ISO 9001 certification vs accreditation

There are two important words in your question: certification and accreditation.

There are four actors in your question: IAF, the accreditation body, the certification body and your organization.

First what is the difference between certification and accreditation.

- Certification is when a certification body issues a certificate stating that a company is compliant with a standard.

- What is the accreditation, then? In order for certification bodies to be able to perform the certification audits and issue the certificates, they need to get a license – and this license is called accreditation. So, certification bodies are getting accredited, while companies are getting certified. (The certification body needs to be compliant with the standard ISO 17021 if they want to get accredited for certifying management systems.)

There is usually only one accreditation body for each country (e.g., UKAS for the United Kingdom), while there are several certification bodies operating in each country.

Have you ever wondered if a company claiming to be certified is really certified? I always recommend: Look for the certification body name. Then, look for the name of the accreditation body that accredited that certification body. Then, look to see if that accreditation body is included in the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) list. 

The following material will provide you information about certification and accreditation:

- Accreditation vs. certification vs. registration in the ISO world - https://advisera.com/articles/accreditation-vs-certification-vs-registration-in-the-iso-world/
- Accredited ISO certification versus non-accredited: What it means and why it matters - https://advisera.com/blog/2019/09/16/accredited-iso-certification-versus-non-accredited-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters/
- Free online training ISO 9001:2015 Foundations Course – https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/
- Book - Discover ISO 9001:2015 Through Practical Examples - https://advisera.com/books/discover-iso-9001-2015-through-practical-examples/