Why UKAS Accreditation Matters
Guaranteed Technical Competence
Our UKAS accreditation to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard is your assurance of technically valid results, competence of staff, and the reliability of our methods.
Regulatory Compliance
Focus
Our services are specifically designed to help you meet your legal duties under the HSE’s ACoP L8 and HSG274 guidelines, ensuring you are fully compliant.
Clear, Actionable
Reporting
We provide more than just data. You receive a comprehensive certificate of analysis with jargon-free interpretation to help you understand your results and take the right actions.
Legally Defensible
Results
Using a UKAS accredited laboratory provides a robust audit trail and demonstrates due diligence, giving you peace of mind in the event of regulatory scrutiny.
What is UKAS Accreditation?
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national body appointed by the UK government to assess organisations that provide testing, inspection, and certification services.
Accreditation vs. Certification:
A Critical Difference
It is vital to understand that not all quality marks are equal. Many companies hold an ISO 9001 certification, which is a standard for quality management systems. However, this does not guarantee the technical competence of a laboratory or the validity of its test results.
Our laboratory holds UKAS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025. This is the specific international standard for testing and calibration laboratories. It means UKAS has rigorously assessed and confirmed our:
- Technical competence of our scientific staff
- Validity and appropriateness of our test methods
- Suitability and calibration of our laboratory equipment
- Impartiality and consistent performance
The Tangible Benefits for Your Business
Choosing a UKAS accredited laboratory is a strategic business decision that provides significant advantages:
Win New Business:
UKAS accreditation is often a prerequisite for tendering for public and private sector contracts, setting you apart from the competition.
Strengthen Your Supply Chain:
Using an accredited service provides confidence throughout your supply chain and demonstrates a commitment to quality to your own customers.
Reduce Costs:
Accurate testing prevents product failures, reduces downtime, and helps avoid the cost of expensive re-testing that may be required if a non-accredited lab is used.
Maintain Your Reputation:
Demonstrating a commitment to best practice by using a UKAS accredited service protects your brand and reputation.
How to Verify Our Accreditation
We believe in complete transparency. You can independently verify the status and scope of our UKAS accreditation at any time.
UKAS operates a free-to-use online database called CertCheck, which allows anyone to search for and verify UKAS accredited certifications. This gives you the independent assurance that our claims are valid and our accreditation is current.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Isn’t ISO 9001 certification enough? What’s the difference?
A: While ISO 9001 is a valuable certification for a company’s quality management system, it does not guarantee the technical competence of a laboratory or the validity of its test results.
Our UKAS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 is the specific international standard for testing laboratories. It confirms that our staff, methods, and equipment are all technically competent to produce accurate and reliable data, providing a much higher level of assurance.
Q: Does choosing a UKAS accredited laboratory cost more?
A: While the initial cost may sometimes be different, the true value lies in risk reduction and long-term savings.
Using a non-accredited lab can lead to uncertainty about the validity of results, potentially requiring expensive re-testing. More importantly, inaccurate results can lead to system failures, non-compliance fines, or health and safety incidents—all of which are far more costly than ensuring the test is done right the first time.
Q: How does UKAS accreditation benefit me in a practical sense?
A: It provides you with complete peace of mind. The results you receive are legally defensible and provide a robust audit trail, which is crucial for demonstrating due diligence to regulators like the HSE.
Furthermore, holding UKAS accredited test certificates can be a prerequisite for winning new contracts, especially in the public sector, and strengthens your position within your own supply chain.
Q: Is every single test you offer UKAS accredited?
A: Accreditation is granted for specific tests, not for the entire laboratory. We hold UKAS accreditation for a wide scope of the most critical chemical and microbiological tests.
Our full “Schedule of Accreditation” is publicly available on the UKAS website and details every specific test covered. We are always transparent about which tests fall within our accredited scope.