In January 2021 UKAS launched its new national accreditation symbols, designed to better reflect the diversity of what we do in a manner that showcases UKAS as a modern, international and forward-thinking organisation:
The conditions for use of these symbols is published in the Government document ‘Accreditation Logo and Symbols – The National Accreditation Logo and Symbols: Conditions for use by UKAS and UKAS accredited organisations’ (January 2021) which is freely available from the GOV.UK website. This includes the transition arrangements for accredited bodies to move to the new accreditation symbols.
UKAS appreciates that these changes may take time for some of our customers to implement and we are mindful of mitigating any cost that this might incur. In order to help facilitate this in the best way, a transition period has been agreed to allow customers to make the required changes without incurring undue cost or administrative burden. The transition periods are detailed below:
- Digital Materials: 1 year from the date of launch (1st February 2022)
- Printed Materials: 2 years from the date of launch (1st February 2023)
- Certificates: 3 years from the date of launch (1st February 2024)
During the transition period both the old and new versions of the symbols will be found in the marketplace, and these should be regarded as having equal validity during this time. As the 3-year deadline for certificates, particularly with respect to management systems certification, draws closer we shall remind the marketplace of the deadline, and therefore we urge all UKAS-accredited certification bodies to make every effort to meet this deadline. However, we are aware that this may be challenging for some bodies and, although the deadlines are now published in the Government document, will make allowances as long as the certification body can demonstrate that it has an action plan for completion of the transition, that implementation of this plan is well underway, and that the date of completion is acceptable to UKAS (as agreed with the certification body’s appointed UKAS assessment manager).
As a minimum UKAS shall expect all certificates to have been transitioned within 6 months of the specified deadline, being aware that extension of this period may inconvenience those companies that rely on the recognition of UKAS accreditation with respect to their certificated management systems.
If you would like to download a pdf version of this Technical Bulletin, please click here.