Certification body: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)
A certification body (French: organisme certificateur) is an independent entity that audits an organisation's management system and decides, on the basis of the results, whether to grant, maintain or withdraw a certificate. For ISO 53001 it acts as a third party, under the requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1.
Updated: · edition covered: ISO/UNDP 53001:2026
In an ISO/UNDP 53001 audit
A certification body does not advise the audited organisation on how to build its system; doing so would be incompatible with its independence. Its role is limited to assessing, recording findings and deciding. It appoints a competent audit team, sets the audit duration, reviews the report and leaves the decision to people who did not carry out the audit.
Its credibility rests on public rules: how certification proceeds, how complaints are handled, how the certificate may be used. Accredited certification bodies are, in addition, assessed by a national accreditation body. The ISO/UNDP 53001 standard defines what such a body certifies.
Between the client and the accreditation body
The certification body stands between two other actors: the organisation it audits and the accreditation body that assesses it in turn. It answers to the second for its methods and to the first for the fairness of its decisions, through a complaints and appeals procedure open to every client.
See also
- Accreditation: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Accreditation (French: *accréditation*) is the formal recognition, by a national accreditation body, that a conformity assessment body such as a certification body is competent and impartial.
- Impartiality: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Impartiality (French: *impartialité*) means that a certification body assesses and decides objectively, without its judgements being swayed by commercial, financial or personal interests.
- Third-party certification: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)Third-party certification (French: *certification par tierce partie*) is an attestation, by a body independent of both the audited organisation and its customers, that a management system meets the requirements of a standard.
- Certification decision: definition (ISO/UNDP 53001)A certification decision (French: *décision de certification*) is the act by which a certification body grants, refuses, maintains, renews, suspends or withdraws an ISO 53001 certificate.