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ANAB Accreditation in General

Home>

Accreditation

ANAB assesses and accredits certification bodies (CBs) that demonstrate competence to audit

and certify organizations conforming with management systems standards.* Accreditation by a

recognized and respected body such as ANAB ensures the impartiality and competence of the

CB and fosters confidence and acceptance of the CB's certifications by end users in the public

and private sectors.

Accreditation Process

Refer to How to Become an ANAB-Accredited CB

*You can purchase many management system standards from ANSI and ASQ, both of which

offer member discounts.

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Is Your Certificate Accredited?

If your certificate was issued by an ANAB-accredited certification body (CB)= (registrar), the

answer to this question is probably yes. An accredited certificate should include both the CB's

mark and the accreditation mark of the accrediting body. Be sure to look for both marks.

Why does it matter? Accreditation is the means by which an authoritative body (such as the

ANAB) gives formal recognition that an organization (such as a CB) is competent to carry out

specific tasks. Accreditation provides assurance to a CB's customers that the CB continues to

operate according to internationally accepted criteria.

An organization considering certification rightfully wants to know about the reputation and

competence of the CB it selects. The organization wants assurance that the CB is competent to

evaluate its systems and that their customers will value the CB's judgment, no matter where their

customers are located.

Unaccredited CBs may or may not operate according to international requirements. Less

scrupulous CBs may offer a certificate without an audit or without any real understanding of an

organization's processes. Such a certificate would be of questionable value for the certified

organization and its customers.

An accredited CB (registrar) may also offer unaccredited certificates or certificates for

standards for which it is not accredited. If you want to rely on a certificate, you should

understand the qualifications of the CB that issued the certificate and whether or not the CB (and

certificate) is accredited.

The International Accreditation Forum, a global association of accreditation bodies, has

published a report on the value of accredited certification.

IAF motto ““certified once-accepted everywhere”

ANSI-ANAB®

If your certificate was issued by an ANAB-accredited certification body (CB)=

(registrar), the answer to this question is probably yes.

An accredited CB (registrar) may also offer unaccredited certificates or

certificates for standards for which it is not accredited.

?

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Response from Randy Dougherty- VP ANAB & President of

IAF

Dougherty, Randy A." Date: March 22, 2014 at 12:50:16 PM EDT

1. Why does ANAB's website state that the certificates issued by ANAB-

accredited certification bodies are "probably" accredited? [This question

needs a reference link to their assertion ref. link:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140401133147/http://www.anab.org/ac

creditation.aspx -actual LINK what does “probably” mean?

2. Paragraph 5 –

https://web.archive.org/web/20140401133147/http://www.anab.org/accreditation.aspx

An accredited CB may also offer unaccredited certificates or

certificates for standards for which it is not accredited.

RANDY’S RESPONSE

The answer is very simple; an accredited CB is not required to issue only

accredited certificates. Just as a company voluntarily decides to be certified,

so too CBs voluntarily decide to become accredited; but even if accredited, a

CB is not required to issue accredited certifications only. A certificate is

considered accredited only if it bears an accreditation mark.

You have the VP of ANAB and President of IAF not

even knowing the requirements for an official ISO

certification

This is directly off ANAB web link above-

Is Your Certificate Accredited?

If your certificate was issued by an ANAB-accredited certification body (CB), the

answer to this question is probably yes. An accredited certificate should include both

the CB's mark and the accreditation mark of the accrediting body. Be sure to look for

both marks.

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http://aboac.org/accreditation-myths/

Accreditation Myths

From what began as a noble idea to improve quality within

companies and industries across the globe, ISO 9001:2008, AS9100-

REVC, TS16949, ISO13485 and other quality certifications have been

exploited, abused and monopolized driven by a multi-billion dollar

corruption by numerous organizations. Perhaps the most devious and

closely guarded secret behind this corruption is the myth of

accreditation. The fact is, accreditation is and always has been a

choice, not an obligation as clearly stated on the International

Standards Organization website at

http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/certification.htm

“In most countries (including the United States), 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.” Source: International Standards Organization (ISO).

How The ISO Accreditation Myth Works

Unfortunately the accreditation myth is practiced by all certification

bodies accredited by American National Accreditation Board

(ANAB®) and International Accreditation Federation (IAF). These

deceptive registrars utilize dishonest or naive auditors and

consultants to trick companies into believing accreditation is an

obligation and ANAB® is the only so-called “official” accreditation

body in the United States because it’s overseen by IAF. This of course

as explained above is a downright lie so please don’t be

hoodwinked into believing that ANAB® is the only “official”

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accreditation body in the United States. Utilizing the term ‘official’ in

ISO/AS/TS certification is nothing but a deceptive method to imply

an authority that is not there. Under these peculiar circumstances,

IAF is actually more a ceremonial organization than an official

organization. In fact, if one was to substitute the word ‘ceremonial’

for the word ‘official’ in the language of ANAB® that would perhaps

be closer to the truth.

Don’t Be an Accreditation Victim

ABAC warns all US companies to be aware of cunning consultants,

certification bodies and auditors that use the accreditation scheme

to acquire business from competitors. Keep note the trickery is

always practiced by scaring companies into believing their

certification will not be valid if not accredited by a certain

accreditation body (ANAB®). Unfortunately every day thousands of

companies nationwide become victims of the accreditation scam,

and it’s costing these businesses millions of dollars that would

otherwise be invested in a more cost-effective certification.

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http://aboac.org/anab-ansi-asq-national-accreditation-board/

ANAB® – ANSI-ASQ National

Accreditation Board Is your ISO certificate guaranteed to be accredited? If your

certificate was issued by a registrar (CB) accredited by the

American National Accreditation Board (ANAB®), the answer to this

question is there is no guarantee. On the ANAB® website-at

https://web.archive.org/web/20140401133147/http://www.anab.org

/accreditation.aspx there is a direct quote that states the following:

What does ANAB® mean by “probably accredited?” Probably

guarantees nothing, and therefore unfortunately any company

issued a certificate by a certification body accredited by ANAB®

has a serious dilemma. The company’s quality of their products,

system functionality in Aerospace, Medical, Automotive and other

industries is highly doubtful because their certificate is considered

“probably yes” by ANAB®. If you are unsure, please look at your

certificate, if you see it has an ANAB® insignia, then you have a

problem because your certification is not recognized by American

Board of Accredited Certifications ABAC and its international

chapters, affiliates, trade associations and customers. ABAC

guarantees accreditation while ANAB® only offers a “probably”. This

is the case whether you have an ISO 9001:2008, AS 9100 Rev C, ISO

13485, TS 16949 or other quality systems certification.

ANAB® is Not The “Official” Accreditation Body

Please take a look at the Accreditation Myths section here on ABAC.

It’s important you understand the myths, lies and deceptive

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practices involving accreditation. So makes a certificate official or

not official? Well despite ANAB® claiming or implying they are the

only official accreditation body in the United States that is untrue.

There are indeed a number of reputable accreditation bodies such

as ILG, ABAC, DNMM and many others that actually guarantees your

certificate to be accredited.

Misleading Claims from ANAB®

ANAB® has been reported to the American Board of Accredited

Certificates for making misleading claims of being the only

accreditation body which is simply not true. Such claims is nothing

more but an attempt to discredit companies accredited by other

organizations. The following is a direct quote once found on the

ANAB® website but has since been suspiciously removed by the

organization:

The ANAB® and IAF Deception

ANAB® says its “overseen” by the International Accreditation Forum

(IAF). However, The Vice President of ANAB® sits as the President and

Chairman of IAF. Conflict of interest? Fox watching the henhouse?

The point is companies are falling victim to this “overseeing”

nonsense boasted by ANAB®, IAF and several sub tier organizations

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that are affiliated with them. The scheme is simple, ANAB® would

refer non-ANAB® affiliated certification bodies to The International

Accreditation Federation (IAF) and inform such organizations if it’s

not recognized by ANAB®, then it’s not official. What is important for

companies to understand is there is no single accreditation body or

registrar that’s more official than another. The official ploy is used by

auditors, consultants and registrars (CB’s) to discredit competitive

certification bodies that have decided to not be ANAB® accredited

in order to better serve their customers.

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http://aboac.org/iaf-international-accreditation-forum/

IAF – International

Accreditation Forum On this page the American Board of Accredited Certifications explains the

reasons why it does not recognize the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) as

an acceptable accreditation organization.

IAF Monopoly vs Fair Competition

On its website the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) claims here

its primary function is to “develop a single worldwide program” of conformity

assessment which reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them

that accredited certificates may be relied upon. ABAC see’s promoting and/or

supporting a “single worldwide program” is an IAF attempt to monopolize the

marketplace by discrediting competitive accreditation bodies. In short, a “single

worldwide program” of accreditation that is supposedly overseen by a sole

organization (IAF) and/or its subsidiaries is not only mathematically impossible to

implement, but counterproductive. Competition is essential in accreditation to

constantly improve the process, maintain integrity, and encourage affordable

pricing.

IAF and ANAB® Conflict of Interest

The IAF claims to be an impartial organization that oversees ANAB®. Yet, Randy

Dougherty, the Chairman and President of the International Accreditation

Forum, is also Vice President at ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB).

Isn’t this a serious conflict of interest? The American Board of Accredited

Certifications questioned Mr. Dougherty how he can sit as the Chairman and

President of the International Accreditation Forum, while simultaneously holding

the position of Vice President of the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board

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(ANAB) which the IAF supposedly oversees? We have yet to receive a clear

answer.

IAF Does Not Conform To ISO/ILG American Standards

IAF is located in Europe which disqualifies the organization because it does not

conform to ILG American standards (accreditation bodies need to conform to

ISO/ILG 9009). Therefore, IAF is using inappropriate international standards when

accrediting their certification bodies resulting in Invalid certificates issued by

registrars accredited by Bogus Accreditation Bodies.

IAF Has Ties with the Infamous MLA Group

IAF was found to be associated with the notorious MLA Group (Multilateral

Mutual Recognition Arrangement) which was classified as being anti-

competitive by AMSN and its international chapters. Further, the Industrial

Leaders Group showed the arrangement between IAF and MLA was an attempt

by the organizations to push their “certified once-accepted everywhere”

program in effort to force the marketplace to accept IAF as the “official”

international accreditation body. To be more specific, IAF MLA signatories are

obligated to recognize certificates accredited by other IAF MLA signatories as

equivalent but discredit certificates from organizations that are not members of

IAF.

IAF Admits To Questionable Practices

In a recent letter forwarded to ABAC by an associated, the IAF President Randy

Dougherty admits as an IAF MLA signatory, they recognize certifications

accredited by other IAF MLA signatory accreditation bodies as being equivalent

to an ANAB accredited certification. Yet, they do not recognize the

certifications accredited by organizations that are not members of IAF. Further,

in Mr. Dougherty’s own words, the IAF does not have anything to do with non-

accredited certifications. Again, this shows further monopolizing efforts by IAF

which is the primary reason why ABAC does not recognize certificates

accredited by IAF. The American Board of Accredited Certifications is

committed to overseeing accreditation and certification bodies known for

integrity, competency, and encouraging fair competition in the quality

community. Obviously we have found IAF to lack in these standards.

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Reference - Fee Schedule for Accreditation Programs for Management Systems Certification Bodies/ANAB® ANAB® DOCUMENT FM 500 DATE - Effective: 2015/04/29 Annual Royalty Fees Payable for each Base and Subordinate Standard Program unless otherwise noted

Payable semi-annually (see notes 1 and 2 below) 1.25% of worldwide gross revenue up to $3,600,000 for

each program Maximum annual fee (see note 3 below) $45,000 for each program (each base standard) Minimum annual fee $2,500 for each program (each base standard) Discount on annual fee A discount may be applied to royalties for each program (see note 4 below) based on the proportion of total ANAB-accredited

Certifications in force. At least 50% of all certifications for a program in force must be issued under ANAB accreditation to be eligible for the discount for that program.

REMEMBER BUSINESS OWNERS ASQ- ANSI-ASQ – ANAB are all not for profits – this

section from their documentation looks quite profitable!!

MANY OF THIS COMPANIES AND THEIR SUB CONTRACTORS ARE -ANSI-ANAB®/IAF

-QUALITY ISSUES-(AND A SAMPLE THOSE AGENCIES THAT ACCREDIT OR WATCH OVER THEM)

SAE-OASIS-IAQG (ANSI-ANAB®, IAF & ISO)

Electronics/military- quality issues

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-07/counterfeit-parts-from-china-found-

on-raytheon-boeing-systems.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/counterfeit-parts-from-china-raise-grave-concerns-

for-both-us-companies-and-national-security-2012-6

Aerospace- Navy – quality issues

http://video.suntimes.com/F35-Fighter-Jet-Has-Another-Problem-28244747

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/military_aircraft/f35

_airplane/index.html

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2020275838_boeingoutsourcingxml

.html

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Medical- quality issues

http://www.mddionline.com/article/which-device-firms-had-most-class-i-recall-

events-2013

http://www.drugwatch.com/medical-devices/

-QUALITY ISSUES-(AND A SAMPLE THOSE AGENCIES THAT ACCREDIT OR WATCH OVER THEM)

IATF – (ANSI-ANAB®, ISO) Automotive: quality issues IATF members include the following vehicle manufacturers: BMW Group, Chrysler Group, Daimler AG, Fiat Group Automobile, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company), PSA Peugeot Citroen, Renault SA, Volkswagen AG and the vehicle manufacturers respective trade associations - AIAG (U.S.), ANFIA (Italy), FIEV (France), SMMT (U.K.) and VDA (Germany).

http://www.iatfglobaloversight.org/content.aspx?page=AboutIATF

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/21/us-gm-recall-idUSKBN0EW02O20140621

http://www.ibtimes.com/quality-crisis-gm-worst-year-recalls-2004-1588125-GM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9311_Toyota_vehicle_recalls –TOYOTA

http://time.com/3556346/ford-five-recalls/ -FORD

http://www.edmunds.com/recalls/bmw.html-BMW-BMW

http://wardsauto.com/psa-peugeot-recall-around-100000-cars PEUGEOT

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/24/renault-sa-daimler-recall-idUSL6N0RP39Q20140924-Renault

http://www.edmunds.com/recalls/chrysler.html - Chrysler Group

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/the-usas-new-littoral-combat-ships-updated-

01343/

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1. Still No Response From IAQG / AS9100 Lead For Flight

Safety Concerns

http://dguberman.com/still-no-response-from-iaqg-

as9100-lead-for-flight-safety-concerns/

2. QAS INTERNATIONAL (QAS LTD-SUED IN 1997-LOST

LITIGATION) they presently certify ACCURATE &

PROFESSIONAL PLASTICS which supplies materials to

BOEING and major aerospace companies! Professional

has been given awards by BOEING. (professional

plastics has since changed to PERRY JOHNSON

REGISTRATRS)

http://web.archive.org/web/20030208050839/http://www.cqm.c

o.za/articles/bogus.htm

Bogus Certification: On the 18 July (1997) Quality Assurance Systems Ltd (QAS), a

nonaccredited certification body, was successfully prosecuted by

Northamptonshire County Council Trading Standards Service for offences

under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 The offences related to the issue of

registration certificates containing false statements that firms had been

assessed and approved to ISO 9002. David Hedger, the main investigating

officer at Northamptonshire Trading Standards, reports.

NOTE: Quality Assurance Systems Ltd (QAS) after their suit changed their name to

QAS INTERNATIONAL.