Leading the way in assessment, verification and certification

Introduction

NQA is a leading assessment, verification and certification body and works in partnership with a wide range of businesses, government departments and charitable organisations to help improve performance in quality, environment and health and safety management.

NQA is a trading name of NICEIC Group Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Electrical Safety Council. It was established in 1988 and now has more than 40 full-time assessors and over 100 associates based around the UK and the rest of the world.

NQA holds accreditation from UKAS and ANAB (the respective national accreditation bodies of the UK and USA) and has one of the widest scopes of accreditation, including quality, environmental and information security management systems. In addition, there are a number of sector specific schemes covering suppliers to the automotive and aerospace industries.

NQA prides itself on working in partnership with each customer to ensure that their management systems are implemented in line with the requirements of the appropriate standard whilst reflecting the needs of the industry. Our assessors have considerable experience of working in their relevant industries and are assessed against competency criteria laid out within international standards.

NQA has issued around 22,000 certificates of registration in 56 countries.

Assessment Process

NQA's philosophy is to build a practical and professional working relationship with clients, which includes close customer care that maximises the benefits of management system certification. A carefully developed assessment process assists and guides clients through to registration. The process begins, if required, with an advisory visit to establish the client’s certification needs and provide advice on costs and timescales. It is helpful if clients complete a questionnaire at this stage giving details of their company.

On receipt of an application, a NQA auditor with the required skills and experience is appointed to carry out an initial on-site review of the applicant's quality manual. The visit also provides the client with the opportunity to meet the auditor and resolve any potential problem areas prior to the assessment itself. The auditor will either go on to carry out an assessment or form part of a team of auditors that carries out the assessment. On completion of the assessment and registration process the company details will be entered in the QA Register.

Contact Details

Address:
Head Office
Warwick House
Houghton Hall Park
Houghton Regis
Dunstable
Bedfordshire
LU5 5ZX
UK

Contact: Mr S Russell
Tel: +44(0) 1582 539 000
Fax: +44(0) 1582 539 090
E-mail: enquiries@nqa.com
Website: www.nqa.com
Hotline: 08000 522424

Scotland Office:
Lochside House
3 Lochside Way
Edinburgh Park
Edinburgh
Midlothian
EH12 9DT

Tel: +44 (0)131 452 2054
Fax: +44 (0)131 452 2544

Northern Ireland Office:
Office 2
Ballymena Business Development Centre
Galgorm Industrial Estate
62 Fenaghy Road
Galgorm
Ballymena
BT42 1FL

Tel: +44 (0)28 2564 4699
Fax: +44 (0)28 2564 4977

Central Office:
PO Box 2971
Stafford
Staffordshire
ST16 9HB

Tel: +44 (0)1785 228288
Fax: +44 (0)1785 228288

Accredited scope of NQA: