Some importers may be confused about the difference between a conformity assessment body, a laboratory, and an inspection body, even though each has a different role depending on the product’s situation and applicable pathway. Understanding this difference helps clarify what type of body a product may need to deal with, and why more than one body may be involved in certain cases.
What Is a Conformity Assessment Body?
A conformity assessment body (CAB) is a SASO-accepted conformity assessment body — accepted by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) — to assess a product’s conformity with the relevant technical requirements, and it may issue the conformity certificate associated with the pathway, such as a PCoC, when this falls within the scope of its acceptance and competence for the product.
What Is a Laboratory?
A laboratory is the body that conducts technical tests on the product according to a specific standard and issues the test report documenting the results of those tests. The laboratory’s report may be one of the documents the conformity assessment body relies on when reviewing the application, but the laboratory does not issue the conformity certificate itself.
What Is an Inspection Body?
An inspection body reviews or verifies certain aspects related to the product, the shipment, or the production site, depending on what the applicable pathway or technical regulation requires, and its role may complement the work of the laboratory or the conformity assessment body in certain cases.
Why Might Your Product Deal With More Than One Body?
A product’s situation may require dealing with one body or more, depending on the applicable regulation and pathway. There may be a need for a conformity assessment, a technical test, a specific inspection, or more than one of these elements together, depending on the case. For this reason, the number or type of bodies required cannot be generalized across all products.
What Is SaberVerify’s Role?
We review the product’s situation and requirements, and help identify the relevant bodies based on the expected pathway, then coordinate between them when needed to ensure consistency in the documents and reports submitted. SaberVerify is an independent platform — it is not a conformity assessment body, not a laboratory, not an inspection body, and not a government or accreditation body; our role is review and coordination, not issuing certificates or reports or carrying out inspections ourselves.
To find out which bodies your product’s pathway may require, you can fill out the product requirements check form, or contact us directly.
