Accreditation is the process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented.
Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies (such as UKAS); hence they are sometimes known as "accredited certification bodies". The accreditation process ensures that their certification practices are acceptable, typically meaning that they are competent to test and certify third parties, behave ethically and employ suitable quality assurance.
Accreditation processes are used in a wide variety of fields:
Accredited International Credentials AIC
Accredited investor
Accredited in Public Relations
Accredited Registrar
Construction
TrustMark
Diplomatic accreditation
Educational accreditation
Higher education accreditation
List of recognized higher education accreditation organizations
List of unrecognized higher education accreditation organizations
Accreditation mill
List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
Pre-tertiary education accreditation
Email sender accreditation
Healthcare
American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities
Accreditation Commission for Health Care
Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission
International healthcare accreditation
Hospital accreditation
Joint Commission
United Kingdom Accreditation Forum
Information Assurance
Personal trainer accreditation
Professional certification
Systems Engineering
Translating and Interpreting
National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (Australia)
Accreditation standards
Many accreditation bodies operate according to processes developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as specified in ISO/IEC 17011. Accredited entities in specific sectors must provide evidence to the accreditation body that they conform to other standards in the same series:
ISO/IEC 17020: "General criteria for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection" (2012)
ISO/IEC 17021: "Conformity assessment. Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems" (2011)
ISO/IEC 17024: "Conformity Assessment. General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons" (2012)
ISO/IEC 17025: "General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories" (2005)
