The difference between accreditation and certification
Accreditation
Accreditation is a formal recognition that an organisation is competent to perform specified tasks in testing, inspection, certification, validation and verification. It also means that Swedac as a competent authority performs regular independent assessments, so that skills and working practices comply with established requirements according to international standards or official regulations.
Certification
Certification means that a management system, product or person is deemed to meet all requirements of standards or other normative documents. Upon certification, it is a so-called certification body that audits whether the requirements are met.
Search for certified companies:
Certification under accreditation – or not?
Certification can be performed under accreditation. This means that it is an accredited certification body that has been approved by Swedac performing the certification.
But certification can also be carried out by a certification body that is not accredited and under certification schemes that do not have requirements for accreditation. In such operations, Swedac is not involved.
Mandatory – or not?
Certification under accreditation is mandatory in some areas. For example, staff working with stationary refrigeration units must be certified. The same applies to survey technicians working with vehicle inspection. Having a certified management system for quality or the environment is not a legal requirement however, but may be a requirement from customers.