Accreditation Process

How to become accredited

United Accreditation Services (UAS) accepts applications for accreditation from “Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) and Further Education & Training Institutions (FETI)” (referred as an “Applicant”) around the world.

The application process for the United Accreditation Services (UAS) accreditation is as follows:

Applicant to download Accreditation Scheme Manual and the Application Pack
Applicant reads and understands United Accreditation Services (UAS)’s Accreditation Scheme Manual especially the Requirements for Granting and Maintaining Accreditation and the current fee structure
Applicant makes sure that they comply with the relevant requirements of ISO/ IEC 17021:2011 and other accreditation requirements such as “Responsible Education Provider”™ as specified by United Accreditation Services (UAS) in their Accreditation Scheme Manual and that they have essential resources to undertake activities throughout the scope requested and will pay all fees to United Accreditation Services (UAS), whether or not accreditation is granted.
Upon receipt of the Application Forms and Requisite Fees, United Accreditation Services (UAS) reviews the application documents against the relevant accreditation criteria and provides a report to the applicant. The next stage of assessment will not progress until the documented systems meet necessities.
Applicant CAB makes all necessary arrangements for conducting the office and witness assessment including access to all areas, records and personnel.
United Accreditation Services (UAS) selects an assessment team who undertake an on-site assessment at the applicant’s offices and other locations as appropriate. At the completion of the assessments the assessment team writes a report of their findings along with recommendations to the Accreditation Approval Committee (AAC).
The AAC reviews the report and makes a decision regarding accreditation.
If accreditation is approved a Certificate of Accreditation is allotted to the applicant on signing the Accreditation Agreement.
If accreditation is not approved, the applicant is advised of the reasons for the decision. A further application may be considered at a later date.
Once an applicant is accredited consistent visits are made to assess the Accredited Organization’s ongoing compliance with the accreditation criteria.
A complete reassessment takes place each three years.

Accreditation Procedure

The Accreditation process deployed by United Accreditation Services (UAS) can accommodate all types and size of organizations which can be carrying our wide range of activities. United Accreditation Services (UAS) Accreditation can be applied by all the applicants without having any geographical limitations and can be granted internationally. The accreditation can be given to all the organizations who are ready to follow the policies and rules of United Accreditation Services (UAS).

UAS follows accreditation procedure in 4 stages:

Application

Assessment

Accreditation

Surveillance

Application phase

Accreditation form submitted by interested conformity assessment body
Where necessary UAS personnel interact with the interested conformity assessment body and solve their doubts and queries
Application is reviewed by Accreditation Committee and brief report is submitted to the management
Based on the joint decision concluded by the management and committee, conformity assessment body is informed about next course of action

Assessment phase

Board communicates assessment dates to the conformity assessment body, obtains conformation and subsequently schedules site visit. During this visit, UAS shall assess the technical competence, skill and knowledge of auditors as well as back office staff.
UAS’s competent personnel will initially review the management system developed by conformity assessment body. The assessment duration differ cause of the size of the CAB and the complexity of the process.
An assessment report in details shall be recorded along with shortfalls and conformities.
Shortfalls may be corrected by the conformity assessment body by implementing necessary measures within stated time frame of 60 days from assessment date.
Where necessary, corrective actions implemented by the conformity assessment body are re-assessed after mutual agreement.

Accreditation phase

An accreditation committee evaluates the assessment report and decides on whether the accreditation should be granted.
When decided to grant the accreditation, UAS declares successful completion of accreditation procedure and notifies the conformity assessment body about the same.
UAS, then issues accreditation certificate accompanying with annexure as necessary specifying scope of services.
When accreditation is granted, conformity assessment body’s details are updated in UAS registrar

Surveillance phase

When issued, accredited certificate is generally valid for Four years. UAS intend to ensure that the conformity assessment body comply with all necessary requirements and also maintain management system in order to deliver expected service to end customer. Surveillance audit is scheduled every year. Upon successful completion of five years, conformity assessment body enters into new contract for subsequent four years, that is called as re-accreditation