Who is eligible to grant AS9120 Certification?
ANAB Accreditation for Aerospace Management Systems
The Aircraft, Space, and Defense (AS&D) industries want their suppliers to be AS9120 certified. This certification must be issued by CBs accredited to the AS standards by a body recognized by the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG) or the Americas Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG). ANAB is recognized to accredit CBs to AS9120.
A CB must conform to ISO/IEC 17021 and be accredited for ISO9001 by ANAB (or another IAF MLA signatory) for a year prior to applying for AS accreditation. In addition, the IAQG has the following standards:
SAE AS9104 Series of Standards
AS9104 Standard outlines the requirements for aerospace quality management system (AQMS) certification programs in the Americas Aerospace Quality Group (AAQG).
AS9104 consists of three documents:
- AS9104/1A – Requirements for Aviation Space and Defense Quality Management System Certification Programs
- AS9104/2A – Requirements for Oversight of Aerospace Quality Management System Registration/Certification Programs
- AS9104/3A – Requirements for Aerospace Auditor Competency and Training Courses
ISO 17021:2015 Conformity Assessment
ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a network of standards institutes from 159 countries with a central office in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the member network. ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors and is the largest standards organization in the world.
One of these standards is “ISO/IEC 17021:2011Conformity assessment –Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems“, which in effect stipulates the requirements for Registrars who certify organizations to ISO management standards like ISO 9001, ISO 14001, etc.
People often say “ISO Certified” but ISO does not issue certificates or certify individual companies to any standard. They are issued by certification/registration bodies (also called Registrars or CBs), which are independent of ISO. CBs need to be accredited by an IAF member to be internationally recognized.
ISO/IEC 17021 ensures international acceptance of the CB’s certifications (i.e. your AS9120 certificate) by requiring that all Accreditation bodies (ANAB, etc.) belong to an internationally accredited organization, like the IAF. Likewise, the IAF ensures that CBs comply with ISO/IEC 17021.
Some Quality System Registrars are not accredited by IAF, and thus are not meeting ISO 17021 – and will not be internationally recognized. Make sure that you choose a Registrar who is accredited by an IAF member (ANAB or the equivalent of ANAB in your country or region).
When you receive your registration certificate, it should display the ANAB and the IAF logos and unfortunately without them, you are not officially AS9120 certified.
View the Questionnaire to help you select a registrar.
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