We recommend the following accredited Management Systems Certification - Registration Bodies (CB) and its subsidiaries. This listing of three CB reduces the many certification bodies (worldwide approximately 1,000), taken from our full listing , as follows:

DNV, Norway based International Registration Body through management systems for Quality ISO 9001, Automotive TS 16949, Aerospace AS9100, Environmental ISO 14001, Medical ISO 13485, Social Accountability SA8000, Occupational Heal & Safety BS OHSAS 18001, and other management systems which may include product certifications.

BRS , USA based International Registration Body operating worldwide focusing in consumer protection through management systems for Quality ISO 9001, Food Safety Management System ISO 22000 & HACCP MS, Medical Devices ISO 13485, Health Care Quality, Environmental ISO 14001, Occupational Health & Safety BS OHSAS 18001, Security of Information ISMS ISO/IEC 27001, Social Responsibility - Accountability, Inspection and Validation.

Lloyd's Register, British based International Registration Body through management systems for Quality ISO 9001, Automotive TS 16949, Aerospace AS9100, Environmental ISO 14001, Medical Devices ISO 13485, Health & Safety OHSAS 18001, SA, and other management systems which includes product certification.

Why Registration - Certification?

Certification - Registration from an international and reputable 3^rd party impartial and competent certification body demonstrates to others that your organization's competence and commitment to specific quality, environmental responsibility, food safety, security of information...

The major publishing entity "International Organization for Certification (ISO)" states and we quote:

"In most countries, accreditation is a choice, not an obligation and the fact that a certification body is not accredited does not, by itself, mean that it is not a reputable organization. For example, a certification body operating nationally in a highly specific sector might enjoy such a good reputation that it does not feel there is any advantage for it to go to the expense of being accredited. That said, many certification bodies choose to seek accreditation, even when it is not compulsory, in order to be able to demonstrate an independent confirmation of their competence."

While accreditation is not an obligation to operate minimum conformity assessment, we recommend that Certification Bodies carry accreditation as this assures demonstrable competence through impartiality in fulfilling legal obligations and compliance to regulations through ISO/IEC 17021, ISO/IEC 27006, ISO/TS 22003, ISO/IEC 17025, ISO/IEC 17020, ISO/IEC 15189 and other applicable management practices. Visit our list of accreditation entities T he issue of accreditation and certification within a free market is not compulsory.

On the issue of cost (price)... certification

For registration - certification we recommend that organizations evaluate the markets wherein chosen to provide services and products. The cost of certification are based on audit time, which should be in accordance to risk, nature of activities, product | services, size, and complexity of the activities of the organization. These are requirements from most accreditation entities on a fee basis by management systems and European based scope of industrial activities. The management systems applicable to accreditation are an exchange of payments and fees, and for which the accreditation bodies themselves pay a fee to special specific groups such as PAC, EA and IAA and these onto IAF Inc.  Accreditation fees are paid to acquire and maintain extrinsic evidence of compliance to ISO/IEC 17021, ISO/IEC 17020, ISO/TS 22003 and ISO/IEC 27006 and interpretative guides.

Registration - Certification Bodies, or subsets of these namely Registrar, provides a questionnaire for information to present a quote / budget. The quote relates to the costs of the registration - certification protocol and terms of agreement, as the questionnaire provides initial and sufficient information of your organization.

Certification - Registration bodies quotes may reference associative costs, which include application fee and those costs that relate to travel. The fees and billings reflect the cost of activities including payments for their accreditation. Feel free to contact us to provide you with guidelines on costs for regions of Europe, across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Eurasia, Middle East and Africa. As previously noted, audit time is based on auditor time, administrative fees and hopefully the nature of the activities, processes, nature of the product, risks, impact to communities and consumers, complexity and size of the organization.