IAS Launches Accreditation Program for Standard Development Organizations

The International Accreditation Service (IAS), a member of the International Code Council family of solutions, has launched a new accreditation program for Standards Development Organizations (SDOs). This program is designed to accredit the competence, capability and commitment of SDOs worldwide in developing and publishing standards that meet established requirements.

This accreditation serves as an essential tool for public and private organizations, whether national, international or regional, as well as sector-specific institutions, regulators, users and companies, helping them obtain fit-for-purpose standardization products.

“Our new accreditation program for Standards Development Organizations reflects IAS’s commitment to promoting quality and consistency in standardization,” emphasized Raj Nathan, President of IAS. “This program offers valuable assurance of the SDOs ability to develop high-quality standardization documents, enhancing trust and credibility in standardization efforts worldwide.”

Accreditation Criteria and Process

IAS’s accreditation for SDOs is based on accreditation criteria (AC803), which are consistent with national, regional and international standardization development processes, procedures, regulations and legislation. The accreditation process includes a robust assessment of the SDOs standardization processes, procedures and documented management systems.

Key Benefits of IAS Accreditation for SDOs

IAS accreditation demonstrates that SDOs have been assessed on their ability to consistently produce documented standards of the required quality in their areas of competence. Accreditation confirms that SDOs maintain and apply documented procedures and have implemented a robust management system, enabling the development of standards in specific fields of SDOs expertise.

It should be noted that this accreditation does not indicate that the specific technical content of the documented standard(s) has been verified to meet the design or performance characteristics. IAS accreditation intends to assure that the assessed SDO’s process and procedures provide certainty of outcome and that the SDO’s work is fully documented, objectively performed, transparent and administered according to specific rules and criteria.

“The Code Council family of solutions has a significant history and expert understanding of the standards-developing process,” said Michael Tholen, Senior Managing Director of Technical Operations for American Concrete Institute (ACI). “IAS developed this new accreditation program along those same lines, taking into account the feedback it has received. IAS provides ACI with great confidence that its new accreditation program will be an important tool for all SDOs. ACI welcomes this new accreditation program, and we look forward to working with IAS to incorporate it into ACI’s processes.”

For more information about the program or to apply for accreditation, click here.