ANAB and A2LA: US Accreditation Bodies for Certification

ANAB (ANSI National Accreditation Board) and A2LA (American Association for Laboratory Accreditation) are the two principal accreditation bodies operating in the United States that authorize certification bodies, laboratories, and inspection bodies to conduct conformity assessment activities. Their decisions directly affect whether a certification carries regulatory weight, market access, or government recognition. This page covers how each body is structured, how they evaluate and accredit certification bodies, the scenarios where each applies, and how to distinguish between them.

Definition and scope

Accreditation, in the conformity assessment context, is a formal third-party attestation that a certification body, testing laboratory, or inspection body is competent to perform specific conformity assessment tasks. Accreditation differs from certification itself in a foundational way: accreditation applies to the bodies that issue certifications, not to the organizations or products seeking them.

ANAB operates under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) umbrella and provides accreditation services across management system certification bodies, personnel certification bodies, product certification bodies, inspection bodies, and laboratories. ANAB is a signatory to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) Multilateral Recognition Arrangement (MLA) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), which means ANAB-accredited certificates carry international recognition in member economies (ANAB, IAF MLA signatory status).

A2LA focuses primarily on laboratory accreditation under ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 15189 but also accredits inspection bodies under ISO/IEC 17020 and proficiency testing providers under ISO/IEC 17043. A2LA is likewise an ILAC MRA signatory, and its laboratory accreditation program is recognized by federal regulatory agencies including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (A2LA, About Accreditation).

The geographic scope of both bodies is national, though their accreditation decisions have consequence in international trade through the mutual recognition arrangements cited above.

How it works

Both ANAB and A2LA follow a structured evaluation cycle based on internationally harmonized accreditation standards. The core normative document for accreditation bodies is ISO/IEC 17011:2017, which specifies requirements for bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies (ISO/IEC 17011:2017).

The accreditation process for a certification body applying to ANAB proceeds in the following phases:

  1. Application and documentation review — The applicant certification body submits its quality management documentation, scope of certification activities, and personnel competency records. ANAB verifies alignment with the applicable standard (e.g., ISO/IEC 17021-1 for management system certification bodies).
  2. Office assessment — An ANAB assessment team reviews the body's documented processes, impartiality committee records, and certification decision procedures at the body's primary location.
  3. Witness assessment — ANAB assessors observe a live audit conducted by the certification body at a client site to verify that field practice matches documented procedures. This phase is specific to management system certification body accreditation.
  4. Accreditation decision — An ANAB accreditation committee, separate from the assessment team, reviews findings and issues the accreditation decision. This separation enforces impartiality requirements for certification bodies.
  5. Surveillance and reassessment — Accreditation is maintained through annual surveillance and a full reassessment cycle every 4 years.

A2LA follows the same ISO/IEC 17011 framework but calibrates the witness assessment phase to laboratory-specific activities: assessors observe actual testing or calibration performed in the laboratory scope rather than management system audits.

The applicable standards differ by scope:

Body Type Standard Primary Accreditor
Management system certification body ISO/IEC 17021-1 ANAB
Personnel certification body ISO/IEC 17024 ANAB
Testing/calibration laboratory ISO/IEC 17025 A2LA (and ANAB)
Medical laboratory ISO 15189 A2LA
Inspection body ISO/IEC 17020 A2LA, ANAB
Product certification body ISO/IEC 17065 ANAB

Common scenarios

ISO 9001 certification market — A company seeking ISO 9001 certification engages a certification body. If that certification body holds ANAB accreditation under ISO/IEC 17021-1, the resulting ISO 9001 certificate carries IAF MLA recognition, enabling acceptance by international trading partners and government procurement programs without redundant audits. Certification body recognition by a signatory accreditation body is the operative credential in this chain.

Federal laboratory programs — The EPA's National Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (NLLAP) and the FDA's food testing programs reference A2LA (and ANAB's laboratory program) as acceptable accreditation sources. Laboratories testing under TSCA Section 403 rules for lead in paint must hold accreditation from an EPA-recognized accreditation body, which includes A2LA (EPA NLLAP).

Defense and aerospace — Calibration laboratories supporting Department of Defense (DoD) contracts are frequently required to hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. A2LA's Defense Metrology Accreditation Program (DMAP) operates under a memorandum of understanding with the DoD (A2LA DMAP).

Personnel certification — Bodies issuing certifications to individual professionals (e.g., non-destructive testing personnel, cybersecurity professionals) seek ANAB accreditation under ISO/IEC 17024. The third-party certification process for personnel credentials follows a distinct pathway from management system certification.

Decision boundaries

Choosing between ANAB and A2LA as an accreditation body, or evaluating their accreditation status when selecting a certification body, depends on the activity type and any regulatory mandates.

Activity type is the first filter. Laboratory accreditation for testing and calibration is the core competency of A2LA, and its assessor pool is deep in technical laboratory disciplines. Management system certification body accreditation, product certification, and personnel certification are ANAB's dominant scope. Where overlap exists (both bodies accredit inspection bodies and laboratories), applicants typically evaluate assessor specialization and program-specific requirements.

Regulatory mandate overrides preference. If an EPA regulation, FDA guidance document, or DoD contract clause specifies an accreditation body by name or by MLA/MRA signatory status, compliance with that requirement is mandatory. The us-federal-compliance-certification-programs page maps major federal programs to their accreditation requirements.

International recognition is a functional consideration for export markets. Both ANAB and A2LA participate in IAF and ILAC arrangements. A certification or test report issued by a body accredited under one of these arrangements carries presumptive acceptance in the 100-plus IAF MLA signatory economies (IAF MLA signatories), reducing the need for country-by-country re-testing or re-auditing.

Scope specificity matters at the operational level. ANAB and A2LA both issue accreditation with defined scopes — a laboratory accredited to test for specific analytes under specific methods, or a certification body accredited to audit specific management system standards. A certificate issued outside the accredited scope is not covered by the accreditation and does not carry the associated recognition, a boundary explored further in scope-of-certification-boundaries.

References

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