What is accreditation?

Accreditation is third-party attestation related to a conformity assessment body (CAB) granted by an accreditation body (i.e. Slovenian Accreditation in Slovenia) conveying formal demonstration of the accredited CAB’s (e.g. laboratory’s, inspection or certification body’s) competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.

Accreditation is a technical, impartial and independent procedure used by a national accreditation service to officially attest that an accredited CAB is competent to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks. Accreditation represents one of the key pillars of the technical quality infrastructure of every country, as it contributes to the improvement of the quality of products and services, helps industry to achieve global competitiveness and contributes to the promotion of international trade.

When a CAB wishes to obtain accreditation in a particular technical field, it has to join in the accreditation procedure.  Accreditation procedure is a technical procedure, which is always carried out on client’s request. When this meets all the requirements of the accreditation standard, the procedure is concluded and an Accreditation Certificate is granted which confirms the client’s competence in the specified conformity assessment area.