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
British Standards to adhere to a common method for such a specification. The Kitemark can be used to indicate certification by BSI, but only where a Kitemark scheme has been set up around a particular standard. It is mainly applicable to safety and quality management standards. There is a common misunderstanding that Kitemarks are necessary to prove compliance with any BS standard, but in general it is neither desirable nor possible that every standard be 'policed' in this way. Following the move on harmonisation of the standard in Europe, some British Standards are gradually superseded or replaced by the relevant European Standards