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IAF-EU

HOW TO BECOME ACCREDITATED

The Commission has established formal procedures by which institutions can move through the required stages that lead to accreditation. These stages includes :

  • Eligibility
  • Initial Accreditation (If Initial Accreditation is not achieved after the Seeking Accreditation, Visit 1, and Candidacy may be granted)

Each stage has specific criteria, processes, and time frames. An institution starting the procedures for seeking accreditation should carefully consider the requirements for each step to ensure its understanding of the process and be aware that the time frame may take several years depending on the maturity of institutional development.

Eligibility applications are peer-reviewed by the Eligibility Review Committee (ERC).

ACCREDITATION

What is Accreditation
Who can be Accredited?
How to become Accreditated
Costs of Accreditation
What is Accreditation

WHAT IS AN ACCREDITATION

Accreditation is a process of review that healthcare organizations participate in to demonstrate the ability to meet predetermined criteria and standards of accreditation established by a professional accrediting agency. Accreditation represents agencies as credible and reputable organizations dedicated to ongoing and continuous compliance with the highest standard of quality. IAF-EU collaborates with industry experts to create standards to ensure that quality is maintained throughout all aspects of the organization.

Accreditation is a term used to describe the process that institutions of higher education undergo to confirm they meet the strictest educational standards. Accreditation is earned through accrediting bodies, which are private, nongovernmental organizations that have been created specifically to review higher education institutions and programs. These accreditors are reviewed for quality by entities such as the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the United States Department of Education (USDE), and they are held to extremely high quality standards of their own

Accreditation is an internationally recognized evaluation process used in many countries to assess the quality of care and services provided in a range of areas such as health care, long term residential aged care, disability services, and non-health related sectors such as child care. Accreditation has been rapidly adopted by health and aged care services worldwide as part of a safety and quality framework.
Who can be Accredited?

WHO CAN BE ACCREDITED?

IAF-EU provides accreditations to conformity assessment bodies (CAB). These bodies consist of laboratories, certification and inspection bodies, providers of proficiency tests and reference material producers.


A CAB may be accredited by IAF-EU if it meets the requirements of the corresponding international standards.

Accreditation:

LaboratoriesTesting and Calibration Laboratories
ISO/IEC 17025
Medical Laboratories
ISO 15189
Inspection BodiesISO/IEC 17020
Certification Bodiesfor Person
ISO/IEC 17024
for Management Systems
ISO/IEC 17021
for Products
ISO/IEC 17065 (or EN 45011)
Validation and Verification BodiesISO 14065
Providers of Proficiency TestsISO/IEC 17043
Producers of Reference MaterialsISO Guide 34
How to become Accreditated

HOW TO BECOME ACCREDITATED

The Commission has established formal procedures by which institutions can move through the required stages that lead to accreditation. These stages includes :

  • Eligibility
  • Initial Accreditation (If Initial Accreditation is not achieved after the Seeking Accreditation, Visit 1, and Candidacy may be granted)

Each stage has specific criteria, processes, and time frames. An institution starting the procedures for seeking accreditation should carefully consider the requirements for each step to ensure its understanding of the process and be aware that the time frame may take several years depending on the maturity of institutional development.

Eligibility applications are peer-reviewed by the Eligibility Review Committee (ERC).

Costs of Accreditation

COSTS OF ACCREDITATION

The costs of accreditation differ based on the following factors :

  • Size of the body seeking accreditation
  • The complexity of the organisation, as this will have an effect on assessment durations
  • The number of sites from which services are offered
  • The number of schemes and standards that the body wishes to be accredited for
  • The technical scope that the body is seeking accreditation for, that is the number of technical sectors and
  • The number of countries that the body wishes to be accredited for.
These factors will affect the number and type of assessments to be undertaken during the initial assessment and for ongoing surveillance.
Once accredited, the annual fees and certificate fees will be charged. These are published through our accreditation manual, available to all applicant and accredited bodies.