Following its recent Annual General Meeting, UKAS is pleased to announce the appointment of the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) as its newest member.

UKAS, as a private company limited by guarantee, has guarantor members rather than shareholders. These members play an important role in ensuring that a broad range of stakeholder perspectives are reflected in UKAS’s governance, including those of government, regulators, industry, professional bodies, conformity assessment providers and consumers. UKAS’s members help to ensure that accreditation continues to serve the public interest, strengthening confidence in a wide range of conformity assessment services.

The IBMS is the professional body for biomedical science in the UK. It supports biomedical scientists and other laboratory staff through education, qualifications, professional standards, continuing professional development and advocacy. Its members’ expertise underpins diagnosis, treatment and monitoring across healthcare.

Matt Gantley, Chief Executive of UKAS, said:

“We are delighted to welcome the IBMS as a member of UKAS. The IBMS plays a pivotal role championing the importance of biomedical science in healthcare and society. We look forward to working closely with the IBMS to advance conformity assessment and quality assurance within the healthcare sector, leading to better patient outcomes.”

David Wells, Chief Executive of the IBMS, said:

“Confidence in a laboratory result is earned long before it reaches a clinician. It depends on skilled people, robust systems and a willingness to keep improving both. Accreditation provides independent assurance of that work. Becoming a member of UKAS gives biomedical scientists a voice in its wider discussions, governance, and the future of accreditation. We look forward to bringing our members’ experience to that role.”

For more information on UKAS’s governance and its members, visit here.

For more information on the IBMS visit: here.

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Overview

Accredited certification is fundamental to helping organisations demonstrate compliance with internationally recognised standards. It provides assurance to customers, regulators, and stakeholders that certified organisations are operating to rigorous quality and compliance benchmarks.

UKAS is inviting expressions of interest from organisations either operating as or intending to operate as certification bodies wishing to participate in a new pilot accreditation programme for ISO 17065, to certify against the Government’s new Private Parking Code of Practice Certification Scheme.

About the Private Parking Code of Practice Scheme

The Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a code of practice containing guidance on the operation and management of private parking facilities. The code is currently at pre-publication stage, and the certification scheme has been developed from the requirements set out in the code of practice, and is recognised by UKAS as suitable for Conformity Assessment. The scheme is intended to support consistent standards across the private parking sector and provide confidence that operators are meeting defined requirements relating to parking management, signage, consumer communications, complaints handling and enforcement activities.

The certification scheme follows an ISO/IEC 17065 process-based approach and is designed as a Type 6 certification scheme under ISO/IEC 17067. It is intended to provide independent assurance that private parking operators have the processes and controls necessary to comply with the code of practice on an ongoing basis. Certification bodies will be expected to perform remote assessments of operators’ processes and a sample of parking sites to verify that parking facilities are managed in accordance with the requirements of the code of practice. Under the scheme only certified operators will be granted access to DVLA keeper records, enabling them to issue parking charges to vehicle owners who have contravened parking rules on private land. Certification therefore forms a key component of the Government’s framework for improving standards, transparency and consumer confidence within the private parking sector.

The Scheme is owned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which is responsible for maintaining and updating the new Code of Practice and the scheme requirements. A copy of the Scheme will be available from MHCLG.

The timetable for certification will be confirmed in due course and government have signalled that they will engage with prospective certification bodies on this area following a request being made to UKAS.

Any expression of interest will be selected in consultation with MHCLG.

What is a UKAS pilot accreditation project?

A pilot accreditation project is an essential step in extending UKAS’s accreditation offerings. As this scheme has not previously been subject to accredited conformity assessment, UKAS will undertake a structured development process to evaluate its applicability and establish a proportionate and effective assessment methodology.

The pilot involves collaboration with interested certification bodies to refine the accreditation approach, ensuring it aligns with industry needs and best practices.

Express your interest

UKAS invites certification bodies to express their interest in participating in this pilot accreditation programme for the Private Parking Code Scheme.

If your organisation is interested, please email the following address with your interest by 13th November 2026, developmentenquiries@ukas.com:

Your participation in this pilot provides a unique opportunity to help shape the future of accredited certification in the private parking sector. Being part of the pilot process allows a structured development process that allows UKAS to give a more supportive role to organisations that are new to the world of accreditation.

By fostering robust and internationally recognised accreditation frameworks, UKAS ensures that organisations can confidently implement best practices and drive continuous improvement.

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UKAS is delighted to welcome the publication of an industry call to action for the development of a framework for an EU-UK mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment.  

As the EU and the UK seek practical steps to build on the 2025 Common Understanding, this paper outlines the benefits that an agreement would bring to industry across Europe: 

• Streamlining market access by eliminating the prospect of duplicative conformity assessments. 

• Providing long-term stability and predictability for manufacturers, building business confidence. 

• Granting EU industry access to the UK’s conformity assessment market, boosting competition, resource availability and supply chain resilience. 

Says Matt Gantley, Chief Executive, UKAS: “With testimonials from business associations across Europe, this paper is clear recognition of the benefits for EU-UK trade of a mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment.  

UKAS continues to hear concerns from industry about barriers to EU-UK trade arising from duplicated conformity assessment and was therefore pleased to convene these associations to allow them to explain the importance of utilising the cross-border agreements on accreditation.  

As is testified in this paper, EU-UK conformity assessment recognition would bring significant mutual economic benefit, improving regulatory cooperation, strengthening supply chain integration and reducing costs for businesses.” 

You can read the paper here.  

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It is with profound sadness that UKAS announces the death, at 70, of Lord Jamie Lindsay, who served as Chair of UKAS and on the UKAS Board for over twenty years, until his retirement earlier this year.

Lord Lindsay’s leadership and dedication made a lasting contribution to UKAS and the wider quality community.

A fuller tribute to his life and distinguished career will follow in due course.

Our deepest sympathies are with his family, friends and all who knew him.

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We are introducing a number of enhancements to the UKAS Customer Portal to make it easier to communicate with UKAS, improve collaboration and access key information throughout your accreditation journey. 

Improved Queries experience

The Queries area of the portal has been enhanced to provide better visibility of query progress and a more consistent communication experience. 

Key benefits include: 

• Easier submission of queries using improved categories. 

• Better visibility of query progress. 

• Clearer communication between customers and UKAS teams. 

• Improved notifications when a query is updated.  

Improved protection when colleagues work together

Where colleagues from the same organisation are working in the portal, a pop-up warning has been introduced to help prevent information from being unintentionally overwritten.  

This helps ensure that updates are protected when multiple people are working on the same information at the same time. 

Easier access to application forms for new applicants

For customers progressing through the new applicant accreditation process, key milestones within the portal will now include direct links to relevant application forms and questionnaires. 

These links provide quicker access to the forms and questionnaires required throughout the accreditation process.  

Learn more

Guidance materials, user guides and training resources relating to the UKAS Portal are available from the UKAS Portals Learning Resources SharePoint site. We encourage customers to explore these resources to learn more about the latest portal enhancements. 

Need help?

If you have any questions about the new functionality or experience any issues, please contact portalsupport@ukas.com. 

Service notice

Planned Portal enhancements are being released on 6 October 2026. No downtime is expected. If you experience any issues following the release, please contact portalsupport@ukas.com. 

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World Standards Day is celebrated annually on 14 October, recognising the thousands of experts around the world who contribute to the development of standards that help the products, services and systems we all rely on to work safely and effectively.

Standards play a fundamental role in modern society. They provide agreed frameworks that support quality, safety and alignment across industries and sectors. From the technologies we use every day to the systems that support healthcare, transport and energy, standards help ensure that organisations are working to shared expectations.

These shared expectations are particularly important in a globalised world. Businesses operate across borders, supply chains span continents and technologies connect people and systems in ways that were unimaginable only a few decades ago. Standards provide a common technical language that allows organisations in different countries and sectors to work together with confidence.

Standards also support innovation. By establishing clear requirements and common approaches they help organisations develop new technologies and services in ways that are compatible with existing systems. This allows innovation to happen at scale while maintaining safety, reliability and consistency.

However, the value of standards depends not only on their development but also on their effective implementation. For standards to deliver their intended benefits there must be confidence that organisations applying them are doing so correctly and consistently.

This is where conformity assessment and accreditation become essential.

Conformity assessment activities such as testing, inspection and certification help demonstrate that products, services and systems meet the requirements set out in standards. These activities provide practical evidence that standards are being applied in real world settings.

Accreditation provides an additional level of confidence. Through independent assessment against internationally recognised standards accreditation confirms that organisations carrying out testing, calibration, inspection and certification are technically competent to perform these activities.

This independent assurance is critical for regulators, businesses and consumers. It helps ensure that claims of compliance with standards are reliable and that the results produced by conformity assessment bodies can be trusted.

For regulators, accreditation supports effective oversight. Accredited organisations provide reliable data and verification that can inform regulatory decisions and policy implementation. This allows regulators to place confidence in the systems used to monitor safety, environmental performance and product compliance.

For businesses, accreditation supports access to markets. When conformity assessment is carried out by accredited organisations it helps demonstrate compliance with recognised standards and regulatory requirements. This can reduce duplication, facilitate trade and provide confidence to customers and partners.

For consumers, accreditation helps provide reassurance that products and services meet recognised levels of safety and quality.

In the United Kingdom this system forms part of the national quality infrastructure, which brings together standardisation, metrology and accreditation. Standards bodies develop the technical frameworks that organisations follow. Measurement institutions maintain the accuracy and traceability of measurements. Accreditation provides independent confirmation that organisations applying standards and measurements are competent to do so.

Together these elements help create a system that supports trust in markets, regulation and innovation.

UKAS plays a central role within this system as the United Kingdom’s national accreditation body. By assessing organisations against internationally recognised standards UKAS provides confidence in the competence, impartiality and performance of conformity assessment bodies across a wide range of sectors.

UKAS accredits laboratories, calibration services, inspection bodies and certification organisations that support industries ranging from healthcare and construction to environmental monitoring and advanced manufacturing.

Through this work UKAS helps ensure that standards are not only developed but also applied consistently and reliably in practice.

World Standards Day is an opportunity to recognise the global collaboration that makes the standards system possible. Experts from industry, government, academia and civil society work together to develop standards that address emerging challenges and support technological progress.

It is also a moment to recognise the organisations that help turn those standards into trusted outcomes.

By providing independent assurance that standards are applied competently and consistently accreditation strengthens confidence in the systems that underpin modern economies.

Standards provide the framework. Conformity assessment demonstrates compliance. Accreditation builds confidence that the system works as intended.

Together they help ensure that organisations can innovate responsibly, regulators can make informed decisions, and society can trust the products and services it relies upon every day.

On World Standards Day we celebrate the shared frameworks that support safety, quality and innovation and the global community working to ensure those frameworks deliver real value.

 

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Regulatory Requirements for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

From 1 January 2028, all Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) placed on the UK market must be certified by a UK-approved conformity assessment body against the classes and modules specified in UK Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945, as listed below.

UK0, UK1, UK2, UK3, UK4, UK5 and accessories, UK6, and DRI add-on in relation to Module B.

UK0, UK1, UK2, UK3, UK4, UK5 and accessories, UK6, and DRI add-on in relation to the applicable module H.

The requirement to demonstrate that a product is certified by a UK-approved conformity assessment body also applies to products that already hold certificates issued by an EU-approved conformity assessment body.

UKAS Collaboration and Pilot Programme

As the national accreditation body, UKAS is collaborating with the Civil Aviation Authority to develop and pilot an approach for ISO/IEC 17065:2012 accredited product certification. This approach is designed to align the requirements of the proposed CAA Market Surveillance Authority (MSA) certification scheme and UK Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 with the requirements for accreditation.

Invitation for Expressions of Interest

UKAS is inviting expressions of interest from organisations that intend to act as certification bodies under the MSA certification scheme and wish to participate in the pilot programme. Organisations selected to participate will be assessed against the requirements set forth in ISO/IEC 17065:2012 and the MSA certification scheme, satisfactory assessment and completion of pilot activities will lead to an offer accreditation.

How to Apply

Organisations interested in participating or seeking further information about the pilot programme are requested to submit an expression of interest via email to developmentenquiries@ukas.com by no later than 25th September 2026.

Applicants are requested to provide the following initial details:

• Name of Organisation
• Name of key contact person
• Confirmation of whether the interest is in assisting with the development of the assessment, or as a potential pilot project applicant
• Status of any current accreditation and non-accredited but related certification activities
• Scope of certification activities for which accreditation is sought – refer to UK Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/945 Parts 1 to 5, 16, 17, and the relevant Annex – see also the available classes and modules formulating the scoping options within the 1st section of this document above,

Next Steps

Organisations that submit an expression of interest will be invited to attend a meeting of interested parties. During this meeting, the project will be discussed in relation to its various stages, and the terms of the project will be outlined together with a proposed timeline for key milestones.

Important Notice

Please note that submitting an expression of interest does not constitute a commitment to participate in the project for interested parties. Similarly, acceptance of an expression of interest does not oblige UKAS to include the party in any future pilot project.

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UKAS welcomes the Pathology Transformation Review, chaired by Lord Carter of Coles, and its recognition of the central role of accreditation and quality assurance in supporting safe, effective and resilient pathology services across the UK.

The report rightly highlights that accreditation coverage remains strong across pathology laboratories, while assurance must continue to evolve with new service models, technologies and testing pathways beyond traditional laboratories.

We welcome the report’s focus on strengthening quality governance through better alignment between UKAS, CQC, NHS bodies, commissioners and other stakeholders. Accreditation demonstrates competence, consistency and confidence, but works best alongside robust governance, transparent data, effective leadership and continual improvement. Recommendations on accountability, harmonised quality management, escalation and meaningful metrics provide a valuable basis for discussion.

The report also highlights the importance of assuring quality across point-of-care testing, digital pathology, genomics and direct-to-patient services. As diagnostic pathways become more distributed, assurance frameworks must support confidence in service quality wherever testing is delivered.

UKAS supports the report’s emphasis on proportionate, risk-based assurance and objective quality data to drive improvement, strengthen visibility of performance, support consistent standards and enable innovation while maintaining patient safety.

UKAS welcomes the report’s broader analysis of pathology challenges, including rising demand, workforce constraints, variable digital maturity and operational consistency. Its focus on resilience, training capacity, advanced practice roles, sustainable service models, interoperable systems and high-quality data reflects priorities fundamental to high-quality diagnostics.

UKAS also notes the report’s view of pathology as an end-to-end diagnostic pathway rather than solely a laboratory service. Recommendations on access, patient pathways, community diagnostics and emerging technologies are highly relevant as healthcare evolves. Maintaining confidence will require innovation and investment, alongside consistent governance, robust validation and effective assurance across care settings.

As pathology services transform, UKAS stands ready to engage with CQC, NHS leaders, professional bodies, government departments and other stakeholders to support effective, proportionate and sustainable quality assurance. Together, we can help ensure innovation, integration and service redesign deliver benefits while maintaining the quality and patient safety the public expects.

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The United Kingdom Accreditation Service and the Office of the Forensic Science Regulator (OFSR) are establishing a development project for the accreditation for ISO/IEC 17025 Conformity assessment – General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories performing speed estimation of vehicles from video evidence as stipulated in Forensic Science Regulator Code of Practice (FSR CoP) version 2 DIG 301 requirements.

From this announcement, UKAS will determine the demand and priority for developing accreditation in this area. Therefore, please could you register your interest in this activity to UKAS via email (DevelopmentEnquiries@ukas.com) by 18th August 2026.

Organisations that wish to participate are asked to provide the following information:

• Name of organisation, Police Force or Commercial entity
• Confirm whether your interest is in assisting with the development of the assessment/or as a potential pilot project applicant
• Status of any current accreditation
• Current involvement in the forensic sector
• Current activity – are you already active in this area and have validated methodology in place and what that is. The scope of the activity that you are interested in applying for (please note that this project encompasses lab-based activities (FSR CoP version 2 DIG-301) only. Scene-based activities (INC-100) including CCTV extraction and test footage are not within the scope of this project).

The minimum criteria required to progress within the first stage of this project is below and to ascertain readiness for participation in this project, please provide copies of the following documentation with your application:

• Quality Manual
• Validation Plans for your proposed scope
• Documented procedures
• Confirmation that the applicant has a Quality Management System aligned to ISO/IEC 17025 in place.

Organisation’s that submit an expression of interest will be invited to attend a meeting of interested parties where the terms of the project will be discussed along with a proposed timeline for key stages and any phased approach process that is deemed necessary. This will include “dry run activities” and could also include group preassessment activities A dry run is an informal collaborative activity designed to trail assessment mechanisms for this activity to ensure that they are suitable and discuss the process and progress with applicants. Following the interested parties meeting, conformity assessment bodies will be required to submit a formal application to UKAS for the scope of accreditation sought and an agreement to the terms and conditions of the pilot programme before their participation is confirmed. There will be an opportunity to ask any scope specific questions on the details of the pilot programme at this stage.

In line with UKAS confidentiality arrangements, assessment content, such as validation or methodology data and information, will not be shared with the FSR project group, but outcomes of the dry run assessments will be shared with the OFSR.

The OFSR has indicated that funding will be available to assist with costs and further details will be available regarding this following the deadline for expressions of interest.

UKAS is currently gauging the potential level of interest in this area so would also like to hear from technical experts that may wish to support UKAS as a stakeholder to provide expertise and support to the development of accreditation criteria and process with the potential of also being utilised as an external Technical Assessor in this technical area.

Please note that submitting an expression of interest does not indicate any commitment to participate in the development project on the part of the interested parties, and nor does the acceptance of an expression of interest commit UKAS to accept the interested party on any future pilot project.

The post Call for expression of Interest in the Accreditation of Testing of Video Evidence to determine speed estimation to meet the requirements of the Forensic Science Regulator’s Code requirement DIG 301 under ISO/IEC 17025 appeared first on UKAS.