Accredia / About us / Organization

Organization

A composite organization

Accredia represents all entities and persons with interests in accreditation, from the Public Authorities to accredited persons, from business organizations to consumer associations.

Accredia has 71 members who represent all parties involved in accreditation and conformity assessment activities undertaken by bodies and laboratories, among them:

  • Ministries (Enterprises and Made in Italy, Environment and Energy Security, Defense, Infrastructure and Transport, Internal Affairs, University and Research, Labor and Social Policies, Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, Health)
  • Major national public entities
  • Standardization bodies (UNI and CEI)
  • Business and trade organizations
  • Associations of accredited certification and inspection bodies and testing and calibration laboratories
  • Associations of consultants and consumers
  • Suppliers of public utilities such as the state railways and ENEL, the national energy utility.

The departments

Accredia is organized in three departments for bodies operating in the various conformity assessment sectors.

Certification and Inspection

This department deals with the accreditation of:

  • Certification bodies
  • Inspection bodies
  • Verification and Validation bodies
  • Verification bodies
Testing laboratories

This department deals with the accreditation of:

  • Testing laboratories
  • Medical laboratories
  • Proficiency Testing Providers
Calibration laboratories

This department deals with the accreditation of:

  • Calibration laboratories
  • Reference Materials Producers
  • Measurement reference laboratories in the medical area
  • Biobanks

The assessors

Accredia’s team of assessors and experts conducts assessments at CABs which make the application for accreditation to undertake conformity assessment activities.

The assessors regularly check that the compulsory rules are being adhered to by CABs requiring accreditation to issue certifications and to do inspections, verifications, tests and calibrations.

The verifications are performed by assessors and experts who have been qualified by Accredia for their specific areas of competence. They are highly specialized, employing codified procedures and are constantly monitored.

The audit methodology is characterized by:

  • rigour: regarding applied procedures, methods, assessment criteria, control systems;
  • flexibility: with a pragmatic approach taking account of the specific nature of each CAB applying for accreditation.

The organization chart

Accredia’s personnel structure consists of directive bodies, institutional positions and other personnel. It is divided into three departments dedicated to the technical accreditation activities of CABs.