United Kingdom
United Kingdom Accreditation Service
UKAS
UKAS is United Kingdom's only ILAC MRA-signatory accreditation body listed in this backbone.
UKAS is not a government agency: it is a private company limited by guarantee (Companies House no. 03076190, incorporated 30 June 1995) that a statutory instrument — the Accreditation Regulations 2009, SI 2009/3155 — appoints as the United Kingdom's national accreditation body. Everything beyond that appointment runs through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department for Business and Trade, and that Memorandum states of itself that it 'is not legally binding'.
How this body's authority is structured
Appointed by statutory instrument — and since Brexit the text differs between Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Regulation 3 of the Accreditation Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/3155) carries two texts in the current consolidated version. For England, Wales and Scotland it reads: 'UKAS is appointed for the purposes of Article 4(1) of RAMS as the UK national accreditation body.' For Northern Ireland it still reads: 'UKAS is appointed for the purposes of Article 4(1) of the EC Regulation as the national accreditation body.' The GB wording is a substitution made with effect from 31.12.2020 by the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/696). The instrument came into force on 1 January 2010.
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A company limited by guarantee, named in the law by its company number
Regulation 2 of SI 2009/3155 defines the appointee not by description but by registration: 'UKAS' means the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, a company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales under number 3076190. The Companies House register for company 03076190 shows UNITED KINGDOM ACCREDITATION SERVICE, company type 'Private Limited Company by guarantee without share capital use of "Limited" exemption', incorporated 30 June 1995, status Active, registered office 2 Pine Trees, Chertsey Lane, Staines-Upon-Thames, Middlesex, England, TW18 3HR.
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The government relationship is a Memorandum of Understanding — which says of itself that it is not legally binding
The 11-page Memorandum of Understanding between the Department for Business and Trade and UKAS, effective from 14 September 2023, sets out the relationship. Paragraph 1.3: 'The parties are the Secretary of State for the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) on behalf of Government as a whole, and the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).' Paragraph 2.3: 'DBT has appointed UKAS as the NAB for the UK via The Accreditation Regulations 2009 (Statutory Instrument: 2009/3155).' Paragraph 9.2: 'In line with UKAS' appointment as the sole national accreditation body for the UK pursuant to the Accreditation Regulations 2009, the Secretary of State will only recognise accreditation of UK CABs by UKAS in the voluntary and mandatory sectors.' Paragraph 11.1: 'The Memorandum is an operational document and is not legally binding.'
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Two definitions of accreditation now run side by side in the UK — and both call it an attestation
The MoU records the post-Brexit split at paragraph 2.2: Regulation 765/2008 'became incorporated into GB law by the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and deficiencies [arising from the UK's exit from the EU] were corrected by the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (Statutory Instrument 2019/696) (as amended). This is hereon referred to as "GB RAMS". In Northern Ireland, Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 ... will continue to apply (as a result of the Windsor Framework). It is hereon referred to as "RAMS NI".' Paragraph 2.4 then gives both definitions: GB RAMS defines accreditation as 'an attestation by a national accreditation body conveying formal recognition that a conformity assessment body is competent to carry out a specific conformity assessment activity', while RAMS NI defines it as an 'attestation by a national accreditation body that a conformity assessment body meets the requirements set by harmonised standards and, where applicable, any additional requirements including those set out in relevant sectoral schemes, to carry out a specific conformity assessment activity'. Paragraph 2.5 adds that 'The Government uses accreditation as the basis for the appointment of Approved and Notified Bodies and for other regulatory and policy purposes.'
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International recognition sits with Global ACI now, and UKAS's scopes are dated one by one
IAF's own website states: 'IAF ceased operations on 01 January 2026. This website is a legacy site maintained for archival/reference purposes only.' Global ACI states: 'Global ACI was launched on 01 January 2026, further to a decision by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) to establish a single international organisation for accreditation. Activities formerly covered by IAF and ILAC are now all covered by Global ACI.' In the Global ACI Secretariat's Arrangement Committee Members list (Global ACI-FMRA-017, 26 August 2026), UKAS appears in Table 1 — Signatory Accreditation Bodies (Full Members) — with dated main scopes: Management Systems Certification 22 Jan 1998, Product Certification 09 Oct 2004, Testing 02 Nov 2000, Calibration 02 Nov 2000, Inspection 24 Oct 2012, Certification of Persons 20 Oct 2016, Validation and Verification 11 May 2018, Proficiency Testing Provision 28 May 2019, Reference Material Production 28 Apr 2020. Sub-scope dates in the same entry include ISO 9001 (QMS) 22 Jan 1998, ISO 14001 (EMS) 09 Oct 2004, ISO/IEC 27001 (ISMS) 05 Apr 2018, ISO 45001 (OH&SMS) 05 Feb 2020 and ISO 37001 (ABMS) 01 Aug 2025.
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European peer evaluation: UKAS is listed as an EA MLA signatory
The European co-operation for Accreditation's directory of EA members and MLA signatories lists UNITED KINGDOM — UKAS, United Kingdom Accreditation Service, under the heading 'MLA signatory', at 2 Pine Trees, Chertsey Lane, TW18 3HR - Staines-Upon-Thames, with 'Date of last peer evaluation: 2024/11' and 'Date of next re-evaluation: 2028/11'. The scopes shown are Calibration, Testing, Medical Examination, Product Certification, Management System Certification, Certification of Persons, Inspection, Validation and Verification, Proficiency Testing Providers, Reference Material Producers. MoU paragraph 8.2 matches this arrangement: 'UKAS will subject itself to Peer Evaluations organised by the body recognised by the Secretary of State, which for the time being is EA.'
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How to verify a certificate instead
Memberships and mutual recognition
- ILAC MRA signatory
What this body's recognition means
This body is one of Global ACI's ILAC MRA-signatory bodies, a status that carried forward when IAF and ILAC merged on 1 January 2026; IAF MLA and ILAC MRA marks stay valid through the transition period running to December 2028. What that recognition means →
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