– Accreditation is something that we all benefit from every day, without really thinking about it. It works invisibly in the background, so it’s important to take at least one day a year to really highlight the difference accreditation makes, says Swedac’s Deputy Director General, Merih Malmqvist Nilsson, who is also chair of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, ILAC.
Accreditation contributes to the safety, quality and sustainability of goods and services in many areas. However, during World Accreditation Day, the focus is on one chosen area each year, and with the increased discussions about smart cities and energy-efficient houses, the construction sector was the obvious choice.
– Sustainability in its various forms is a very topical issue, and accreditation is an important tool. Accreditation constitutes a third-party assessment, a type of attestation that those who check your products and services have the right competence to do so. In turn, this means that as private individuals or economic actors, we can rely on products and services to maintain the right quality, says Merih Malmqvist Nilsson.
The construction sector includes many everyday examples. For example, accreditation contributes to energy-efficient windows actually working and not releasing the heat from your home, and to insulation on the façade keeping houses warm, or to soundproofing between flats blocking out noise to a sufficient extent. Together, this contributes to more energy-efficient and sustainable housing. The work environment at construction sites is also covered by accreditation, in order to create a safe and secure workplace for the people who build our future homes, sports arenas, playgrounds and offices.
– Accreditation also contributes to limiting emissions. The positive consequences of this are a clean urban environment, fresh air to breathe and that we can enjoy our lakes and seas without needing to worry about whether you can actually swim in them, says Merih Malmqvist Nilsson.
Initiators of the World Accreditation Day are the two international cooperation organisations for accreditation, IAF and ILAC.
You can find more information about the day on the ILAC website.