04.1
A check in six steps
An order that follows the certificate from its face to the register. Each step rests on what the named body says.
Find who issued it
ISO gives three ways to identify the certification body behind a business: read its statement of certification, look at the certification mark it uses, or ask it for a copy of the certificate. ISO itself never issues one: a certificate that names ISO as its issuer does not match how ISO describes itself.
Look for the accreditation symbol
JASANZ says its Accreditation Symbol appears on certificates issued by JASANZ-accredited organisations, and that the symbol is how to tell a certificate backed by accreditation from one that is “simply self-declared”. The JASANZ Logo is different: it identifies an accredited organisation and “doesn’t appear on certificates”.
Search the certificate on the register
The JASANZ register of certifications explains that each certificate carries a unique ID or certificate number, and that this is what to search for. The searches it offers are set out in the table below.
Compare the standard and the scope
The register can search for certificates by the standards and schemes “in the scope of the certificate”, so the standard printed on the paper can be compared with the one the register holds. The guide to Standards Australia and AS ISO explains designations such as AS/NZS ISO 9001.
Check the certifier itself
The register’s list of accredited bodies can be searched “by name, standard, scheme, or country”, and each listing shows the body’s “scope of accreditation, contact details, and location.” The register also has an important notices page, which as at October 2026 records events such as reaccreditations and a withdrawal of accreditation for one scheme.
Mind the dates
JASANZ’s Accreditation Manual (issued 1 July 2026) says that when an accredited body is withdrawn or cancelled, its certificates stay on the JASANZ register for no more than “90 calendar days from date of withdrawal”. So the date of a register search matters, as well as its result.
04.2
What the register lets anyone search
The certifications page of the JASANZ register offers these searches, each with a short explanation of its own.
| Search by | What the register says it finds |
|---|---|
| Certificate number | The certificate’s unique ID or number |
| Business or trading name | The organisation’s business name, or its trading name |
| Place | Certificates in a city or suburb, or issued in a selected country |
| Accredited body | Certificates issued by a particular accredited certification body |
| Scheme or standard | Certificates with a given scheme or certification standard in their scope |
| Industry code | Certificates against an ISIC industry code, which certification bodies are not required to provide, “so you may not see all relevant certificates” |
| Keywords | Certificates with chosen words in their description |
The register’s entries come from the certifiers. JASANZ’s manual obliges each accredited body to keep details of all the certificate holders it has certified on the register, calls the register “an important tool for verification of certification by end users and stakeholders”, and treats “understating or deceptive alteration of register entries” as grounds for cancelling accreditation.
For a certificate from elsewhere, ISO describes IAF CertSearch as a database that “aggregates data from accreditation bodies and certification bodies”, where certificates “can be verified individually, in bulk, or via API”. Its other suggestion is to contact the certification body, the accreditation body or Global ACI directly.
04.3
Where a doubt goes
Each body takes a different kind of complaint. This is how they describe their own part.
| The concern | Where the bodies say it goes |
|---|---|
| A certified business’s products or services | First to the certification body that certified it; JASANZ says it cannot investigate these itself. |
| How an accredited certifier behaves | JASANZ investigates complaints about the “conduct or performance” of a conformity assessment body it has accredited or that has applied for accreditation, and says it will acknowledge a complaint within five working days. |
| A false claim of ISO certification, or misuse of ISO’s logo | To the certification body first; where that cannot be done, ISO accepts complaints by email and says it can help the parties talk, though it “cannot guarantee a resolution”. |
| A false claim of accredited certification | ISO says this, or misuse of the Global ACI logo, can be reported to the Global ACI Secretariat. |
| A product said to comply with an Australian Standard that does not | Standards Australia suggests starting with the place of purchase; false and misleading claims can go to the state or territory fair trading or consumer affairs body and the ACCC. |
JASANZ is plain about its limits: it “is not a regulator, court, ombudsman, arbitrator, or mediator”, and it cannot “Resolve commercial, contractual, or financial disputes”. Global ACI, for its part, “does not assess and accredit conformity assessment bodies” itself; that is the work of the accreditation bodies that are its Full Members.