Preface: For decades, Oxebridge resisted recommending specific certification bodies in an attempt to enforce conflict of interest barriers. Over that period of time, the industry has moved in the opposite direction, allowing the co-marketing of ISO consultancies with certification bodies. In fact, the IAF now allows CBs to both own and operate consultancies despite the practice still being prohibited in the various accreditation standards. In 2025, the IAF issued a global mandate to block any and all complaints regarding the practice. As a result, Oxebridge changed its position on the matter and now recommends specific CBs over others.
In order to adhere to the accreditation standards — whether IAF member bodies wish to or not — Oxebridge will uphold the restriction against indicating any particular CB is “simpler, easier, faster or less expensive” than any other. This does not restrict Oxebridge from reporting that its endorsed CBs are better or that non-endorsed CBs are worse.
Oxebridge will continue to work with clients regardless of which CB they choose. The CBs endorsed by Oxebridge, however, have met a higher bar than ISO 17021-1 by ensuring additional controls are in place to manage conflicts of interest and by demonstrating a pattern of objective, impartial, and evidence-based auditing.
NOTE: Unsolicited requests by CBs to be considered for recommendation will be ignored. In fact, making such a request will likely get the CB blocked for any consideration at all.
Certification Body: OPG Certification Services LLC
Office Locations: Illinois and New Jersey, USA
Target Markets: USA and Canada
Accredited by: IAS
Accredited to Issue: ISO 9001, ISO 20000-1, ISO 27001
Non-accredited Certificates Offered (accreditation underway): ISO 14001, ISO 42001, Oxebridge Q001
Official website and contact information: https://opgcerts.com
Reason for Oxebridge Endorsement:
Oxebridge helped build the OPG accreditation program from the ground up, implementing ISO 17021-1, ISO 27006, ISO 20000-6, and ISO 42006 for the CB. It helped OPG then gain accreditation by IAS. As a result, Oxebridge hard-coded specific conflict of interest procedures and requirements into the OPG accreditation system that exceed the requirements of those standards. Oxebridge founder Christopher Paris sits on the OPG Certification Review Committee (CRC); where an Oxebridge client may pursue certification with OPG, Mr. Paris recuses himself from the CRC and all other matters.
Oxebridge verified that the audits performed by OPG are evidence-based. Furthermore, OPG has published a series of “Evidence Requirement Policy Statements” for each of its accredited standards, which define expectations of OPG clients’ systems. These documents take the often vague language of a given ISO standards and explain what evidence an OPG client will be expected to provide during any conformity assessment audit. This practice, which exceeds the requirements of ISO 17021-1, removes doubt by clients as to what is required of them, especially related to clauses of the standards that may be confusing or vague with respect to evidence. These policy statements are optional; clients may opt not to have evidence where OPG recommends it, but must justify this decision during their conformity assessment audit. Furthermore, these policy statements do not mandate any specific form, method, or solution for the client in meeting any particular clause.
Finally, the policy statements may be read by clients before signing with OPG, so there are no surprises later.
Because Oxebridge helps manage the CRC — at least for non-Oxebridge clients — this ensures rapid turnaround of certification reports. This does not mean the overall certification will be faster than any other CB, but it does reduce post-audit processing time. Typical post-audit processing is reduced to 48 hours.
Gaining certification by an evidence-based CB like OPG does not mean audits are easier; some clients may find them more difficult. But, in the end, a certification issued by OPG has more credibility than those of competing CBs.
OPG’s initial focus was on the issuance of ISO certifications within the IT and related services fields. They remain one of the only US-based CBs that can offer triple ISO 9001 / ISO 20000-1 / ISO 27001 certificates via a single audit event. Most CBs have separate auditor teams for these standards and must split them up into multiple audits. This is because the core auditor team at OPG is qualified to these three standards, so there is no need to outsource audits or partner with other CBs to ensure coverage. Once they obtain accreditation for ISO 42001, they will be able to do all four standards in one certification audit event.
OPG offers certification in traditional manufacturing industries for ISO 9001 and, soon, ISO 14001.
OPG is also currently the only US-based certification body candidate for the nascent Oxebridge Q001 standard. Full accreditation to that standard is expected in 2026. In that case, Oxebridge is the accreditation body and still requires an IAF accreditation be in place as a prerequisite.
Under the ISO schemes, Oxebridge receives no finders’ fees or referral compensation from OPG. Mr. Paris is remunerated for his work on the CRC, but — again — this would not apply to Oxebridge clients who use OPG.
