What’s in it for me? For some schemes, such as the Green Deal, accreditation is a legal requirement, whilst in others it is the expected norm. Beyond the legal requirements, accredited certification can have valuable benefits for organisations and open doors to previously closed markets. An increasing number of organisations, in both the public and private sectors are specifying UKAS accredited certification as a precondition to tendering for contracts. A company that holds UKAS accredited certification is therefore able to overcome this hurdle and widen the potential market for its goods or services by demonstrating credible evidence of best practice.


Regardless of industry sector or market conditions, customers need to have confidence in the goods and services that they procure. Making an informed choice is essential. Accredited certification demonstrates the ability to deliver consistently reliable, impartial, and accurate services, meeting internationally-recognised standards. This generates customer confidence in the companies that either hold or utilise services that have achieved accredited certification status. This is particularly important when dealing with homeowners regarding what can be a significant long term investment.


In addition to a positive effect on customers, accredited certification can benefit the business’ bottom line. At first glance achieving UKAS accredited certification status may appear to be yet another distraction that prevents time-strapped business owners from concentrating on providing the company’s core


products or services. In fact the opposite is true, as accreditation can help those owners devote more time to the sharp end of their business. It also has a key role to play in saving businesses time and money.


Summary


The appointment of UKAS to support the Green Deal in this way is another indication of the government’s increasing use of accreditation to provide confidence in the services needed to deliver policy initiatives over a growing field of activity. In addition to providing end users with the necessary confidence in Green Deal installations, gaining accredited certification can confer a number of tangible benefits on an installers business. UKAS is inviting expressions of interest from UK-based certification bodies to participate in pilot programmes for accredited certification of Green Deal assessors and installers.


The pilot will provide the opportunity for


certification bodies to achieve accreditation under EN 45011 for certification of installers and assessors against the specifications, which are currently being drafted. DECC has indicated that limited financial support may be available for certification bodies participating in the pilot programme to assist with some of the accreditation costs. Further details of this support will be supplied by DECC at a later date.


|84| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE


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