Here is a compiled list of known or suspected certificate mills and accreditation mills. These bodies are known or believed to issue certificates or accreditations within the ISO scheme while not abiding by the necessary standards (ISO 17021 or ISO 17011, etc.). Some are wholly unaccredited, while others are “self-accredited” by a fake AB they created for themselves. In a few cases, a listed organization might be fully accredited by an IAF member accreditation body, but nevertheless routinely violates the applicable accreditation rules. The IAF has largely abandoned enforcing the ISO standards on CBs and ABs, so now, IAF membership is no longer a complete assurance that the organization isn’t a mill.
Where accredited CBs are known to solicit consulting partners, in violation of ISO 17021, this is noted below. Most of these are accredited by UAF, which does not take action against such violations.
If you find any that are not listed here, write to me and I will add them. If you’re on the list and don’t feel you should be, you can write, too. But bring your receipts, because I have mine.
Certificate Mills
- Aambitious Assessment Pvt Ltd (spelled “Aambitious,” not an error) – (solicits consulting partners)
- ABCI
- ABS American Global Standards
- Absolute Quality Certification Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- ACSR Certification
- ACT Services International
- Africa Value Solutions AVS
- AGD Certification Management System
- Al-Janab Testing Center, Kuwait
- Alliance International Registrar AIR
- American Quality Standards Registrar / Americo Quality Systems Registech AQSR
- A-Mark Ratings Pvt Ltd AMR – (solicits consulting partners)
- AMPLUS Global Associates
- AQC Middle East LLC – (solicits consulting partners)
- AQMCS Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- ARS Assessment – (solicits consulting partners)
- Assurance Quality Certification LLC
- Atlas Certification Services – (solicits consulting partners)
- AVT Assessment System
- B-ADVANCY Certification – (solicits consulting partners)
- Baltum Bureau
- Bis Iuris Consulting
- Bluestar Certification Management Inc. BCMI – (consultant claims to “manage” certifications for CBs; being rebranded as “Philippine Certification Management Inc.)
- Bluestar Management Systems BMS – (solicits consulting partners)
- BQSR Certifications
- British Assessment, US
- British Certification Assessment Body
- British Services Certification
- British Services Certification
- BWIC China
- CAW Accreditation Services
- CDL Group
- Centre for HR & International Standards – (solicits consulting partners)
- CertBureau
- Certification Assurance International CAI
- Certification Europe HK
- Certified Quality Systems Ltd. CQS
- Certifiers Bureau
- Certiva Ltd
- CGLOBAL Inspection and Certification
- Chrisma Cert – (solicits consulting partners)
- Citation ISO (formerly QMS International)
- Company Certification Int. CCI
- Con Cert Quality Management GmbH / CCQM Switzerland
- CSE Certification
- DAS System & Services Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- Divine Solutions
- E-Digital Services India
- Easy Go Certifications
- Eiger Marvel EMC
- EIK Certificering
- E-Startup – (solicits consulting partners)
- E-Startup India – (solicits consulting partners)
- Eurolab
- Factocert – (solicits consulting partners)
- FOCUS ISO
- G31000 Risk Institute
- GBC Solutions
- Generic Management Services
- Global ISO Register
- Global Quality Management System
- Global Management Certifications Inc.
- Globus Certifications Pvt. Ltd. GCPL – (solicits consulting partners)
- G-PMC LLC
- GQA UK
- Green Quality Services
- Guardian Assessment Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- Guardian Independent Certification GIC
- Guberman-PMC, LLC
- Hawk Eye Certifications Pvt. Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- HSEQ UK
- ICA Qatar
- ICAS Certification Services (part of CCQM above)
- ICL Certification Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- IMCD Certification – (solicits consulting partners)
- Inclusion Score
- Inspection Board
- Integrated Assessment Services Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- InterCert Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- International Accurate Certification IAC
- International Benchmarking / International Benchmarking System Certification Inc.
- International Demand Certification
- International Management Systems Management ISMS (See note below*)
- International Quality Certification Services IQCSCert – (solicits consulting partners)
- International Services of Compliance ISC
- IQA Certification – (solicits consulting partners)
- ISC Global ISCG
- ISO Accelerator
- ISO Cert Online
- ISO Certi
- ISO India – (solicits consulting partners)
- ISO Online
- ISOCel Ltd
- ISOP Solutions Inc. aka International Auditors Inc.
- ISPL Cert – (solicits consulting partners)
- JS Certification Services
- JS Certifications
- K-Advancy Global Systems
- Knowledge Management Certification Services
- Krivia Corporation Assessment System
- KVQA Assessment Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- LMS Certifications Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- LMS Certification FZE LLC – (solicits consulting partners)
- Lakshy Management Consultant Pvt Ltd
- Lazarus Alliance
- Legal Blue Bird
- MSR Assessment Pvt Ltd
- OAMS Certification
- Opastaja Quality Control
- OSS Middle East Certifications
- OTABU Certification Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- Parth Group Of Institutions
- Praadis Consulting / Praadis Technologies Inc.
- QA Certification Services Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- QA Technic – (solicits consulting partners)
- QACS International Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- QAS International QAS (See note*)
- QCS Certification Group
- QFS Management Systems – (solicits consulting partners)
- QFS Management Systems LLP – (solicits consulting partners)
- QMI Cert – (solicits consulting partners)
- QMS International (now Citation ISO)
- QMS MGT Solution FZE LLC
- QRO Certification LTD, UK (holds fake accreditation)
- QRO Certification LLP (accredited by EGAC but runs the above certificate mill QRO Certification LTD at the same time)
- QSCert Slovakia
- QSI America / QSI Auditing & Certification Services
- QSRD International
- Quality Austria
- Quality Compliance Certification India LLP – (solicits consulting partners)
- Quality Masters
- Quality Registrar Systems QRS
- Quality Veritas / CDL Group
- Qualpack Certification
- Raman Overseas Consultant Systems, Lahore
- RostecCert / Rostec / RT Tech Priemka
- Royal Impact Certification Ltd. – (solicits consulting partners)
- Royal Management Group Inc
- RQMB Certification Assessment System
- RSA Management Certifications
- Russian Register
- SAARA Management System Pvt Ltd SMSPL – (solicits consulting partners)
- SAI Management Consultancy Services
- Sanbook Quality Consultancy
- SCK Certification Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- SIS Certifications – (solicits consulting partners)
- SIS Certifications Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- Skillfront
- S.R. Certifications – (solicits consulting partners)
- SRPS India
- Standard Global Quality Certifications SGQC
- Staunchly Management & System Services – (solicits consulting partners)
- SUSHIN Business Solutions Pvt Ltd – (solicits consulting partners)
- System Certification Services SCS – (solicits consulting partners)
- TechExpertz
- The Del Straight Company
- TNV Certification Pvt. Ltd. – (solicits consulting partners)
- Top Certifier
- Total Quality Management System Assessment Body
- TurCert
- UAQ Safety and Consultancy
- URGS International Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd.
- Visioncare Certification
- W3 Solutionz FZE – (solicits consulting partners)
- WCA Global
- WSR Certification – (solicits consulting partners)
- Zap Testing and Inspection
*NOTE: ISMS is a “sister organization” to the UK-based QAS International. They are the largest and most famous certificate mill in the world. Regularly, ISMS consultants prepare QMS documentation, and then the same consultant will switch hats and act as the QAS auditor, certifying their own material. QAS once certified a company found by UK law enforcement to have been a front for a heroin smuggling ring There is another “QAS International,” operating out of Australia, which is unrelated to the ISMS/QAS group, and they are not a certificate mill. They can be found here. The names are identical, but the Australian firm is a consulting firm and not a certification body.
Accreditation Mills
The following are known accreditation mills. These are either wholly fake accreditation bodies, ABs that are not signatories to the IAF, or ABs created solely to accredit a CB operated by the same owner(s). Many of these are designed to look like legitimate accreditation bodies and use logos that are deceptively similar to the real ones.
- Advanced Accreditation Bureau AAB
- Accreditation Board of America ABA
- American Board of Accreditation Services ABAS
- Accreditation Board for Conformity Assessment Bodies ABCAB / AB-CAB
- Accred Services International Board ASIB
- Accreditation Commission For Conformity Assessment Bodies ACCAB
- Accreditation Conformity Board for Certification Bodies ACBCB
- Accredi
- AIAO-BAR
- Accreditation Service for Certifying Bodies ASCB
- American Accreditation Association AAA
- Canadian International Accreditation Services – Bureau of Accredited Registrars CIAS-BAR
- Global Ackreditering Certification Board Limited GACBL
- IAFDC Digital Certification
- IAR Accreditation Services
- Interaccreditation
- International Accreditation Board IAB
- International Accreditation Registrar (IAR-ISO) – (calls itself a “registrar” but then claims to offer accreditation)
- International Accreditation Services for Certification Bodies IASCB
- International Management Accreditation Board IMAB
- Institute of Accredited Conformity & Assessment Board IACAB
- IRQAO
- JAS-AAS
- QECAS Veritas
- North American Accreditation Bureau NAAB
- National Accreditation of America NAAM
- Swiss International Accreditation Center SIAC(E)
- United Accreditation Services Bureau UASB
- United Accreditation Service UAS
- United Ackreditering Services Limited UASL
- United Board for Accreditation
- United Kingdom Akkreditation Forum / UK Akkreditering Forum Limited UKAF
- United States Accreditation Council USAC
- United States Accreditation Inc. / US Accreditation Inc.
- United States Accreditation Services USAS
IAF Member Mills
The following are official members of the IAF or one of its regional bodies, but have shown a pattern of violating ISO 17011 anyway. The IAF does nothing to rein them in. The clients of these bodies are thus suspect, as they act as if they were accreditation mills.
- Akkreditierung Austria – allows the CB Quality Austria to operate consultancies and certify own clients
- Egyptian Accreditation Council EGAC – routinely ignores formal complaints, allows its CBs to perform consulting and certify their own clients
- Emirates International Accreditation Centre EIAC – routinely ignores formal complaints, allows its CBs to perform consulting and certify their own clients
- Korea Accreditation Board KAB – performs inadequate accreditation audits, allowing many scammer CBs to obtain accreditation
- Pennsylvania Accreditation Centre PAC – new AB currently only an Associate Member of IAF APAC; registered in the US but operated out of India; allegations of corrupt practices still being investigated, but APAC has so far refused to investigate.
- United Accreditation Forum UAF – performs inadequate accreditation audits, allowing many scammer CBs to obtain accreditation, registered in the US but operated out of India; appears to never have filed any required tax returns
UPDATES & CORRECTIONS:
- 3 June 2025: Removed Certification Partner Global (CPG) from the list of mills. Apparently, an unknown person was circulating scam emails about them in 2020, but they had nothing to do with the actual certification body. CPG is fully accredited and not related to any actual mill operation. It appears they were the victim in that case, not the perpetrator.
- 29 June 2025: Updated list with additional mills. Clarified the note on the Australian body QAS International, which is unrelated to the ISMS/QAS mill operation out of the UK. The Australian company is a consulting firm, not a CB. The prior article indicated they were a fully-accredited CB.
- 31 July 2025: Added new Indian-operated AB “Pennsylvania Accreditation Centre: (PAC) to list of IAF Member Mills.
- 2 August 2025: Removed SQCS Certification Services Private Limited / SQC Certification Services Pvt. Ltd. from the list of mills. Management of SQC claims an unknown person was sending solicitations on their behalf without permission. SQC submitted proof that they have filed a cybercrime report regarding the incident. On that note, we are seeing an uptick of CBs claiming that the people soliciting consultants on their behalf are somehow rogue, unknown persons who don’t actually work for the CB. This strains credibility, and CBs are still responsible for the people making deals in their names. In the case of SQC, they do appear to have submitted a cybercrime report, so we will give them the benefit of the doubt; however, they are accredited by the fraudulent AB, UAF, so that does not help their case.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
