Key takeaways
- 1Ask for the current certificate and its number.
- 2Find its contact details yourself, from an internet search or the accreditation body's directory, as Global ACI suggests.
- 3Through legally enforceable arrangements, the certification body requires its clients not to use a certification document misleadingly, not to imply certification of activities or sites outside the scope, and to stop or amend advertising when certification is withdrawn or reduced (§8.3.4).
A warning sign on a certificate is a question, not a finding. Global ACI's guidance is that a purchaser confirming an accredited certificate refers first to the certification body shown on the document. The supplier who sent it can often settle the point sooner.
The supplier
Ask for the current certificate and its number. Some signs come from an old copy, and ISO/IEC 17021-1 §8.2.2 i) requires a revised certificate to be distinguishable from obsolete ones. If you hold a certificate for one site, ask for the main certificate it refers to (Global ACI TECH-3-001, formerly IAF MD 1, §7.8.3).
The certification body
Find its contact details yourself, from an internet search or the accreditation body's directory, as Global ACI suggests. On request, it gives the status of a given certification and, for a certified client, the name, standard, scope and location by city and country (§8.1.2). Other information about a client is not disclosed to a third party without the client's written consent (§8.4.3). Expect status and scope, not audit findings.
If you raise a complaint, the body first confirms whether it relates to certification activities it is responsible for (§9.8.3). If the certificate is not one it issued, it can tell you so.
When the certificate is genuine and the use is not
Through legally enforceable arrangements, the certification body requires its clients not to use a certification document misleadingly, not to imply certification of activities or sites outside the scope, and to stop or amend advertising when certification is withdrawn or reduced (§8.3.4). It must act on incorrect references to certification status and misleading use of its documents, marks or audit reports (§8.3.5). The note to that clause lists possible actions, from requests for correction to suspension, withdrawal, publication of the transgression and, if necessary, legal action. A certification body must also not allow its clients to use the combined IAF MLA mark (IAF ML 2:2023 §4.3.5).
The accreditation body
Signs about accreditation symbols or claims concern it too. Under Global ACI MRA-006 §9.9, accreditation bodies monitor the use of accreditation symbols and claims, and misuse results in corrective action, suspension or withdrawal of accreditation if necessary, and public disclosure or legal action when warranted.
Global ACI's complaints guidance runs the same way: first the certification body; if you are not satisfied that its complaints procedure was followed, the accreditation body; then the regional cooperation body; then Global ACI.
If the accreditation body itself is the doubt, check Global ACI's list of MRA signatories, or ask the accreditation body in your own country if it is a signatory. IAF ML 3:2024, kept in force by Global ACI, guides signatories in answering inquiries on equivalence and on the acceptance of certification documents.
Until there is an answer
Treat the certificate as unconfirmed, and keep a dated note of what you asked and whom.
CAS — An EGAC accredited MS certification body No. 012418. Accredited scope: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 22000, ISO 50001 and ISO 22301. Certificates accredited for ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 22000 and 50001 fall within EGAC's IAF MLA scope; ISO 22301 is accredited by EGAC and sits outside that scope.
Verify any certificate: cas.com.eg/certsearch
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