Accreditation is a formal, independent verification that a program or institution meets established quality standards and is competent to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks. PCI is accredited as a Management System Certification Body by the International Accreditation Service (IAS), which provides objective evidence that an organization operates at the highest level of ethical, legal and technical standards.
The current scope (scheme) of PCI's IAS accreditation is the PCI Plant Certification Program, which is managed in accordance with IAS Accreditation Criteria AC477 (see: http://iasonline.org/MSCB/) and ISO/IEC 17021 Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems. PCI’s certification standard is ISO 9001 – Quality Management Systems – Requirements.
IAS is a subsidiary of the International Code Council (ICC), which is a professional membership association that develops the construction codes and standards used by most municipalities within the United States. IAS is a nonprofit, public-benefit corporation that has been providing accreditation services since 1975. IAS accredits a wide range of companies and organizations including governmental entities, commercial businesses, and professional associations.
PCI chose IAS Accreditation because PCI wants to be sure that PCI-Certified Plants are getting the most benefit possible from their PCI certification since PCI-Certified Plants devote significant resources to maintain their certification.
PCI Policy Statement 20.0, Plant Certification Program, is the governing document for the program. PCI’s Quality Programs Department has written its own internal Quality Management System Manual, similar in concept to the Plant’s QSM, for detailing PCI’s structure of its policies and procedures that relate to its management system certification activities. PCI’s Quality Manual exceeds industry standards and ensures consistent and accurate handling and results for PCI’s internal processing of certification records. This ensures no bias exists when making certification decisions and that customer satisfaction is maintained.