STANDARDS
Standards are the foundation for accreditation of companies.
According to Danish Standards Foundation, the officiel definition of a standards:
- Document for joint and repeated use, which provide rules, regulations or characteristic features of activities or with the results of these.
- The document is created by consensus and by an acknowledged organ.
- The objective is to reach optimal order in a given context.
A standard can be produced by the national standardisation organ - in Denmark Danish Standards Foundation.
The standard can also be produced in the international unions of standardisation organs: In Europe CEN, globally ISO.
HOW TO READ A STANDARD
- DS is term used for Danish approved standards
- EN is the term used for European approved standards
- ISO or IEC are the terms used for international standards
Example: DS/EN ISO/IEC is an international (ISO/IEC) and European (EN) standard, which is approved in Denmark by DS.
THREE LEVELS OF STANDARDS
When accrediting, standards are used on three levels.
- The accreditation organ, DANAK, for example, has to live up to the standard ISO/IEC 17011
- The standards, which the accredited companies have to live up to are accreditation standards
- Standards, or other documents, are also used when the accredited laboratories, inspection- and certification organs assesses products or companies. These can be found in the section ‘Accreditation Services’ on DANAK’s website
AKKREDITERINGSSTANDARDER
These following standards are used for different purposes:
- ISO/IEC 17025: for laboratories that perform calibration and testing
- ISO/IEC 15189: for laboratories that perform medical examinations
- ISO/IEC 17021: for certification bodies that certifies management systems
- ISO/IEC 17024: for certification bodies that certifies persons
- ISO/IEC 17065: for certification bodies that certifies products
- ISO/IEC 17020: for inspection bodies
- ISO/IEC 17029: for validation and verification bodies
- DS/EN/ISO 14065: for verification bodies