartiality and capability. Although not a legal requirement, accreditation is often stipulated and supported by local governments. In order to ensure equally high standards of certification across Europe,
64-556: Was set up in 1995 under a memorandum of understanding with the British government (between UKAS and the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry ). It resulted from the merger in 1995 of NAMAS (National Measurement Accreditation Service) and NACCB (National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies). NAMAS was itself the result of a merger in 1985 of NATLAS (National Testing Laboratory Accreditation Scheme) formed in 1981 and BCS (British Calibration Service) formed in 1966. UKAS
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