The International Accreditation Forum has begun selling access to its controversial “CertSearch” website registry of ISO certifications. An initial launch offers new subscribers an “early bird” discount, but the lowest-cost offering still reaches $31 / month. The highest-tier plan is priced at $312 / month.
Users may still make a limited number of free searches, but the limit is not clear. The website FAQ claims, “a public user will be able to search and validate up to 3 certifications per day and 30 verifications for free if they have created an account and identified themselves.” This suggests that not registering would allow an unlimited number of verifications, but the information on the website does not appear accurate. When accessing the page, Oxebridge is given an alert that its limit is six (6) searches, but it is not clear if this is per day or week. It is also not clear when the “30 verifications for free” limit begins.
The IAF made participation by member accreditation bodies “mandatory” per a recent ruling, but has not enforced the move. This has resulted in many major accreditation bodies (ABs) and certification bodies (CBs) to ignore the demand, and not have their data appear in CertSearch, despite IAF’s marketing to the contrary. Tests of the data found that only a small percentage of actual ISO 9001 certificates appeared in CertSearch.
Recent scandals with the company AiNET have also revealed a troubling trend where fully accredited, but nevertheless fake, ISO certificates appear on CertSearch without any verification at all by IAF. In the case of AiNET, the company had obtained EGAC-accredited certificates considered to be fake. After a complaint by Oxebridge, those certificates were then removed and replaced by new certificates issued by a UAF-accredited body, which also appear to be fake. In both cases, the certification bodies involved issued the certificates in mere hours, without apparently ever having performed an audit of AiNET, but which were marked as “VALID” in CertSearch.
The lack of accredited certificates, and the inclusion of fake certificates bearing accreditation marks, has not deterred the IAF from trying to monetize its website, while raising concerns over conflicts of interest. The IAF mandate to participate in CertSearch now appears not to have been done to assure the public has access to an open-source means of verifying ISO certificates, but instead to provide the IAF yet another revenue stream.
The IAF also allowed UKAS to use the CertSearch code to create its mimic online database, called CertCheck. It is not clear if IAF gave the code to UKAS, sold it, or if UKAS helped fund the original IAF CertSearch project. Either way, the preference given to IAF member UKAS raises questions on the IAF’s ability to remain objective when dealing with complaints against UKAS, as well as the IAF’s impartiality when dealing with other ABs who compete with UKAS.
The IAF CertSearch database was developed by Quality Trade, an Australian company that won the project on the basis of promises on how the IAF could later monetize it. IAF head Victor Gandy receives about half of the IAF’s annual income in his salary, paid to him through a private shell company, Axis Mundi. Gaqndy appears to run the IAF out of his high-rise apartment in Virginia.
The IAF created a separate corporate entity, IAF Database LLC, which — according to IAF tax returns — is tasked with “database management oversight.” It is unclear what the financial relationship is between IAF Database LLC and Quality Trade, nor why IAF Database LLC must exist if Quality Trade performs the actual database maintenance services.
The IAF also claims, but provides no proof, that “50% of Fortune 500 companies” are currently using CertSearch. The IAF has not been an honest broker when marketing the database, allowing entirely false information to repeatedly be published in quality press journals such as Quality Digest. Even after pointing out the false claims, IAF and Quality Digest refused to correct the reporting.
