Verify a certificate
A certificate is a claim, and a claim can be checked. This page says what a certificate should show, how to check one, and what we will and will not tell you about the organization that holds it.
01On the certificate
What a certificate should show
This page summarizes how a check works. AQC Group issues the certificates, and its own records are the authority.
- Certified organization
- Its name and address, and each site the certificate covers if there is more than one
- Scope of certification
- The activities the certificate covers, in words specific enough to compare with what the organization does
- Standard
- The standard and its edition, for example ISO 9001:2015
- Certificate number
- A number that belongs to that certificate alone
- Dates
- The date of issue and the date of expiry
- Certification body
- The name of the body that issued the certificate, and its mark
- Accreditation
- On an accredited certificate, the accreditation body's symbol and the certification body's accreditation number
If any of these is missing, ask the organization for a complete copy before you go further. The accreditation page explains the last line. The certification page explains why the scope matters as much as the standard.
02How to check
Two ways to check a certificate
Ask us
Send us the certificate number and the organization's name as they are printed, using the form on this page. We check them against AQC Group's records and reply by email.
Go to the formAsk AQC Group
AQC Group is the certification body, and it says that anyone who needs information about a company it has certified can contact it directly. The address is on AQC Group's clients page.
If the answer matters, for a contract or a tender, ask in writing and keep the reply with your records.
We can check only certificates issued by AQC Group. For a certificate from another certification body, ask that body. Its name is on the certificate, and the rules for certification bodies expect a body to confirm the status of a certificate it has issued to anyone who asks.
03Our reply
What we tell you
One of four answers, and the scope. Nothing else about the organization.
- Valid
- The certificate is in AQC Group's records and is in force today.
- Suspended
- The certificate exists but is temporarily not valid. The organization may not claim certification while the suspension lasts.
- Withdrawn
- The certificate has been ended and is no longer valid, whatever date is printed on it.
- Unknown to us
- We cannot find a certificate with that number and that name in AQC Group's records. This can mean a typing error, a certificate issued by another body, or a document that is not genuine. Check the details as printed and ask again, or ask the body named on the certificate.
With the status we give the scope of certification as it is recorded: the standard and the activities the certificate covers. A certificate that has passed its expiry date without being renewed is not valid, and we say so.
That is all we send. We do not send audit reports, findings, the dates of audits, the names of people or anything commercial. Those belong to the organization, and it can show them to you if it chooses.
We use your name and email address to send you the reply. The privacy policy says how a request is handled.
04Warning signs
Signs that a certificate needs a closer look
None of these proves anything by itself. Each is a reason to ask.
- It names no certification body, or it names ISO as the issuer. ISO does not issue certificates.
- It cites an edition of the standard that does not exist, or one that had been replaced long before the date of issue.
- The scope is broader than the organization's work, or so general that it could mean anything.
- The name or address is not that of the organization you are dealing with, but of a parent or a sister company.
- It carries no certificate number or no dates, or its dates are more than three years apart.
- It is presented as proof that a product has been certified. A management system certificate does not say that.
05The form
Ask us to check a certificate
Copy the number and the name exactly as they are printed. We reply by email.
Found something that looks wrong.
If a certificate that carries AQC Group's name does not check out, tell us. It is treated as a complaint and passed to AQC Group.