What do I need to do to become an accredited certification body?
Organizations interested in providing certification services for one of the schemes managed by ASI are invited to submit an application.
The accreditation process involves a sequence of steps. Once your application has been received, ASI will conduct an initial desk study to verify that the applicant has robust systems to ensure impartiality and balanced decision making and is able to operate in line with the requirements of the specific standard. The ASI Assessment Team will then visit your office location(s) to review the actual implementation of your processes and interview staff on their understanding of the requirements. In a final step, each applicant undertakes a test audit to be witnessed by ASI in which it demonstrates that its auditors apply the correct procedures, follow best practice and show expertise. Based on this witness audit and the final audit report, the the ASI Assessment Team will seek an accreditation recommendation from the ASI Accreditation Committee.
The process for accreditation is time consuming and usually takes about 12-24 months, depending on the readiness of the applicant. It is therefore worthwhile to study the certification scheme requirements and ASI accreditation process fully beforehand to ensure that your application is approved within a desired timeframe. Accreditation is granted initially for 3-5 years depending on the certification scheme and accompanied by annual surveillance assessments.
