Accreditation system
PCA conducts the accreditation activity pursuant to the Act of Parliament of 13.04.2016 on conformity assessment and market surveillance systems (Journal of Laws of 2022 r., item 1854). PCA is the national accreditation body authorized to accredit Conformity Assessment Bodies. It is a state legal entity and reports to the minister in charge of the economy.
PCA operates in accordance with the requirements set out in the Act on Conformity Assessment and Market Surveillance, Regulation (EC) 765/2008, PN-EN ISO / IEC 17011: 2017 Conformity assessment — Requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies and in line with the obligations arising from the EA MLA, ILAC MRA, IAF MLA multilateral agreements. In the field of accreditation of EMAS verifiers, PCA operates in accordance with the requirements set out in Regulation No. 1221/2009 and the guidelines of the Forum of Accreditation and Licensing Bodies (FALB).
The accreditation system operated by PCA is available to all conformity assessment bodies, regardless of their size, membership of any organization or group. Accreditation is also not conditional on the number of already accredited conformity assessment bodies.
General rules and provisions followed by the Polish Center for Accreditation when granting or conducting the surveillance over the accreditation are presented in document DA-01 Description of the accreditation system and in the related documents.
PCA currently carries out accreditation processes and supervises:
- testing laboratories
- calibration laboratories
- medical laboratories
- inspection bodies
- management systems, product and persons certification bodies
- EMAS verifiers
- GHG verifiers
- PT providers
- reference materials producers
- biobanks
The scope of PCA accreditation activities
Pursuant to the Act on the Conformity Assessment and Market Surveillance System, the scope of PCA activities includes, inter alia, accrediting conformity assessment bodies, conducting surveillance over the accredited organizations in terms of their compliance with the conditions of accreditation, as well as maintaining a list of accredited conformity assessment bodies. The detailed scope of PCA accreditation activity, in the area of which conformity assessment bodies can apply for accreditation, is provided in the PCA accreditation programs (DAX series documents). If there is a need to accredit new types of conformity assessment bodies or specific areas, PCA may undertake the extension of its accreditation activities. The PCA policy relating to its own scope of accreditation activities, in particular regarding its extension, is set out in document DA-09.
Cross-border accreditation
The PCA policy on the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies outside Poland, the assessment of their activities carried out outside Poland and the policy on cooperation with other accreditation bodies in the case of cross-border accreditation is presented in document DA-07.