Certification Home
As described by AFNOR (the French Standardisation Association), “certification is, in the broadest sense, an activity whereby a recognised organisation, independent from parties involved, gives a written assurance that an organisation, process, service, product or professional expertise complies with requirements specified in a reference framework.”
COFREND certification
It is essential for anyone running and interpreting the results of non-destructive tests to have the appropriate expertise. In France, there are more than 15,000 COFREND-certified operators and 25,000 valid certifications.
COFREND certification is found in more than three thousand companies and is recognised and used worldwide.
IMPARTIALITY
COFREND has been a certifying body since 1978. The certification activity has been accredited by the French Accreditation Committee (COFRAC) according to standard EN ISO/IEC 17024 since October 1996 (accreditation no. 4-0007, coverage available on www.cofrac.fr). This accreditation, based on independent monitoring by COFRAC, guarantees that our organisation complies with the requirements of impartiality and fairness that are essential in conducting our certification activities.
COFREND impartiality policy:
Impartiality policy of the Chairman of the Certification and Qualification Hub:
COFREND is a third-party personnel certification body. As such, we are called on to make certification decisions with major potential consequences for our clients.
Our operation must therefore guarantee total impartiality of decisions made; this impartiality is based on the following principles:
- a personal commitment of confidentiality and non-conflict of interest signed by the inspectors and personnel appointed to the COFREND certification system;
- qualification and certification decisions based on verifiable documented evidence;
- the inspectors are people who have played no part in candidate training in the two years prior to the exam date and who do not come from the same establishments as the candidates;
- test registration procedures that give access to certification for anyone so requesting it without limitation;
- a management committee made up of various interested parties to monitor and maintain the impartiality of the COFREND certification system;
- regular audits of COFREND-approved examination centres.