Accreditation Cycle

CBs are accredited for a four-year accreditation cycle. During the three years between initial accreditation and reassessment and between each reassessment, annual oversight activities will be conducted on a sampling basis across the CB head office and fixed office locations to confirm continued conformance with accreditation requirements. Generally, the first surveillance assessment will take place one-year following the initial assessment. Each surveillance activity there after will generally take place at twelve-month intervals.

Each annual oversight activity following accreditation or reassessment will be referenced sequentially by the designation S1, S2 or S3. Annual surveillance assessments may be shorter duration and focus on a portion of the accreditation requirements.

In the fourth year of the accreditation cycle, UKIAF will conduct a reassessment of the Head Office and selected fixed office locations. Reassessment will consider all elements of the accreditation requirements. Witness audits will also be conducted.

Surveillance and reassessment oversight activities at fixed office locations may comprise of an on-site surveillance, the acceptance of an evaluation report from an accreditation body, or the conduct of a witness audit. The focus of reassessments and annual surveillance activities will be influenced by experience gained during previous accreditation activities.

Each year UKIAF will provide the CB with an updated planned Accreditation Cycle Plan containing the outline of activities for the next 4 years, the specific locations to be assessed and assessment teams (if known) for the upcoming year, and will be developed from the most recent information collected from the CB with respect to fixed office locations and corporate changes. The Accreditation Cycle Plan will identify all of the required assessment activities that UKIAF plans to perform to satisfy continued accreditation.

Upon receipt of the Accreditation Cycle Plan, the CB shall review it and notify UKIAF of any concerns with the planned assessment activities. Annual assessment activities use sampling of the fixed office locations so that each location is assessed at least once during the accreditation cycle following the initial assessment. Sampling may increase if the CB performance raises doubt as to the credibility of the certificates issued by the CB.

UKIAF will assess each fixed office location at least once during the four year accreditation cycle. A fixed office location is defined as being where the CB conducts one or more the following activities:

• policy formulation and approval;
• process and/or procedure development and approval;
• initial assessment of competence, and approval of technical personnel and subcontractors;
• control of the monitoring process of competence of personnel and subcontractors and its outcomes;
• contract review including technical review of applications and determining the technical requirements for certification activity in new technical areas or areas of limited sporadic activity;
• decision on certification including technical review of evaluation tasks

Unlike the initial assessment where technical experts are assigned to the assessment team to cover all the technical areas being requested, technical experts will be rotated on the teams in the S1, S2, S3 and reassessment years so that all technical areas outlined on the scope of accreditation are reviewed at least once over the four-year accreditation cycle.

A CB may request that UKIAF conduct a joint assessment at a fixed office location with another accreditation body or that UKIAF consider another accreditation body’s oversight results in lieu of performing an assessment activity identified in the Accreditation Cycle Plan. In such cases the CB must make the request in writing at least four months prior to the planned activity.