Accreditation of a test laboratory is when an independent 3rd party verifies the operations of the test laboratory to confirm that the test reports produced are consistently accurate.
Similarly, the accreditation of a certification body is when an independent 3rd party verifies the operations of the certification body and to confirm that the certification process and certificates are consistently accurate.
South Africa is party to an international cooperation agreement between different countries that committed to accept test and certification results from each other. This agreement is called the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation ILAC agreement. (https://ilac.org/) SA Watermark respects this agreement and will therefore accept any test report or certification that are ILAC accredited.
In South Africa, the local organisation that provides such accreditation is the South African National Accreditation System SANAS (https://www.sanas.co.za/). Therefore, test reports or certifications that carries SANAS accreditation will be accepted.
All international bodies that fulfil the same role as SANAS for their respective countries follow the same rules and perform similar functions. Test reports and certifications of these bodies will also be accepted by the SA Watermark.
NOTE: In line with international best practice, the SAWatermark will also accept test reports form test laboratories that might not be accredited for the required test work. Refer to the section “Product Testing” or more detail.