Is a company’s ISO certificate real? Four-step verification.
You can tell whether a company’s ISO certificate is real in four steps: you check whether the issuing body is accredited, you search for the certificate in the international database of accredited certificates, you scan the verification QR code on the certificate, and you check that the certificate’s scope and site match the product you will buy; all four are done without a phone call, using public records.
ISO’s own help page points to the same path: the way to verify an accredited certificate is either to search the database or to ask the issuing body or its accreditation body. The steps below are the order for doing this at the buyer’s desk, without picking up the phone.
How can you tell an ISO certificate is real?
By looking not at the certificate itself but at who issued it and under whose oversight. ISO writes the standard but does not issue certificates; a certification body issues the certificate, and an accreditation body oversees that body. A real certificate leaves a trace in every link of this chain: the body appears in the accreditation body’s list, the certificate in the database of accredited certificates, and the QR code on the accreditation body’s verification screen. Each of the four steps looks for one of these traces.
- Is the issuing body accredited?
- Is the certificate registered in the international database?
- What does the certificate’s QR code say?
- Do the scope and site match the product you will buy?
The four steps to verify a certificate
- 01Is the issuing body accredited?
- 02Is the certificate registered in the international database?
- 03What does the certificate’s QR code say?
- 04Do the scope and site match the product you will buy?
Step 1: Is the issuing body accredited?
Take the body’s name on the certificate and, if there is one, its accreditation number, and search for it in the accreditation body’s list. In Turkey, this list is the accredited body search in the ASİST system of the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK); if a foreign accreditation body is named, it is that body’s own list. Some manufacturers make this step easier: on November 10, 2026, the certificate page of Fersan Tekstil wrote the accreditation body and accreditation number next to the bodies that issued its certificates.
Step 2: Is the certificate registered in CertSearch?
An accredited management system certificate should be registered in CertSearch. CertSearch is the official international database of accredited certificates: it shows together the certificate’s validity, the certification body’s accreditation and that the accreditation body is a signatory of the mutual recognition arrangement. As of November 2026, the register holds about 3.79 million certificates. IAF, which set up the database, ceased operations on January 1, 2026; Global ACI, which replaced it, took over ownership of the database on October 26, 2026. The address and name (IAF CertSearch) had not changed as of November 10, 2026.
The record is the result of a rule: under IAF MD 28, accredited certification bodies upload each certificate’s legal name, sites, number, standard, scope, issue and expiry date and status — active, suspended or withdrawn. Records are updated at least once a month, and errors are corrected within two weeks; there is also a limited confidentiality exception. So if you cannot find a newly issued certificate, ask the body first; if the record you find says “suspended” or “withdrawn”, the certificate is not valid that day.
Do not let the name mislead you: the database still runs under the name “IAF CertSearch” at iafcertsearch.org, but IAF ceased operations on January 1, 2026, and the database was transferred in October 2026 to Global ACI, which replaced it. As of November 2026, about 3.79 million certificates are registered; searching for a single certificate is free of charge. The details are in the Global ACI entry.
Step 3: What does the TÜRKAK QR code say?
In Turkey, a management system certificate issued by an accredited body carries a TÜRKAK verification QR code of at least 20×20 mm; when you scan it, TÜRKAK’s certificate verification screen opens the certificate’s record. The absence of a QR code alone does not mean the certificate is fake — it may have been issued under another country’s accreditation — but if there is a QR code and the verification screen does not recognize the certificate, you need to ask the body before accepting that certificate as a buyer.
Step 4: Do the scope and site match?
A real certificate that does not cover the product you will buy is the wrong certificate for you. Read the scope line in the database or on the certificate: which activity, which product group, which site. In a multi-site company, the certificate may cover only one site; in textiles, a scope certificate says the site can produce certified goods, but only a transaction certificate says your shipment is certified. Karcem’s website has a separate verification page for the latter.
What a scope is and how it is written on a website is in the certificate scope entry; what a body’s accreditation means is in the accreditation entry.
How are product certificates verified?
Each product and program certificate is verified in its own database; most can be searched by company name or certificate number, a few require an account. The table below collects the main certificates this cluster covers and where they are verified.
| Certificate type | Where to verify | Searched by |
|---|---|---|
| Management system certificate (ISO 9001, 14001, 45001…) | CertSearch · TÜRKAK certificate verification | Certificate number or the company’s legal name; in Turkey, the QR code on the certificate |
| CE (if a notified body is involved) | NANDO | The notified body’s identification number next to CE |
| OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 | OEKO-TEX Label Check | Label or certificate number (case-sensitive) |
| GOTS | GOTS database of certified suppliers | Company record and the certified entity’s certificate number |
| GRS, RCS, OCS | Textile Exchange “Find a Certified Company” · “Authenticate a Transaction” | Company name · transaction certificate number |
| FSC · PEFC | FSC certificate search · PEFC “Find certified” | License code (FSC C######) or company name |
| GLOBALG.A.P. | ggn.org | 13-digit GGN |
| EU organic | TRACES organic operator certificates | Company name or certificate reference |
| FSSC 22000 | FSSC public register | Company name |
| BRCGS | BRCGS Directory (free account required) | Site code or company name |
| IFS | Verification page opened by the QR code on the certificate | QR code (the database requires a login) |
| IATF 16949 | IATF Customer Portal | IATF number or USI |
| Energy label | EPREL | QR code on the label or model identifier |
| LWG | LWG directory | Site record (filtered by country, rating and site type); the record shows the URN and audit expiry |
| Halal (HAK accredited) | HAK list of accredited bodies | Certification body (filtered by status, location and scope) |
| WRAP | WRAP map of certified facilities | Facility name or WRAP ID |
What does a certificate without accreditation mean?
A certificate without accreditation means the certification body is not overseen by an independent accreditation body; it does not mean the certificate is fake. But such a certificate does not appear in the database of accredited certificates and stays outside the mutual recognition arrangements, so the only basis for trusting it is the body itself. As a buyer you assess this under your own procurement rules; we do not pass judgment here. It also helps to remember that ISO itself does not issue certificates: a certificate implying that ISO issued it raises a question to ask before accreditation.
An honest website does not hide this distinction. On November 10, 2026, Fersan’s certificate page stated openly that one of its certificates did not carry a printed accreditation mark and that it had left that field empty on the site too. A line that answers the buyer’s question before it is asked.
How can I make verification easier as a manufacturer?
By writing the number, issuing body, accreditation and verification link into each certificate’s record. Fersan’s certificate page had turned this into an FAQ item: it answered the question of how a buyer can verify the certificates without asking the company by stating which certificate is searched on which portal and with which number. All the fields of the certificate record are covered in the certified manufacturer website guide, and the rules for marks in the ISO, accreditation and CE marks guide.
How to test it: pick a certificate on your own site and walk the four steps above using only what is written on the site. If at any step you have to leave your site and go back to email or the phone, the missing information is at that step.
The information here is not legal advice; confirm the current verification paths with your certification body and on the official website of the program concerned.
Let’s build your site’s certificate page together so that your buyers can verify your certificates.
For a site that shows your certificates as a record buyers can verify, B2B website builds and measures the certificate page, the product scope and the path to a quote together.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is a certificate I cannot find in CertSearch fake?
Not always. If the certificate is not accredited, it does not appear in the database at all; if it was newly issued, it may not appear yet because records are updated monthly; there is also a limited confidentiality exception. If you cannot find it, ask the body that issued it.
Is a certificate without a QR code invalid?
No. The TÜRKAK QR code appears on certificates from management system bodies accredited by TÜRKAK in Turkey; a certificate from a body overseen by another country’s accreditation body may not have it. In that case you verify in CertSearch or in the body’s own system.
Does a valid certificate mean it covers my product?
No. Read the certificate’s scope line: it states which activity, which product group and which site it covers. In textiles, only the transaction certificate issued for that shipment shows that a shipment is certified.