NQA IS THE UK’S FIRST AND ONLY CERTIFICATION BODY UKAS ACCREDITED FOR ISO 50001

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) has named NQA as the UK’s first certification body accredited to certify to ISO 50001 – the international standard for energy management.

Over the past 18 months UKAS has worked with NQA on a rigorous pilot programme for accreditation. NQA was named the first and, currently the only, certification body to gain UKAS accreditation for ISO 50001.

ISO 50001 provides a robust framework for optimising energy efficiency in public and private sector organisations. Certification demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to continual improvement in energy management.

Martin Hockaday, environmental sector manager at NQA said: “We have worked with a number of clients on this standard for a couple of years now, particularly Royal Mint and Costa Coffee who have achieved proven results.

“We helped Costa cut energy use by up to 16% with further cuts expected in the future. For Royal Mint there were similar savings, with a reduction of more than 10% in the first two years of operation.

“With energy costs expected to increase further, effective energy management has become ever more important. ISO 50001 provides the framework for firms to put plans into place to deliver huge cost savings and improved energy management.”

ISO 50001 can easily be integrated into any business – particularly those firms with existing management systems such as ISO 14001 already in place.

NQA has been awarded full scope of accreditation for the standard, meaning it has the competencies to audit in any industry and, as a global certification body; it has the resources to do so across the world.