Certification can be a useful tool to add credibility, by demonstrating that your product or service meets the expectations of your customers. For some industries, certification is a legal or contractual requirement.

ISO does not perform certification

At ISO, wedevelopInternational Standards, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, but we are not involved in their certification, and do not issue certificates. This is performed by external certification bodies, thus a company or organization cannot be certifiedbyISO.

However ISO's Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO) has produced a number of standards related to the certification process, which are used by certification bodies. Read more about CASCO Standards.

Certification – the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements.

Accreditation – the formal recognition by an independent body, generally known as an accreditation body, that a certification body operates according to international standards.

Choosing a certification body

When choosing a certification body, you should:

  • Evaluate several certification bodies.
  • Check if the certification body uses the relevant CASCO standard
  • Check if it is accredited. Accreditation provides independent confirmation of competence. Accreditation is not compulsory, and non-accreditation does not necessarily mean the certification body it is not reputable. To find an accredited certification body, contact the national accreditation body in your country or visit International Accreditation Forum CertSearch.

Displaying your certificate

Remember, when labelling a product or system as certified to an ISO standard:

  • Don't say: "ISO certified" or "ISO certification"
  • DO say: "ISO 9001:2015 certified" or "ISO 9001:2015 certification" (for example).

Complaints about certification

ISO is interested to hear from you if you feel that any ISO standard, including ISO 9001 or ISO 14001, is being misused. Read more about making a complaint to ISO.

ISO survey

Find out how many valid certificates there are in each country for the main ISO management system standards.

International organizations in cooperation with ISO for accreditation

The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programmes of conformity assessment.

ILAC is the international organisation for accreditation bodies operating in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011 and involved in the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies including calibration laboratories (using ISO/IEC 17025), testing laboratories (using ISO/IEC 17025), medical testing laboratories (using ISO 15189), inspection bodies (using ISO/IEC 17020) and proficiency testing providers (using ISO/IEC 17043).

Can I use the ISO logo?

The ISO logo is a registered trademark and cannot be used by anyone outside of ISO, unless authorized.

If you wish to use a logo to demonstrate certification, contact the certification body that issued the certificate.

See full details about use of the ISO logo.