Today, Friday June 09, Standards Institution, Accreditation Bodies and companies that offer accredited services globally join in celebrating World Accreditation Day 2017 under the theme “Delivering confidence in the construction and the built environment”.
The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) as the National Accreditation Focal Point (NAFP) is excited to be a part of this global initiative which was jointly established by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), to raise awareness on accreditation.
According to IAF/ILAC, this year’s theme focuses on delivering confidence in the construction and built environment and highlights how accreditation can support professionals in the construction industry. These professionals range from contractors, manufacturers, designers, architects, civil engineers, to regulators.
Accreditation is an impartial and objective process that provides the least duplicative, the most transparent and the most widely accepted route for the provision of credible and trust worthy conformity assessment results.
To understand the impact of accreditation, the issues it can resolve must be stated. These issues include the prevalence of unsafe buildings and construction sites, poor quality building materials that do not meet specifications, and the adverse effects construction projects have on the environment.
Globally, accreditation can address many of these issues relating to the building and construction sector at the levels of key players. For construction companies, accreditation provides confidence that manufactured products and raw materials are safe and meet specification, thereby reducing potential delays, product failure, and project costs. It also provides a safe working environment for employees.
Manufacturers of construction products also benefit from accreditation. It provides reliable measurements; tests and inspections are carried out in compliance with best practices to limit product failure. Accreditation can also provide a competitive advantage through international recognition and supports easy approval by Regulators.
n a broader level, accreditation provides assurance to Governments that rely on commercial providers of products and services, builds a competitive economy, enables innovation and the dissemination of good practice, and builds public trust.
As the world’s population continues to grow and urbanization expands accredited bodies and institution will continue to work towards meeting the needs of the construction sector by facilitating cleaner and safer construction of energy efficient buildings and the provision of quality building materials.
The GNBS takes this opportunity to recognise the two accredited laboratories in Guyana: The Eureka Medical Laboratory and Guyana Rice Development Board Central Laboratory. The NAFP of the GNBS will continue to provide accreditation services and technical assistance to companies desirous of becoming accredited to offer internationally recognised products and services to the market.
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