The Korea Accreditation Board (KAB) was established on September 28, 1995, in accordance with the government's policy of non-governmental operation for Quality and Environmental Management System certification. As the sole national accreditation body recognized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), formerly known as the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE), KAB operates accreditation programs for management systems certification bodies and personnel certification bodies within the framework of third-party attestation based on international standards.

Additionally, KAB became a signatory of the IAF MLA for QMS and EMS in 1999 and 2003, respectively. In 2015, KAB obtained FSMS signatory status after a successful evaluation by PAC peer evaluation teams. This achievement allowed ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 22000 certificates accredited by KAB to be recognized in countries that are members of the IAF MLA. Furthermore, to address market demands for industry-specific quality and other management systems, KAB operates multiple accreditation programs such as TL 9000, K-OHSMS, ISMS, GMS, EnMS, ABMS, Management System Auditor, NDT Personnel, and Machine Diagnostics with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.

As a non-profit organization, KAB provides accreditation services and surveillance of certification bodies all around the world for management systems and personnel. It also engages in MLA activities for international recognition and provides additional services in accreditation and certification, such as research, scheme development, and publication.

Financial Resources

KAB’s financial resources are supplemented by income from accreditation services, education, and other businesses that do not contradict impartiality.

What We Do

Operation of Accreditation Programs for Management System/Personnel Certification Bodies

• - Providing accreditation service for management system/personnel certification bodies
• - Conducting certification performance investigations and managing malpractice

International Cooperation

• - Participating in activities of international bodies such as IAF and APAC, and maintaining IAF MLAs
• - Cooperating with foreign ABs to harmonize the accreditation systems and assess certification bodies
• - Participating in the international forums for sector-specific schemes (QuEST Forum, etc.)

Education

• - Providing KOLAS Measurement Uncertainty Estimation (Testing/Inspection) courses
• - Offering ISO/IEC 17020 (Inspection), 17025 (Testing) courses
• - Providing update courses for Practitioners (Testing/Inspection)
• - Developing conformity assessment education courses and teaching materials

Research & Development

• - Conducting R&D on the introduction of new accreditation/certification programs
• - Spreading relevant information resulting from the R&D

Promotion and Communication

• - Promoting ISO certification schemes
• - Publishing periodic newsletters

KAB Policies for Accreditation Service Operation

Compliance to Applicable International Standards and National Laws

• KAB strictly adheres to applicable international standards or criteria and related laws in operating accredited services. KAB is also a full member of the IAF and APAC, faithfully following the obligations of its members and responsibly complying with the requirements of the scheme owners. KAB is committed to the prevention and elimination of conformity assessment malpractices, in particular to maintain a sound and reliable market for conformity assessment.

Impartial and Nondiscriminatory Accreditation Services

• KAB applies its policies and procedures to all CABs in nondiscriminatory manner. KAB accreditation services are not conditional upon the size of the applicant or membership of any association or group, nor upon the number of CABs already accredited. KAB does not offer unfair monetary or other conditions in the process of providing accreditation services nor does it present membership of a certain association or group as an application condition. KAB provides accreditation services as long as applicant CAB’s activity is within the accreditation scope of KAB, or proposed activity is adequate for as a new accreditation scheme.

Efforts and consultation for timely provision of accredited services

• KAB will make every effort to provide timely accreditation services to CAB without undue delay, and will actively communicate with CAB to achieve this. Particularly, in the accreditation decision-making process, after the necessary assessment results are completed, KAB proceed with the decision-making process without undue delay. Even in the case of accreditation schemes for which KAB does not currently provide accreditation services, the CAB or stakeholders actively review the validity of the accreditation scheme if it wishes to introduce a new accreditation scheme.

Conducting assessments and measures for incomplete assessments

• Accreditation assessment is conducted following the procedures in Accreditation Manual(KAB-AM-CAB), in accordance with CAB's application, or in accordance with the annual assessment plan established by KAB agreed with CAB. If the required assessment is not completed within the validity period of the accreditation, or the specific assessment is not carried out or delayed within the period of the periodic surveillance period and time determined by KAB, KAB could start the procedure for imposing sanctions. Please refer to Annex F of Accreditation Manual(KAB-AM-CAB) for detailed criteria and procedures for sanctions.