Benefits of using an 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 the requirements of a standard (e.g. ISO 9001 or ISO 14001). There are many benefits of using an accredited registrar when looking to obtain certification for your organization.

Accreditation means an independent, objective body recognizes that an organization is qualified to provide specific services. An accreditation body should assess a registrar’s facilities, procedures and staff against a set of criteria that define acceptable competence levels and capabilities.

There are many registrar companies that offer their services to audit and determine if an organization meets the requirements of a specific standard; however, not all registrars are accredited. An organization may decide to seek certification from any of these registrars, accredited and non-accredited. Nonetheless, choosing an accredited registrar can bring the following benefits to an organization:

• Organizations can be assured of the registrar’s ability, since the accreditation represents an independent assessment of the registrar’s credibility to perform management system registration.
• It provides assurance that the certification is based on conformance with internationally accepted practices and procedures, thus offering credibility to the certificate.
• Many clients and customers require suppliers’ management system is certified by an accredited registrar.
• Accredited registrars are prohibited to offer both consulting and registration services to one organization, in order to ensure that the value of the certificate will not be compromise due to conflict of interest; on the other hand, some non-accredited registrar do offer both services as one package in order to offer more competitive prices whilst jeopardizing the credibility of the certification.
• Accreditation assures organizations that a registrar meets specific requirements on an ongoing basis.
• Accredited registrars can assure that the auditors selected are properly qualified for the industry specialty, and that certification audits will be effective and objective.
• Accreditation provides an added safeguard against improper and fraudulent activities.
• In order to maintain accreditation, registrars are pressured to enforce internationally sanctioned registration standards and practices within its organization and among its auditors.
• Accreditation registrar are often stipulated and supported by local governments.

Organizations that choose an accredited registrar and develop an active relationship with it will ensure the value of its registration certificate, and they can guarantee their customers and clients that their management system has been certified by an unbiased, objective and professional audit.

ISO Terms Explained

To the novice quality manager, ISO jargon can be extremely overwhelming. What is an NCR? What do you mean by OFI? Are we certified or accredited? But before you go and pull out your hair, let’s take a moment to go over some of the most frequently used terms and their definitions with regards to ISO and Management System Certification.