What is accreditation, and what kind of entities does it refer to?

Accreditation is a confirmation of the competence of an entity – (a body certifying products, services, people, systems), a laboratory (a testing laboratory, a calibration laboratory, etc.), an inspection body –  to perform activities in a specific area. The scope of accreditation is an annex to the accreditation certificate and it describes in detail the area of confirmed competence.

Poland’s only accreditation body is the Polish Centre for Accreditation. 

Within the EU, accreditation is of ‘cross-border’ nature, which means that a body accredited in Poland to certify, for instance, management systems for conformity to the PN-EN ISO 9001 standard by the PCA, may, on the basis of this accreditation, operate in every EU Member State.

Accreditation in the area of voluntary certification is not mandatory. Accreditation is required, as a matter of exception, in the event that a notification is applied for. Nevertheless, it is in the customer’s interest to use accredited bodies’ services in view of their confirmed competence, and in view of the supervision over their activities ensured by the PCA or other national accreditation body.