Accreditation process
Accreditation process of Conformity Assessment Bodies by Akkreditierung Austria, the Austrian national Accreditation Body
Underlying requirements:
- Regulation (EC) 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EEC) 339/93,
- Accreditation Act 2012 (AkkG), Federal Law Gazette no. 28/2012, last amended by Federal Law Gazette no. 40/2014,
- Regulation on Accreditation Fees, Federal Law Gazette no. 70/1994 as amended in Federal Law Gazette II no. 490/2001,
- Regulation on Accreditation Insurance, Federal Law Gazette II no. 13/1997 as amended in Federal Law Gazette II no. 490/2001,
- Regulation on Accreditation Marks, Federal Law Gazette II no. 116/2013,
- ISO/IEC 17011:2004 - ISO/IEC 17011:2017
- Harmonised Accreditation Standards published in the Gazette of the European Union
Areas of accreditation provided by Akkreditierung Austria:
Akkreditierung Austria provides accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies to the following, harmonised accreditation standards:
- Calibration laboratories according to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 / 2017
- Testing laboratories according to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 / 2017
- Medical laboratories according to ISO 15189:2012
- Inspection Bodies according to ISO/IEC 17020:20012
- Proficiency Testing Providers according to EN ISO/IEC 17043:2010
- Reference Material Producers according to EN ISO 17034:2016
- Certification Bodies for Management Systems according to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015
- Certification Bodies for Products according to ISO/IEC 17065:2012
- Certification Bodies for Persons according to ISO/IEC 17024:2012
- Verification Bodies for Greenhous Gases according to ISO/IEC 14065:2013
Traceability
For metrological tracability the requirements of ILAC P10 are strictly followed.
Insurance
Accredited bodies must prove to have transacted insurance to cover personal injury, damage to property and economic loss.
The minimum coverage is stipulated by the Akkreditierungsversicherungsverordnung (PDF, 5 KB) (Regulation on Accreditation Insurance, AkkVV) of Federal Law Gazette II no. 13/1997 as amended in Federal Law Gazette II no. 490/2001, and currently amounts to 872,074.01 €.
Accreditation Board
The Accreditation Act 2012 Art. 6 defines the tasks and composition of the Accreditation Board. The rules of procedure further define the way of working of the Accreditation Board.
The Accreditation Board i.a.
- decides in initial- and re-assessments on the assessors and on granting or denying an accreditation
- provides advise on accreditation issues to Akkreditierung Austria
- serves as a forum to harmonise the interests of national authorities involved in accreditation.
The Extended Accreditation Board
- is one of the major interfaces for interested parties to Akkreditierung Austria and an important source of feed-back on the impartiality of Akkreditierung Austria.
Accreditation mark
Accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies are required to use an accreditation mark as specified in the Akkreditierungszeichen-Verordnung (PDF, 199 KB) (Regulation on Accreditation Marks) and guide L 04.
Every accredited Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) is granted a specific accreditation mark for every conformity assessment activity (such as calibration, testing, inspection, certification of management systems, certification of products, processes and services, certification of personnel, verification ...). The use of such accreditation marks is restricted to the specific Conformity Assessment Body.
Use of the accreditation mark is mandatory on all reports / certificates issued by accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies, if at least a part of the conformity assessment activity was performed under the granted accreditation.
In addition accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies are entitled to use the Austrian federal coat-of-arms.
Periodic surveillance
In line with the provisions of the standard ISO/IEC 17011:2004 / ISO/IEC 17011:2017 accredited Conformity Assessment Bodies must be re-assessed regularly and periodically assessed in-between.
Periodic surveillance of the requirements for accreditation are necessary for Akkreditierung Austria to meet its European and international obligations (EA, ILAC, IAF) so that its accreditations will be recognised in Europe and internationally.
Akkreditierung Austria uses different assessment techniques to assess the competencies of Conformity Assessment Bodies (such as office/on-site assessments, witness assessments, document reviews ...)
Accreditation process
For every modification or extension of the scope of accreditation an application to Akkreditierung Austria is required.
All Conformity Assessment Bodies are accredited by an official notification ("Bescheid") issued by the Austrian National Accreditation Body "Akkreditierung Austria", under the responsible authority of the Federal Minister of Digital and Economic Affairs.