Standards Accreditation Council (SAC) for Assessment Service Providers is an independent accreditation body established to operate accreditation structure and promote quality through its management system in line with ISO 17011:2004 (conformity assessment — general requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies).
SAC was established in India to provide accreditation to deliver on four goals viz:
- Promoting Integrity
- Promoting Standardisation
- Promoting Collaborations and
- Promoting International Acceptance
Accreditation facilitates international reputation by the way of establishing equivalence and global acceptance of certification, inspection and testing being undertaken by various assessment service providers, in areas of quality, environment, safety, information security etc.
SAC aims at promoting quality by enabling organisations to apply quality standards and tools and simultaneously and encouraging their customers to demand quality products /services. The promotion of quality encompasses all segments including manufacturing, food, infrastructure, information technology, healthcare, education and public services.
In SAC , the Secretariat is responsible for administering the accreditation process, coordinating the technical committees associated with the accreditation program and the development of new accreditation program.
SAC is a legally registered entity within India and is a private independent accreditation body as per ISO 17011:2004 standard requirements (conformity assessment — general requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies). It is an independent, impartial and non-governmental body and makes no claim to be connected with any government.
As per ISO, taking accreditation is a choice of assessment service providers. Further, an accreditation body needs to have adequate infrastructure and systems as per ISO /IEC 17011:2004 to serve assessment service providers.