Conformity assessment by the national accreditation body

The designation “accredited testing laboratory” indicates that the accreditation body has recognised the laboratory’s competence to carry out conformity assessments in the form of testing. By contrast, “certified testing laboratory” means that a certification body has confirmed that a management system has been established and is effectively applied, for example:

• a quality management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001,
• an environmental management system in accordance with DIN EN ISO 14001,
• an occupational health and safety management system in accordance with OHSAS 18001.

Certification does not attest to competence to perform conformity assessments in the form of tests or measurements. So far, so good. But this raises an important question: “Who assesses the conformity assessment bodies?” This is the task of the national accreditation body, which acts as the higher-level conformity assessment body for other assessment bodies. The relevant standard is DIN EN ISO/IEC 17011.

National accreditation body

Germany’s national accreditation body, Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS)(opens in new tab), bases its activities on EU Regulation No. 765/2008 and the German Accreditation Body Act (AkkStelleG). Since 1 January 2010, DAkkS has been Germany’s sole national accreditation body. It performs sovereign tasks and is regarded as the final authority in the conformity assessment chain. Particularly high requirements for independence, impartiality and integrity therefore apply to DAkkS and its employees.

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Further information: Part 7 of the series “Conformity assessments in materials testing”: “Conformity assessment and damage analysis: competence in practice”.(opens in new tab)