Resources: Identifying a Conformity Assessment Body that Suits Your Needs

U.S. industry relies on various types of conformity assessment to assure compliance with standards, including third-party conformity assessment activities such as testing, inspection, and certification.

  Learn more about conformity assessment in the United States

ANSI has developed this Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) Directory to help international stakeholders learn more about the organizations that provide third-party conformity assessment services. While third-party conformity assessment is required by regulation in some cases, in many other cases, companies chose whether or not to use third-party conformity assessment voluntarily based the needs and objectives of their business. For example, third-party conformity assessment may:

• Be a contractual requirement
• Provide a competitive advantage by meeting customer or consumer preferences
• Help improve efficiency and effectiveness of company operations

In most cases, the decision of which conformity assessment body’s services to use is made by individual companies. In making their decisions, companies will compare several CABs, considering such factors as:

• Do U.S. regulations for my product specify which conformity assessment body must be used, or specify specific qualifications or attributes that the CAB must possess?
• Does my contract or my client specify which conformity assessment must be used, or specify specific qualifications or attributes that the CAB must possess?
• Can the CAB offer services in multiple markets, reducing duplication, time and service costs?
• Is the CAB well-recognized and reputable for work in my industry sector?
• Is the CAB accredited?

About Accreditation

Accreditation is a statement from an accreditation body – an independent third-party entity – declaring that specified requirements related to conformity assessment bodies have been met and that the accredited body is competent to perform certain functions. Put another way, accreditation is the process of evaluating the competence of a conformity assessment body.

Use of an accredited conformity assessment body (CAB) may be required by a U.S. regulation, by a U.S. client, or by a contractual obligation.

 View a directory of U.S. – based accreditation bodies and find conformity assessment bodies (CABs) that they have accredited

 Learn more about conformity assessment and accreditation in the U.S.