About UKCert
Independent certification assessment, kept independent
UKCert audits management systems against the published requirements of the standard they claim to meet, then takes a certification decision on the evidence. We do not build the systems we assess — that separation is the whole point of a certificate.
Our position
Where we sit in the certification chain
UKCert is an assessment body. Organisations come to us with a management system already running — a quality system, an information security system, a food safety scheme — and we examine it against the requirements of the standard in question. That examination is a formal audit: documented evidence, interviews with the people actually doing the work, sampling across sites and processes, and a written report setting out what conforms and what does not.
The certification decision that follows is taken separately from the audit itself. The assessor who visited your site recommends an outcome; a reviewer who did not visit takes the decision. Where non-conformities are raised, you correct them and we verify the correction before anything is issued. Certified systems are then re-examined on a surveillance cycle, because a certificate describes an organisation that keeps working to the standard, not one that once did.
UKCert at a glance
- What we do
- Audit management systems and take the certification decision
- What we do not do
- Design, document or implement the systems we assess
- Schemes operated
- 20 schemes across 4 families
- Certification cycle
- 3 years, with surveillance in between
- Head office
- Cheadle, Manchester
Impartiality
Why we will not consult and then certify
A certificate is only worth what the separation behind it is worth.
If you disagree with a finding
Appeals are reviewed by people who took no part in the audit, and a finding stays open until that review is complete. Tell us the finding reference and why you consider it wrong, and we will confirm who is handling it.
Raise an appealA certification body must not consult on a management system and then certify that same system. If we had designed your procedures, written your risk assessments or run your internal audit programme, the audit would be an inspection of our own work — and a certificate issued on that basis tells the market nothing it can rely on.
So the line is drawn clearly. We explain what a standard requires and we tell you precisely where your evidence falls short of it. We do not write your documentation, we do not act as your management representative, and we do not sell implementation consultancy to the organisations we assess. Where you need that kind of help, the consultancy market is well supplied and we take no fee or commission for pointing you towards it.
The same principle governs commercial pressure. What an assessor records stands or falls on the evidence in front of them, never on the size of the contract behind it. An assessor is never rewarded for the outcome of an audit, only for conducting it properly.
Our values
The principles an assessment is run on
The commitments that decide how we scope an audit, staff it and report on it.
Impartiality
We do not design a management system and then certify it. Certification decisions are made independently of anyone who provided readiness support, and that separation is documented.
Technical rigour
Findings are tied to specific clauses and supported by evidence recorded during the audit. We do not raise or waive nonconformities to suit a preferred outcome.
Clarity
Scope, audit days, timelines and findings are stated in plain English before work begins. You should never be surprised by what an audit covers or costs.
Continuity
The same scheme manager stays with your file across the certificate cycle, so surveillance visits build on what came before instead of starting again each year.
Our path
How UKCert is taking shape
Phases of the build rather than a calendar. Each one is described by what changed in the way we assess, not by a date on a timeline.
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Founded
Established in Cheadle, Manchester
UKCert was formed to provide management system assessment with clear scoping, plain reporting and consistent assessor allocation for UK organisations.
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Scheme expansion
Broadening the standards offered
The scheme range covers core quality, environmental and safety standards alongside information security, privacy, continuity and sector-specific requirements.
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Multi-site reach
Assessing distributed operations
Audit programmes can be built for organisations operating across several sites, including sampling arrangements and integrated visits covering more than one standard.
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Today
Assessment across the full cycle
UKCert supports organisations from initial scoping through certification audit, surveillance and recertification, with one named contact throughout the cycle.
Schemes
What we assess against
Every scheme we operate sits in one of 4 families of related standards, so where the same processes carry more than one, a single audit can cover both.
20 certification schemesAsk us where your evidence stands
The separation described above works both ways: we will not build your system, but we will tell you plainly what a standard requires and where an audit would test it. Put a question to an assessor before you commit to anything.