What Is Accreditation? Clear the Confusion in a 6-Min Guide

Accreditation is the process of confirming that an organization is qualified to perform certification, calibration, or any other conformity assessment.

Before enrolling in any certification, you should know what accreditation is. This detailed guide will help you understand it and why it’s important for choosing the right accredited certification.

We will use a simple story with easy examples and illustrations to help you understand what accreditation is and what the difference is between accreditation and certification. And why it is important.

Why is Accreditation Important? (the Illustrated Fictional Story)

Imagine you live in an old village called Bamboo Village, where no units of measurement exist yet—no meters, inches, or pounds.

You sell ropes in the market, and the only thing you can tell your best trade partner is:

“I’m giving you more rope than last time — can you give me more rice?”

This system is confusing for everyone.

To solve this, merchants started using the cubit, the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger.

But soon, clients preferred buying from the tallest merchant, because his cubit is larger.

In other words, the measurement is not fair or consistent.

So the village chief decided to place a long rock at the entrance of the market as the official unit of length.

Merchants used wooden sticks to measure, and calibration inspectors at the entrance check if each stick matches the length of the rock.

Later, you traveled to a nearby village called Wooden Village to sell your ropes.

You explained the benefits of using clear measurement units instead of “too much” or “too little.”

The Wooden (neighbour) Village chief liked the idea. He had two choices:

1. Create his own rock with a different length
2. Use the same rock length as Bamboo Village’s to make trade easier.

To simplify transactions between the two villages, he wisely decided to adopt the same rock length as Bamboo Village.

As this system spread, Bamboo Village’s chief set up an office to check other villages and make sure their “rocks” still match the original one.

This helps keep the measurement system credible and trustworthy.

At this point, the system can be represented as follows:

The calibration inspector validates the measurement sticks at the entrance of the market, using his gauge (a rock) as the reference. This comparison is well-known today as a conformity check.

The wooden sticks used by merchants to measure lengths are like today’s measuring instruments (thermometer, barometer, balance, etc.). However, the calibration inspector at the market entrance is like a calibration laboratory, checking that merchants’ sticks match the official rock.

The local measurement office inspects the gauge used by the calibration inspector in the market to ensure it has the same length as their reference gauge.

The local measurement offices in each village are like accreditation bodies, making sure every calibration inspector follows the same reference.

The universal measurement office verifies that the gauges in each village match exactly the length of its reference gauge.

Bamboo village’s “Universal Measurement Office” is like the global accreditation body, ensuring all villages maintain a reliable and consistent “rock”, which is the standard to follow.

Why this story? Where is certification?

Calibration is the process of certifying measurement instruments, ensuring they produce accurate and reliable results. Similarly, the certification of people or management systems follows the same structured approach as the calibration accreditation system.

Accreditation originally focused on measurements because the need for precise and trustworthy measurements was often more critical—and sometimes even a matter of safety—than verifying professional qualifications.

There are several types of certification, with the most popular ones listed below:

Example of an Accreditation

For example, this is the ISO accreditation system:

ISO certification is offered worldwide by accredited certification bodies.

Each certification body is accredited by at least one accreditation body—for example, UKAS in the UK, COFRAC in France, and ANAB or IAS in the US.

Every accreditation body is a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

Is it Applicable to Google, Cisco, and AWS Certifications?

Yes, it is universal, but for company-specific certifications, the companies themselves usually don’t let other organizations offer their certifications. In these cases, the accreditation body and the certification institute are the same—for example, Google, AWS, or Cisco.

Exception to the Rule: Six Sigma Accreditation System

Some certifications, such as Six Sigma, don’t have a clear accreditation framework. Hence, there isn’t a single global body for Six Sigma accreditation like ISO’s International Accreditation Forum (IAF). Instead, several independent accreditation bodies govern Six Sigma certification: ASQ (American Society for Quality), ILSSI (International Lean Six Sigma Institute), IASSC (International Association for Six Sigma Certification), CSSC (Council for Six Sigma Certification).

There are also respected institutions (universities as well) that offer Six Sigma certification programs without formal accreditation.

Read our 5-step guide to learn how to earn a recognized Six Sigma certification.

Final Thoughts

Accreditation is the main source of credibility for any conformity assessment, including certification of people, management systems, or calibration of measurement tools.

Use WhichCert.com to explore and choose the best certification for you or your organization.