Interested applicants are invited to attend a meeting before applying to review the requirements, standards and regulations of accreditation. To request a meeting, please send an email to isac@isac.is and specify the scope for which the applicant intends to apply for accreditation.

To apply for accreditation or an extended scop of accreditation, an application form with the necessary supporting documents shall be submitted.

In specific cases, a pre-assessment is carried out to assess whether the conformity assessment body (the applicant) is ready for an assessment. Before the pre-assessment, ISAC sends the assessment schedule to the conformity assessment body. The schedule specifies the scope of the assessment and the main timeline.

Quality documents assessment - An assessment is carried out in the office of the conformity assessment body, where the relevant procedures of the management system, the quality system and the competence of the staff are reviewed.

Witnessing of conformity assessment activities - The practical implementation of conformity assessment is witnessed to assess whether a quality system has been implemented and is working.

These assessments are carried out simultaneously, if possible.

At the end of the assessment, the conformity assessment body is presented with the results of the assessment and a report of non-conformities is submitted.

An assessment report is made after the assessment and sent to the conformity assessment body.

The conformity assessment body shall submit a root analysis of the non-conformities and proposals for corrective actions, together with supporting documentation. When ISAC has approved the corrective actions and confirmed their effectiveness, the non-conformities are considered resolved. The conformity assessment body shall receive an assessment report within 15 working days of the assessment. The conformity assessment body may submit comments on the assessment report before the decision on accreditation is taken.

When the assessment process is completed, ISAC sends the case to the decision-making committee. ISAC prepares the case for the committee and recommends a decision based on the assessment report and the report on non-conformities. The conformity assessment body is formally notified of the decision.

If a decision is made to grant accreditation, the notification also contains the accreditation number, and the scope of the accreditation.

The accreditation period (also called accreditation cycle) is 5 years and begins with the decision to grant accreditation.

The supervision of accredited bodies is carried out through assessments at regular intervals (usually 12 months). The supervision may include both an assessment of quality documents and witnessing of conformity assessments. A supervisory assessment is usually not as extensive as the initial assessment and the re-evaluation assessment. If necessary, ISAC may seek the opinion of a technical expert. An assessment report is prepared after the assessment.

ISAC reserves the right to conduct additional assessment if shortcomings in the conformity assessment body's quality system or its conformity assessment are detected.

A conformity assessment body can apply for a change in its scope at any time. Such an application must be accompanied by a description of the new scope together with supporting documents.

ISAC reviews the application and assesses whether the application requires a special assessment. If the application for a change in scope is approved, the conformity assessment body will receive an updated accreditation certificate.

The accreditation period is a maximum of 5 years. Before the end of the period, a re-evaluation must be carried out in order to be able to renew the accreditation.

The process for reassessment is roughly the same as for initial assessment, i.e. assessment, report, processing of non-conformities and decision. However, the assessment takes into account the fact that ISAC has been supervising the conformity assessment agency.

A conformity assessment body may terminate its accreditation in whole or in part by means of a written notice.

Conformity assessment bodies shall inform ISAC without delay of any significant changes in the operation of the conformity assessment body which could affect its ability to meet the requirements of accreditation.

Changes are notified by submitting completed form F01 to ISAC.

The costs for applications, initial assessment and re-assessment vary and are based on the scope of each individual project. ISAC informs conformity assessment bodies in advance of the estimated costs for assessment activities.

• For ISAC employees, an hourly fee is calculated for preparation, execution and post-processing according to the fee schedule.

• For external members of the assessment team, costs are charged according to their submitted invoices.

• In addition, out-of-pocket costs are charged, e.g. travel and accommodation for evaluation team members.
  

All costs for accreditation (e.g. applications, initial assessment, re-assessment, surveillance, other costs) are generally charged at the end of the process. In cases where the accreditation process turns out to take longer than expected, ISAC reserves the right to charge for accrued costs before the work is completed.

At the end of the year, ISAC reserves the right to collect accrued costs for assessment activities, even if the accreditation or surveillance process is not fully completed, given that a large part of the total costs for evaluation activities were incurred in the current year.