GSAS accredits organisations offering services including certification, validation and verification, testing, inspection, calibration, proficiency testing provision, reference material production and imaging and physiological services against national and internationally recognised standards – see below for a list of standards.
Are you outside the USA? Accreditation is not normally offered to organisations based outside the USA. Please visit the EA, ILAC and IAF websites for details of your national accreditation body.

A pre-assessment is an informal visit prior to initial assessment, it is used to determine how ready you are for accreditation.
A pre-assessment visit is optional, but it can be a valuable step in the process to reduce delays in gaining accreditation.
For more information on pre-assessment, please e-mail to: info@gsas.online

Once you have addressed any issues raised during the pre-assessment visit, the initial assessment is the first formal assessment.
This will be conducted by a Lead Assessor (normally your Assessment Manager) supported, as necessary, by Technical Assessors with the expertise to cover your scope of application. The length of the visit will depend upon the scope of application requested. The Assessment Manager will provide you with a quotation for the work involved.

Should you have any findings, you will have approximately 12 weeks (this may vary but will be agreed with your Assessment Manager) to provide suitable evidence to your Assessment Manager that they have been addressed.
Once any mandatory findings have been satisfactorily cleared, the Assessment Manager will submit their recommendation to an independent Decision-maker within GSAS. See GSAS decision-making process.
Following ratification of the decision to grant accreditation you will be notified in writing. You will also receive a certificate of accreditation, and a schedule defining the scope will be made publicly available on the GSAS website.

Your accreditation will be confirmed on an annual basis through surveillance activities, with a full re-assessment every fourth year. The first surveillance visit takes place 6 months after the Grant of Accreditation.
At the initial assessment stage, you will be provided with an estimate of the work involved for the four-year cycle. At any time during the life of your accreditation, if the estimated effort changes (for example, if you have an extension to scope granted which affects the effort required in subsequent assessments), then you will be provided with an amended estimate. A quotation for each year’s assessment will be provided.

Accredited organisations are able to benefit by visually identifying their status through the use of the GSAS symbol. Read the conditions for using the accreditation logo and symbols which sets out the conditions that must be followed for organisations that wish to use the symbol.

Once accredited, you can apply to extend the scope of your accreditation at any point by completing the appropriate application form, and sending this to info@gsas.online, along with any relevant supporting documentation.
This applies to both extending your existing scope, and gaining accreditation under another accreditation standard. You are encouraged to discuss any proposed extension to scope with your Assessment Manager prior to application.
Extensions to scope can be completed as stand alone visits, as part of your next routine visit (surveillance or re-assessment), or as desktop reviews depending on the scope applied for, and desired assessment time-frame.