United Kingdom Accreditation Service

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the British government[1] to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. It evaluates these conformity assessment bodies and then accredits them where they are found to meet relevant internationally specified standards.

United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)
AbbreviationUKAS
Formation1995
TypeNational accreditation body
Legal statusCompany limited by guarantee
PurposeAccreditation
Location
Region served
UK
Membership
Conformity assessment bodies, primarily British.
Main organ
UKAS Board (Chairman – Lord Lindsay)
Parent organization
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
WebsiteUKAS
RemarksAppointed as the sole National Accreditation Body, by the British Government as required by the Accreditation Regulations 2009 (S.I. No. 3155)

Functions
  • UKAS assesses conformity assessment bodies for competence against internationally recognised standards
  • UKAS accredits (recognising competence of organisations to provide conformity assessment tasks)
  • UKAS issues accreditation certificates and schedules showing the limits of the accreditation for a particular conformity assessment body and permits the use of the UKAS mark on accredited certification provided that it is accompanied by the UKAS Accreditation Number of the accredited body. The validity of an accreditation should be checked on the UKAS website. UKAS certificates do not bear an expiry date.

History

UKAS was set up in 1995 under a memorandum of understanding with the British government (between UKAS and the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry).[2] It resulted from the merger in 1995 of NAMAS (National Measurement Accreditation Service) and NACCB (National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies). NAMAS was itself the result of a merger in 1985 of NATLAS (National Testing Laboratory Accreditation Scheme) formed in 1981 and BCS (British Calibration Service) formed in 1966.[3][4]

Structure

UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, it is operated in the public interest as a company limited by guarantee. It employs 190 staff and over 250 technical external assessors / experts.

UKAS has members (instead of shareholders) who represent those who have an interest in accreditation – national and local government, business and industry, purchasers, users and quality managers. The present members are:[5]

In 2010 UKAS acquired the CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation) from the medical royal colleges.[6] It started ISAS (Imaging Services Accreditation Scheme) for the Royal College of Radiologists and the College of Radiographers.[7]

Standards covered

See also

References
  1. "About us". United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  2. "Memorandum of Understanding Between the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service" (PDF). Department of Trade and Industry. 23 January 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2006.
  3. "Measurement Standards: National measurement accreditation service launched". Physics Bulletin. 37 (1): 8–8. January 1986. doi:10.1088/0031-9112/37/1/013.
  4. Cooper, R. (October 1993). "The organization of instrument evaluation by an accredited laboratory". ISA Transactions. 32 (3): 283–289. doi:10.1016/0019-0578(93)90027-T.
  5. "About the QA – United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)". quality-register.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  6. Helliwell, Tim (2 May 2017). "The regulatory landscape for pathology services". The Royal College of Pathologists. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  7. "Imaging Services Accreditation Scheme (ISAS)". The Royal College of Radiologists. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
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