Issued in France by Cofrac, accreditation is both the cornerstone and the first link in the chain of confidence.
When undergoing health checks, or when we consume a product or a service, we want to be sure of the competence of the bodies responsible for inspection. A Cofrac accreditation recognises and certifies the competences and impartiality of the inspection bodies, nationally and even internationally.
Initially based on a voluntary approach from companies, accreditation has progressively become mandatory in certain sectors of activity.
Giving your customers confidence, setting yourself apart from the competition, developing internationally: these are the historic reasons encouraging inspection bodies to apply for accreditation. Yet for some years certain sectors have been subject to mandatory accreditation so that their competence is officially recognised and regularly inspected. This is referred to as regulatory obligation.
In certain cases, an accreditation may be required by the public authorities as a prerequisite for obtaining an approval, or in the framework of a national regulation or a European directive. Today, this accreditation obligation is particularly common in the sector of human health and safety. The objective of the authorities is to guarantee the competence of the bodies that measure, for example, asbestos fibre dust in buildings, or inspect tachographs, the devices that record the speed and driving time of truck drivers.
Accreditation may also be mandatory in certain sectors where the State has decided to delegate to private bodies the inspections that it previously carried out itself. For example, roadworthiness inspections of HGVs, or inspections relating to the classification of hotels.
Lastly, the European Commission encourages Member States to make use of accreditation, as it facilitates the mutual recognition of the services carried out by the accredited bodies. Hence, tests conducted by an accredited body in one Member State are automatically recognised in another Member State, without having to carry out a new series of tests. In this way, accreditation helps ensure fluid trade within the internal market.The mandatory character of accreditation is determined by the legislation in force in the sectors of activity concerned (Consumer Code, Health Code, etc.).
Currently, we can estimate that around half of the accreditations issued by Cofrac are mandatory. The development of new accreditation schemes is a major priority in order to meet the demands and needs of the market.
