What Changed With the First UKAS Accredited Certificate in January 2026
In January 2026, the British Standards Institution became the first UKAS-accredited certification body for ISO 42001. This was a significant milestone. It meant that organisations could for the first time hire an accredited, independent auditor to verify that their AI management system meets the ISO 42001 standard. This lesson explains what this milestone means and why it matters.
Before January 2026, organisations could still implement ISO 42001. Some did. But certification was not accredited. When a certification body issued an ISO 42001 certificate before January 2026, that certificate was not backed by UKAS accreditation. This created uncertainty. Customers, investors and regulators might ask: Is this certificate from an auditor who has been independently verified to have the competence to audit AI management systems? The answer was no. The certification body might have had competent auditors, but there was no independent assurance of that.
UKAS accreditation changes this. UKAS is the United Kingdom’s national accreditation body. UKAS accredits certification bodies in many areas: quality management (ISO 9001), information security (ISO 27001), environmental management (ISO 14001) and many others. UKAS accreditation means the certification body has gone through a rigorous process. UKAS has checked that the certification body has auditors with the right knowledge and skills (as defined in ISO/IEC 42006), that the certification body has policies and procedures for conducting audits fairly and consistently, and that the certification body’s audits actually work. UKAS also does periodic surveillance of accredited certification bodies to make sure standards are maintained.
For organisations implementing ISO 42001, the implications are positive. If you want to seek certification now, you can hire the British Standards Institution (or other certification bodies that become accredited in the future) and have confidence that your audit will be conducted to an international standard. Your certificate will carry the weight of UKAS accreditation. If you are a customer or investor considering whether to trust an organisation’s ISO 42001 certificate, accreditation gives you assurance.
However, the availability of accredited certification does not make ISO 42001 certification mandatory. The standard is voluntary. Organisations are free to implement ISO 42001 without seeking external certification. Some organisations find that internal verification of their management system (internal audits as required by Clause 9) is sufficient for their purposes. Some organisations plan to seek external certification later, after their systems are more mature.
The availability of accredited certification also does not change the substance of what organisations must do. The requirements of ISO 42001 are the same whether you seek certification or not. The standard still requires risk assessment, still requires controls, still requires monitoring and still requires improvement. What accreditation does is provide independent verification that you are actually doing what the standard requires.
As of early 2026, the British Standards Institution is the first and currently the only UKAS-accredited certification body for ISO 42001. Other bodies may become accredited in the future. When choosing a certification body, you should check whether they are UKAS-accredited. You can check the UKAS register on the UKAS website. Accreditation is not a guarantee of quality (a non-accredited auditor might be very good), but it is a useful signal.
Looking forward, accredited certification will likely become more common as more organisations recognise the value of verified compliance and as more certification bodies invest in training their auditors to ISO 42006 competence standards. The first UKAS accreditation in January 2026 is not the end of the story; it is the beginning. By the end of 2026, it is likely that multiple certification bodies will be UKAS-accredited for ISO 42001. This competition among certification bodies should drive up quality and drive down costs, making certification more accessible to organisations of different sizes.