The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the UK government body for policing certification bodies. A certification body becomes “accredited” once UKAS has approved them, their people, their systems and their processes, to “assess other companies” to various management (and technical) standards.
There are a number of “rogue” bodies that claim to award ISO standards and legitimate ISO registration – they are not.
Any organisation offering BOTH the system development AND certification, within 30 days, is highly likely to be a non-UKAS approved certification body – that certificate won’t be worth anything.
Solution
ONLY use UKAS assessment bodies.
Check the credibility of your proposed certification body on the UKAS website to ensure they meet the necessary standards and regulations.
Consider reaching out to industry peers or seeking testimonials from other organisations that have used their services – or just ask us!