1. United Kingdom Accreditation Service
Background and introduction
Delia Geary, CPA Transition Project Manager
2013 Roadshows

2. UKAS – who we are The national accreditation body
Established in 1995 by Ministers as a private company limited by guarantee
UKAS appointed as national accreditation body by The Accreditation Regulations 2009
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of these evaluators. UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, limited by guarantee. UKAS is independent of Government but is appointed as the national accreditation body by Accreditation Regulations 2009 (SI No 3155/2009) and the EU Regulation (EC) 765/2008 and operates under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government through the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
UKAS is licensed by BIS to use and confer the national accreditation symbols (formerly national accreditation marks) which symbolise Government recognition of the accreditation process. UKAS accreditation provides an assurance of the competence, impartiality and integrity of conformity assessment bodies. UKAS accredited certification, testing and calibration and inspection reduces the need for suppliers to be assessed by each of their customers. UKAS' involvement in international groups provides for mutual recognition which further reduces the need for multiple assessments of suppliers and as a consequence helps to reduce barriers to trade. It is therefore BIS policy to recommend the use of UKAS accredited conformity assessment services whenever this is an option
UKAS is a company limited by guarantee, having Members instead of shareholders. The Members represent those who have an interest in all aspects of accreditation - national and local government, business and industry, purchasers, users and quality managers.
UKAS Members
Although the company aims to be - and is - profitmaking, all profits are ploughed back into the business. Previous profits are the main sources of funding for new areas of accreditation.
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
Association of British Certification Bodies
British Measurement and Testing Association
British Retail Consortium
Chartered Quality Institute
Confederation of British Industry
Consumer Focus
Defence Equipment and Support
Department of Health
Federation of Small Businesses
Food Standards Agency
Health and Safety Executive
Health Protection Agency
Local Government Regulation
Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
The Safety Assessment Federation
The Science Council
Like all companies, UKAS has a board - a mixture of executive and non-executive directors:
Sir Paul Judge
Dame Suzi Leather
Sir Duncan Nichol CBE
Michael Mainelli
Lord Lindsay (Chairman)
Paul Stennett (Chief Executive)
Georgia Alsop
Lorraine Turner
Jeff Ruddle
The board is supported in the day-to- day running of these activities by an Executive drawn from senior UKAS staff.
The company takes advice on policy matters from a Policy Advisory Forum and on technical matters from a series of Technical Committees. The PAF meets once a year, and the TCs meet as and when necessary.
UKAS has signed a number of international agreements, which help to lower barriers to trade by ensuring international acceptance of certificates issued under the umbrella of UKAS accreditation. In particular, UKAS is a signatory to the EA (European co-operation for Accreditation), mutual recognition agreements. Maintenance of mutual recognition status is subject to regular peer evaluation, to accepted international standards.

3. UKAS - mandate
EU Regulation 765/2008 provides legal framework for accreditation
Operates under an MoU with BIS
Accreditation recognised as a public authority activity
Duty to act in the public interest: commercially aware, but not commercially driven
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service is the sole national accreditation body recognised by government to assess, against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of these evaluators. UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, limited by guarantee. UKAS is independent of Government but is appointed as the national accreditation body by Accreditation Regulations 2009 (SI No 3155/2009) and the EU Regulation (EC) 765/2008 and operates under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government through the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.
UKAS is licensed by BIS to use and confer the national accreditation symbols (formerly national accreditation marks) which symbolise Government recognition of the accreditation process. UKAS accreditation provides an assurance of the competence, impartiality and integrity of conformity assessment bodies. UKAS accredited certification, testing and calibration and inspection reduces the need for suppliers to be assessed by each of their customers. UKAS' involvement in international groups provides for mutual recognition which further reduces the need for multiple assessments of suppliers and as a consequence helps to reduce barriers to trade. It is therefore BIS policy to recommend the use of UKAS accredited conformity assessment services whenever this is an option

4. UKAS – what we do
Accreditation – the recognition of competence of organisations to perform specific tasks
UKAS assesses for compliance against criteria of competence (international standards)

5. UKAS and CPA CPA UKAS Chief Executive Technical Director
Business Development Director
Finance Director
UKAS CPA Accreditation Manager
UKAS CPA Transition Project Manager
CPA Regional Assessors/Assessment Managers

6. Requirements for MLA/MRA
Compliance with:
EC Regulation 765/2008
ISO/IEC 17011: 2004
European cooperation for Accreditation requirements EA 2/02: 2011
International Accreditation Forum and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation requirements IAF/ILAC A2: 2010

7. EA, ILAC/IAF requirements
Requirements and mandatory documents
Applicable IAF and ILAC guidance documents
Relevant supplementary requirements
Applicable requirements of Regional Group

8. Supplementary requirements
Experience of assessment
Experience of operating an accreditation body
Access to technical expertise
Acceptable routes for traceability
Relevant requirements for proficiency testing
Abide by regional and international Arrangement(s)
Promote the Arrangement(s)
Contribute resources for peer evaluations
Implement a cross frontier accreditation policy
Only subcontract to other signatories

9. Impact on laboratories
Pathology laboratories complying with ISO 15189
Point of care testing complying with ISO 22870
Withdrawal of CPA standard

10. Questions ?