ISO/IEC 17025 with other accreditation standards of the ISO 17000 series (and unlike most ISO standards for management systems), third party auditing ("assessment") of the laboratory is normally carried out by the national organization responsible for accreditation. Laboratories are therefore "accredited" under ISO/IEC 17025, rather than "certified" or "registered" (c.f. ISO 9000 series). In short, "accreditation" differs from "certification" by adding the concept of a third party (Accreditation Body (AB)) attesting to technical competence within a laboratory in addition to its adherence and operation under a documented quality system, specific to a Scope of Accreditation. In order for accreditation bodies to recognize
ISO 9000 modified to allow the standard to integrate more easily with other international management systems standards. The new ISO 9001:2015 management system standard helps ensure that consumers get reliable, desired quality goods and services. This further increases benefits for a business. The 2015 version is also less prescriptive than its predecessors and focuses on performance. This was achieved by combining the process approach with risk-based thinking, and employing the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle at all levels in the organization. Some of the key changes include: Two types of auditing are required to become registered to the standard: auditing by an external certification body