In October 2023, IAF published IAF MD 28 IAF Mandatory Document for the Upload and Maintenance of Data on IAF Database. This Mandatory Document requires accreditation bodies and certification bodies (CBs) to upload information relating to the management system accreditations/certifications they’ve issued. This will allow business and regulatory communities around the globe to efficiently verify which certifications across their supply chains and networks are legitimate, accredited and active, and to receive a notification when there is a change to the status of a certification so they can manage risk across their supply chains and networks.

The application date for IAF MD 28 is 25 October 2024, providing a 12-month transition period.  So far, information on more than 1,350,000 certifications for all statuses has been uploaded to the IAF CertSearch database by 1,614 CBs. Many more CBs are currently preparing to upload their information, including a number of the world’s largest CBs.

The number of businesses and regulators using the database has also seen positive growth. As of 1 May 2024, over 36,000 users have signed up to IAF CertSearch. User growth between 2022 – 2023 was 112.67%. Projections suggest that at the end of 2024, user numbers may exceed 50,000, and approach 100,000 at the end of 2025. Notably, user growth from the world’s largest 3000 companies is trending at 175% compared to 2023, indicating increasing adoption among major purchasers.

Access to IAF CertSearch has led to a broadening of interest in verification among some users. For example, they are going beyond wanting to know if a company holds a certification, to wanting to know information on certified site locations and what percentage of certified sites they have compared to their overall number of sites/locations. 

It is encouraging to see the benefits IAF CertSearch is already having for businesses, regulators and industry stakeholders. We are seeing a direct correlation between the number of certifications included with the number of verifiers and the awareness and demand for accredited certification. As verifiers become more aware of IAF CertSearch, they learn more about accreditation, which increases the demand for accredited certification. We see this through enquiries to CBs via IAF CertSearch.

Moreover, the database’s technical capabilities continue to evolve to meet the needs of verifiers, offering features such as automated verification, real-time updates, and fraud detection. These advancements have positive implications for various stakeholders, including businesses, regulators, and consumers, by enhancing supply chain management, regulatory effectiveness, and consumer trust.

Certified companies also benefit from the ability to verify their suppliers’ certifications efficiently, ensuring compliance with standards such as ISO/IEC 27001 Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection – Information security management systems – Requirements, ISO 13485 Medical devices – Quality management systems – Requirements for regulatory purposes, and ISO 9001 Quality management systems – Requirements. The watchlist feature enables certified organizations to demonstrate supplier compliance to certification bodies, streamlining the audit process.

Certified companies can create a watch list, to demonstrate to their certification body that their suppliers meet the necessary supplier requirement. It also improves audit efficiency for certification bodies. In the past, an auditor may have only been able to check that a sample number of suppliers held the necessary certifications. With IAF CertSearch an auditor can see in real time that all suppliers within a supply chain have valid certifications, even for supply chains where certified companies have > 10,000 suppliers, improving audit efficiency and comprehensiveness.

By addressing industry-identified issues and establishing a digital global verification infrastructure, IAF CertSearch enhances trust and efficiency in certification processes. As the database reaches full data upload by the end of the transition period in October 2024, statistics demonstrating its benefits for users and stakeholders will provide valuable insights.