About AB-CAB:
Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment Bodies (AB-CAB) is an Independent, International Accreditation Board (AB). It works to serve the global communities of businesses and consumers. AB-CAB accredits appropriately qualified independent third party Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) such as Certification Bodies, Inspection Bodies, Testing & Calibration Laboratories and Medical Laboratories to ensure that their competence to carry out specific tasks is as per the International Standards & the Benchmarks. AB-CAB Accreditation is voluntary in nature. AB-CAB is a trading name for “Accreditation Board For Conformity Assessment Bodies” a company limited by shares established as per requirement of , Republic of India. AB-CAB operates in accordance with the requirements, criteria, rules and regulations laid down in the following documents: The requirements of the international standard ISO/IEC 17011, General requirements for bodies providing assessments and accreditation of conformity assessment bodiesThe requirements and other benchmarks as stipulated in the Publicly Available Documents (PAD) published by various international bodies and AB-CAB a Legally established objectives as per its by-laws.The authority vested is AB-CAB is that assigned to them by the Conformity Assessment Bodies and other Organization it accredits and recognizes by virtue of these applicant and accredited bodies pledging support for the mission and objectives of AB-CAB and ensuring that their actions are according to that policy. It is an independent, impartial and non-governmental body and makes no claim to be connected with any government.
Is Your Certificate Accredited?
A certificate issued by an AB-CAB Accredited certification body (CB) that includes the AB-CAB accreditation symbol is an accredited certificate. An accredited certificate includes both the CB's symbol and the accreditation symbol of the accrediting body. Be sure to look for both.
Importance of the Accreditation:
Accreditation is the means by which an authoritative body, such as the AB-CAB, gives formal recognition that an organization, such as a CB, is competent to carry out specific tasks. Accreditation provides assurance to a CB's customers that the CB continues to operate according to internationally accepted criteria.
Naturally, an organization considering certification wants to know about the reputation and competence of the CB it selects. The organization wants assurance that the CB is competent to evaluate its systems and that their customers will value the CB's judgment, no matter where their customers are located.
Unaccredited CBs may not operate according to international requirements. Deceitful CBs may offer a certificate without an audit or without any real understanding of an organization's processes. Such a certificate is of questionable value for the certified organization and its customers.
In addition to offering accredited certificates, an accredited CB may also offer unaccredited certificates or certificates for standards for which the CB is not accredited. If you want to rely on a certificate, you should understand the qualifications of the CB that issued the certificate and whether or not the CB (and certificate) is accredited.
The International Accreditation Forum, a global association of accreditation bodies, has published a report on the value of accredited certification. For details, please visit http://www.iaf.nu/articles/Accredited_certification_delivers_real_added_value/276.
