UKAS is a company limited by guarantee, having Members instead of shareholders. The Members represent those who have an interest in all aspects of accreditation - national and local government, business and industry, purchasers, users and quality managers.
Although the company aims to be - and is - profitmaking, all profits are ploughed back into the business. Previous profits are the main sources of funding for new areas of accreditation.
Like all companies, UKAS has a board - a mixture of executive and non-executive directors:
The board is supported in the day-to- day running of these activities by an Executive drawn from senior UKAS staff.
The company takes advice on policy matters from a Policy Advisory Forum and on technical matters from a series of Technical Committees. The PAF meets once a year, and the TCs meet as and when necessary.
UKAS has signed a number of international agreements, which help to lower barriers to trade by ensuring international acceptance of certificates issued under the umbrella of UKAS accreditation. In particular, UKAS is a signatory to the EA (European co-operation for Accreditation), mutual recognition agreements. Maintenance of mutual recognition status is subject to regular peer evaluation, to accepted international standards.