IAS Accreditation Services for Cleaning/Sanitation Organizations
Introduction
IAS, the International Accreditation Service, is providing accreditation services tocleaning/sanitation organizations, including governmental entities and commercial businesses.
IAS is a non-profit, public-benefit corporation, based at Brea, California, that has been providing
accreditation services since 1975. IAS accreditation programs are based on recognized national andinternational standards that ensure domestic and/or global acceptance of its accreditations.
Cleaning/sanitation plays a critical role in everyday activities and has significant impact onprocesses, products, environment and human health. With outbreaks such as SARs, Ebola andCoronavirus outbreaks in the recent past, efficient cleaning, sanitation and hygiene has become
the necessity and immediate need. We see these outbreaks happening in a recurring basis.
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been emphasizing on cleaning and disinfecting
protocols. Several guidelines and recommendations have been laid out by CDC and various healthorganizations across the globe.
As a preventive measure, we need to step up our hygiene and cleaning standards so that we canmitigate the situations and reduce the risk of impact on the well-being, social, and economic
aspects of the world. Considering the public health and safety as a priority, IAS accredits thecleaning/sanitation organizations to ensure the standards and protocols are met besides ensuring
the competency of the organization.
Accreditation
Accreditation is the formal process by which an impartial organization (accrediting body like IAS)
reviews a provider’s policies and procedures to ensure the entity is conducting its operations in amanner consistent with national or international standards, regulations and other relevantrequirements. Accreditation applies to agencies, not individual practitioners.

Most common accreditation programs applicable to these organizations are:
A. Testing laboratory accreditation:
IAS accredits cleaning/sanitation testing laboratories to ISO/IEC Standard 17025 and appropriate
industry specific sanitation and cleaning standards (e.g. ‘ISSA Clean Standard’). The laboratories
are tasked with – examining physical evidence, performing various tests, interpreting data fromthese tests, reporting the data. Their labs analyze the various samples received from the customers.
In addition, they utilize various scientific instruments and equipment for carrying out a variety oftests on physical evidence.
This accreditation demonstrates to the marketplace and to regulators that the laboratories have
met the IAS accreditation requirements and are periodically monitored for compliance. In the end,
service providers will have a standardized, efficient system devoted to quality of testing
performance with increased accountability.
B. Inspection activities accreditation:
IAS accredits cleaning/sanitation related inspection activities to ISO/IEC Standard 17020 andappropriate industry specific sanitation and cleaning standards/protocols, which can vary withjurisdiction requirements. This accreditation process involves an assessment of the agencies’
competence for performing inspections and the consistency of their inspection activities related tocleaning, disinfecting and sanitation in facilities like commercial spaces, schools, medical/hospital
facilities, warehouses, industrial facilities, and residential areas.
Cleaning inspection agencies may have several divisions/branches responsible for analyzing
different kinds of evidence. Some of the categories under cleaning inspections are:
1. Residential Cleaning Service
2. Medical cleaning - cleaning health care facilities
3. Biohazard Cleaning Facilities
4. Mold Inspection & Remediation Services
5. Commercial and Residential Carpet Cleaning
6. Tile & Grout Cleaning and Sealing
7. Commercial Kitchen Cleaning
8. Professional Corporate Cleaning and Janitorial Services
9. Pre and Post Construction Clean Up
10. Water or Flood Damage Removal

Cleaning/sanitation related testing laboratories and/or inspection agencies, accredited by IAS,
benefit from IAS’s recognition as a signatory to the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with
the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) and the International Laboratory Accreditation
Cooperation (ILAC). Those MRAs support international recognition by promoting confidence andacceptance of accredited testing, and inspection reports and certificates.
Get the latest information about IAS accreditation programs, practices, standards, training courses
and more, by visiting IAS web site at www.iasonline.org. For more information, please reach out toPrasanth Ramakrishnan at PRamakrishnan@iasonline.org