Industry Report

Post-Brexit UKAS: Still Globally Relevant or Quietly Marginalised?

UKAS holds an ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, which means test results from UK labs are accepted in the EU and 100+ other economies. But how does UKAS coverage actually compare with the two largest EU accreditation bodies? We ran the numbers.

ScopeMatch Research 2026-03-30
2,455
UKAS-accredited labs
83
Categories shared with EU
0
UKAS-unique categories

The ILAC MRA - and why it matters

UKAS is a signatory to the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), a network covering 100+ national accreditation bodies worldwide. Under this arrangement, test results issued by a UKAS-accredited laboratory are accepted as equivalent by every other ILAC MRA signatory, including every EU member state's national accreditation body.

This is poorly understood by buyers. Many procurement teams assume that Brexit severed the mutual recognition of UK test certificates. It did not. The ILAC MRA is an international agreement between accreditation bodies, not a political treaty between governments. UKAS membership was never contingent on EU membership.

In practice, a calibration certificate or test report from a UKAS-accredited lab carries the same weight as one from DAkkS or COFRAC for any purpose that requires "accredited testing": CE marking, ISO 9001 supplier qualification, regulatory compliance submissions.

Category-by-category comparison

How UKAS stacks up against DAkkS (Germany) and COFRAC (France) in every testing category. Capabilities = distinct accredited test methods. Labs = organisations holding at least one capability in that category.

Category UKAS Caps UKAS Labs DAkkS Caps DAkkS Labs COFRAC Caps COFRAC Labs
Aggregates / Soils 91 119 129 253 97 70
Allergen Testing 0 0 0 0 1 4
Asphalt / Bituminous 72 86 33 33 23 21
Automotive 0 0 1 7 0 0
Automotive Materials Testing 1 1 26 49 0 0
Biocompatibility (ISO 10993) 27 38 2,219 531 40 41
Biological / Microbiological 14 5 798 242 8 3
CE Marking Compliance 97 32 399 79 34 7
Calibration 30 23 110 74 0 0
Chemical 82 46 250 320 66 137
Chromatography (GC, HPLC) 83 57 3,279 766 105 214
Climate / Temperature Cycling 239 85 356 319 102 69
Clinical Chemistry 75 19 2,316 286 1 1
Clinical Microbiology 2 2 541 229 3 39
Color Fastness 44 17 147 92 41 19
Component / Parts Testing 18 12 79 87 11 9
Concrete / Cement 72 113 146 128 67 38
Construction Materials 99 116 219 122 66 39
Construction Products 35 21 64 45 12 10
Contaminants / Heavy Metals 22 52 24 36 29 83
Corrosion / Salt Spray 131 114 211 290 66 73
Dimensional / Geometric 133 151 2,171 420 54 43
Drinking Water Analysis 51 28 73 383 22 92
Durability / Endurance 0 0 2 3 0 0
EMC / EMI Testing 446 56 981 279 105 70
Electrical 458 243 3,325 672 40 67
Electrical Safety 82 40 438 146 23 52
Electromagnetic 47 26 70 24 4 4
Elemental Analysis 287 234 2,023 1,091 280 494
Emissions Testing 2 3 9 12 2 3
Environmental 64 37 41 95 23 80
Environmental / Surface Water 51 45 91 379 59 305
Fatigue / Creep 44 40 172 115 39 23
Fiber Analysis 49 10 61 41 25 12
Fire / Flammability 100 49 27 15 25 7
Food & Agriculture 1 1 6 14 6 5
Food Microbiology 202 77 29 62 40 134
Food Safety Testing 65 76 5,803 956 95 317
Force / Torque 64 91 505 261 20 17
Fuel Testing 231 37 101 120 37 25
Gas Analysis 51 19 32 40 5 20
Geotechnical Testing 100 108 94 160 26 33
Hardness (Vickers, Rockwell, Brinell) 64 112 519 400 87 98
Hematology 19 7 783 289 2 1
High Voltage Testing 38 10 104 40 11 7
Histopathology / Cytology 4 6 83 76 0 0
Immunology / Serology 19 5 4,656 369 7 46
Impact / Charpy / Izod 86 97 229 254 61 180
Installation / Wiring Testing 14 12 67 40 3 4
Legionella / Microbiological 47 35 13 40 4 194
Lubricants / Oils 68 36 79 83 32 30
Magnetic Particle (MT) 28 34 34 113 1 2
Mechanical 80 107 207 231 41 63
Medical / Clinical Laboratory 11 6 28 17 2 2
Molecular Diagnostics / PCR 13 24 8,007 460 4 5
Noise / Acoustics 70 63 462 241 64 125
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) 33 77 70 121 15 26
Nutritional Analysis 77 27 20 25 103 59
Penetrant Testing (PT) 26 41 47 133 8 5
Pesticide Residues 0 0 3 6 0 0
Petroleum & Petrochemical 1 1 7 8 0 0
Pharmaceutical 9 4 10 8 18 9
Physical Properties 299 58 505 154 158 51
Product Safety (IEC 60335, IEC 62368) 343 78 1,236 317 148 39
REACH Substance Testing 31 25 85 131 26 39
Radio Frequency 254 40 337 105 11 5
Radiographic Testing (RT) 22 18 78 149 3 17
Rail Braking Systems 2 2 42 153 1 1
Rail Dynamic Behaviour / Running Tests 9 7 81 198 10 11
Rail Noise / Ground-borne Vibration 4 3 26 26 3 2
Raw Material Testing 7 4 4 5 0 0
Reaction to Fire 205 52 256 183 82 30
Resistance to Fire 138 37 203 84 54 21
RoHS Compliance Testing 7 4 11 20 3 2
Spectroscopy (XRF, ICP, AAS) 125 89 3,064 1,018 165 306
Stability Testing 1 1 1 1 0 0
Sterility Testing 61 27 2,131 333 17 23
Technical Cleanliness 48 132 37 58 20 93
Temperature / Pressure 588 368 1,573 838 71 61
Tensile / Compression / Flexural 704 405 1,795 583 506 242
Textile / Consumer Goods 30 15 14 15 15 10
Torsion / Shear 35 41 185 162 39 55
Transport / Rail Testing 10 11 80 55 7 12
UV / Weathering 26 16 71 88 15 21
Ultrasonic Testing (UT) 50 40 126 165 13 17
Vibration / Shock 195 62 200 249 28 40
Wastewater / Effluent Testing 16 6 52 289 38 110
Water & Wastewater 0 0 4 3 0 0

Coverage overlap

83
Shared with EU

Categories where UKAS labs and at least one EU body (DAkkS or COFRAC) both hold accredited capabilities. Buyers can source from either side.

0
UKAS-unique categories

Categories where UKAS holds accredited capabilities but neither DAkkS nor COFRAC does. For these, UK labs may be the only accredited option in the ScopeMatch database.

5
EU-only categories

Categories covered by DAkkS or COFRAC but not UKAS. UK manufacturers needing these tests must send samples to an EU lab.

Categories only in DAkkS / COFRAC

Allergen Testing Automotive Durability / Endurance Pesticide Residues Water & Wastewater

What this means for UK manufacturers selling into the EU

If you are a UK-based manufacturer exporting to the EU, you do not need to re-test products at an EU-accredited lab in most cases. The ILAC MRA means your UKAS-accredited test results are accepted by EU notified bodies, EU customs authorities, and EU-based customers who require accredited testing as part of supplier qualification. This applies to CE marking, REACH compliance testing, mechanical testing for construction products, and most other regulated areas.

The practical exception is where EU regulations explicitly require testing by a body established within the EU; some product safety directives and notified body designations fall into this category. For the vast majority of accredited testing, though, a UKAS lab report is fully equivalent to a DAkkS or COFRAC report.

The data above shows that UKAS coverage overlaps substantially with DAkkS and COFRAC. For 83 categories, buyers have the option to source testing from either side of the Channel. Where UKAS holds unique categories, UK labs may offer capabilities that are harder to find on the continent - worth knowing if you are sourcing specialised testing.

Methodology

This analysis compares accredited testing capabilities across three national accreditation bodies: UKAS (United Kingdom), DAkkS (Germany), and COFRAC (France). "EU" in this report means the combined category set of DAkkS and COFRAC: the two largest EU accreditation bodies by laboratory count.

A "category" is a top-level testing domain (e.g. Mechanical Testing, Chemical Analysis) in the ScopeMatch taxonomy. "Capabilities" are the distinct canonical test methods within each category. A laboratory is counted once per category regardless of how many capabilities it holds.

All figures reflect the ScopeMatch database as of April 2026. The ILAC MRA status of UKAS is verified against the ILAC signatory directory.

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