How to Choose a BRCGS Certification Body: What Actually Matters

By Robert Low, Director, Lead Auditor & BRCGS Approved Trainer

Your certification body relationship lasts for years, sets your audit dates, and determines which auditor walks through your door, so choosing one deserves more thought than picking the first quote back. Here is what I tell sites to weigh, having worked alongside CBs from the training side and dealt with plenty from the site side.

Check Accreditation First, It Is Not Optional

A BRCGS certificate only carries weight because the certification body issuing it is accredited and approved by BRCGS to deliver the scheme. Verify the CB is listed by BRCGS for the Consumer Products standard, and verify their accreditation through the national accreditation body, UKAS in the UK, whose CertCheck tool makes it a two-minute job. Any CB that hesitates when you ask about accreditation scope has answered your question.

Auditor Category Competence

Consumer products is a broad church, and auditors are approved by product category. A CB might be excellent in textiles and thin in formulated chemical products. Ask directly: how many auditors do you have approved for my categories, in my region, in my language? The answer determines whether you get an auditor who understands your process or one learning it on your time.

Capacity, and the Issue 5 Crunch

This one is time-sensitive. Every CB auditor must complete Issue 5 conversion training before auditing against the new standard, and with audits commencing April 2027, CBs will be converting their auditor pools through late 2026 and early 2027. Ask any prospective CB how their Issue 5 auditor conversion is planned, because a CB that cannot field converted auditors in your categories come April 2027 is a CB that will be rescheduling your audit. As it happens, delivering that conversion training is exactly what I will be doing as a Principal Trainer for Issue 5, so I can tell you with confidence: the CBs booking training early are the ones to be certificated with. The ATP article explains how that rollout works.

Service, Not Just Price

Compare quotes properly, day rates, travel policy, scheme fees passed through, as covered in my certification cost breakdown. But weigh service equally: responsiveness on technical queries, turnaround time on reports and certificates, continuity of auditor year to year, and how they handle the practicalities of unannounced and blended audit options. A cheap CB that takes eight weeks to issue your certificate costs you more than the difference the first time a customer asks for it.

If you want an independent view on shortlisting, it is the kind of question my remote consultancy answers all the time. Buttons below.