"Inspection" is an essential element to ensure the safe operation of items or equipment used in daily lives. Food safety is a notable example, as well as cranes, boilers and pressure vessels that are used in workplaces. Local and national authorities and other institutions would ensure the compliance of inspection services with regulations through accreditation. Inspection refers to checking the design, product, service, process, or installation, and determining whether it meets specific requirements. Many types of inspection also require professional judgment to determine if it meets applicable standards and general requirements. The inspection bodies can be accredited only if they have been proved and demonstrated by the accreditation bodies that they have the necessary competence to perform specific tasks.

Within the accredited scopes, the inspection body has possessed and demonstrated the technical competence to operate using the correct methods to provide valid and reliable inspection results. The services from accredited inspection body could minimize unnecessary repetitive inspection activities. Based on supporting public policies, the accreditation program could be voluntary and nature of third-party position. TAF has developed the accreditation program for inspection bodies in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020 and the “ILAC-P15:05/2020 Application of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 for the Accreditation of Inspection Bodies” published by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). Relevant accreditation criteria include TAF-CNLA-RI01 and TAF-CNLA-RI02, and the requirements for “Surveillance and Accreditation Maintenance to Playground Inspection Body (TAF-CNLA-JI01)” are formulated in the accreditation notification.

The scope of accreditation for various technical categories of inspection bodies includes factory/site inspection, non-destructive inspection, safety inspection, construction and civil engineering, metrical instrument, industrial equipment and machinery, environment, etc.

Regardless of the size, all legally registered domestic or foreign organization, which could be public, private, and academic research institution and its affiliated entities, can file in applications for inspection body accreditation by the person in charge. The organization has designated technical personnel to perform inspection based on the established management system, to make professional decisions on the results, and to issue the inspection reports.

Applicants are advised to read the “Accreditation Service Manual for Laboratories and Inspection Bodies (TAF-CNLA-A01)” to understand the relevant regulations and application procedures, so as to facilitate the accreditation.

For the application procedures, please refer to the general instructions of application. The relevant documents of the inspection body accreditation can be obtained from the TAF website.

For any further questions, please contact the service personnel for the relevant domains in TAF Laboratory Accreditation Department I and II.