Public policies and actions
By outsourcing some of the inspections that it previously carried out itself, the State is able to refocus on its essential missions.
Yet outsourcing does not mean inspection "on the cheap". Ensuring the safety of its citizens and protecting their health remains the responsibility of the State.
In a context of reduced expenditure, the State increasingly uses accreditation to substantiate its policies and achieve its objectives in matters of protecting the environment, public safety or public health.
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Inspection
NF EN ISO/IEC 17020
Many installations are inspected annually in France.
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The public authorities call on many accredited inspections to better protect the environment and the population.
Calling upon accredited private bodies allows the State to refocus on its core functions, such as market oversight, for example. This also provides a good balance of complementarity between the first-level inspections carried out and those procured by the State services.
By ensuring the impartiality and competence of the inspection bodies, accreditation provides the public authorities with assurance that the inspections carried out are reliable. -
Certification of products and services
NF EN ISO/IEC 17065
Promoting the heritage or unique feature of a region, encouraging practices that are more environmentally-friendly or protecting certain populations can call for accredited certification.
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To be able to guarantee their impartiality and competence, the French Consumer Code makes accreditation mandatory for bodies conducting this type of certification.
This measure helps inspire confidence in the services delivered by certified companies or bodies, substantiates the mechanisms put in place by the public authorities and, ultimately, makes policies for attaining set objectives more efficient. -
Certification of persons
NF EN ISO/IEC 17024
If they are not correctly carried out, certain services can discourage investment in low-energy-consumption assets or work aimed at reducing energy consumption, or even have disastrous consequences for the environment. Accordingly, it is sensible to call upon workers who are specially trained in executing these services.
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With a view to attaining the set objectives, the public authorities can draw on the accredited certification of these workers. This gives them the assurance that the competence of these persons is monitored and periodically reassessed by bodies whose competence and impartiality are recognised.
The accredited certification of these workers ultimately establishes confidence in the work they carry out. -
Tests
NF EN ISO/IEC 17025
Prevention is essential in matters of public health and safety. It involves strict and regular inspections for protecting the population. Food, toys, information technologies: policies based on accreditation are put in place to ensure the efficiency of the inspections carried out and to guarantee that the products used or consumed are free of danger.
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In this way, accreditation helps prevent health and safety risks. By guaranteeing the reliability of the analyses and tests carried out, it allows the competent authorities to make the necessary decisions when nonconformities are detected. -
Medical examinations
NF EN ISO 15189
To improve the quality of service rendered to patients, the public authorities call on the accreditation of biomedical laboratories. Accreditation contributes to the efficiency of the healthcare system by ensuring the reliability of results.
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It concerns many exams used for the purposes of prevention, screening and diagnosis.
In this way, accreditation guarantees the harmonised and optimum quality of the biomedical examinations conducted throughout the country by public or private laboratories. -
Qualification of companies
NF X 50-091
The public authorities draw on accreditation for implementing their environmental and energy transition policies.
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Intellectual services serving the energy performance of buildings and renewable energy installations; energy efficiency work on renovations; equipment installations using renewable energies: the public authorities impose accredited qualification for service providers wishing to access the public and private markets that require RGE (environmental sustainability) certification. This qualification marks out professionals who are competent in improving energy efficiency.
Use of accreditation enables the State to guarantee the oversight of mechanisms that mobilise a great deal of public investment in the renovation of buildings, and for which it is accountable. -
Verification of greenhouse gas emission declarations
NF EN ISO 14065
The European Union (EU) is the world's third-largest emitter of CO2, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. To measure, inspect and reduce the emissions from its industry and its electricity producers, the EU put in place in 2005 a carbon market, then extended this to all greenhouse gases (GHG).
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Considering what is at stake, the EU draws on accreditation to ensure that the inspections of greenhouse gas emission declarations are conducted by bodies that are competent and impartial, and hence trustworthy.
Accreditation is therefore contributing to attaining the goal of 20% fewer emissions in 2020 compared to 1990.