What a schedule of accreditation actually lists

The schedule is the least-read document in certification and the one that decides the most. This is what is on it, line by line.

The header

The accreditation body, the accredited body's name and number, the standard the accreditation is granted against — for management system certification bodies, ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 — and the issue date and version of the schedule. Schedules are revised when scope changes; check the version is current on the register rather than trusting a copy.

The schemes

Each management system standard the body may certify, named with its edition: ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 45001:2018, ISO 22000:2018, ISO 50001:2018, ISO 22301:2019 in our case. A standard not on this list is not within the body's accreditation, however competently the body may audit it.

The sectors

For each scheme, the technical sectors in which the body may certify. For most schemes these are IAF codes — numbered economic sectors, from agriculture through manufacturing to services. For ISO 22000 they are food chain categories. For ISO 50001 and some others, sector groupings defined by the scheme.

A body's competence is assessed sector by sector. A body accredited for ISO 9001 in code 17 (basic metals) is not thereby accredited in code 3 (food products). This is the line that most certificates are checked against, and the one most people skip.

Some schedules list the locations from which accredited activity is managed. Where a body has several offices, the schedule says which are covered.

The recognition column

Where the accreditation body is a signatory to the IAF Multilateral Recognition Arrangement, the schedule or the register indicates which schemes fall within that recognition. For CAS, five schemes do — ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 22000 and 50001 — and ISO 22301 sits outside it. A certificate for a scheme inside the MLA may carry the IAF MLA mark; one outside it may not.

How to use it in three minutes

Find the standard on the certificate in the schemes list. Find the certified organization's activity in that scheme's sectors. Confirm the schedule version is current on the register. Then, and only then, go and check the certificate itself.

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.