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 Updated May 2026 Published March 2026
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 91 119 135 254 98 74
Allergen Testing 0 0 0 0 1 4
Asphalt / Bituminous 72 86 33 33 23 21
Automotive 0 0 2 9 0 0
Automotive Materials Testing 2 2 26 49 0 0
Biocompatibility (ISO 10993) 27 38 2,221 534 40 41
Biological / Microbiological 14 5 798 247 8 3
CE Marking Compliance 97 32 399 79 34 7
Calibration 31 24 122 86 0 0
Chemical 82 46 252 321 68 140
Chromatography (GC, HPLC) 83 57 3,280 769 108 215
Climate / Temperature Cycling 244 87 362 321 102 69
Clinical Chemistry 75 19 2,439 300 1 1
Clinical Microbiology 2 2 561 234 3 39
Color Fastness 44 17 160 98 41 19
Component / Parts Testing 18 12 79 87 11 9
Concrete / Cement 72 113 151 134 72 48
Construction Materials 100 116 245 122 68 40
Construction Products 36 21 68 49 12 10
Contaminants / Heavy Metals 22 52 24 36 29 83
Corrosion / Salt Spray 131 114 218 290 67 73
Dimensional / Geometric 141 154 2,192 425 54 43
Drinking Water Analysis 51 28 75 384 22 92
Durability / Endurance 0 0 2 3 0 0
EMC / EMI Testing 448 56 1,005 279 105 70
Electrical 462 245 3,337 674 40 67
Electrical Safety 82 40 446 154 24 53
Electromagnetic 47 26 75 28 4 4
Elemental Analysis 289 235 2,024 1,094 285 494
Emissions Testing 2 3 10 21 2 3
Environmental 65 40 47 108 25 93
Environmental / Surface Water 54 45 93 380 67 314
Fatigue / Creep 44 40 172 115 39 23
Fiber Analysis 49 10 61 41 25 12
Fire / Flammability 101 50 30 17 25 7
Food & Agriculture 1 1 6 14 6 5
Food Microbiology 202 77 30 63 40 134
Food Safety Testing 65 76 5,803 961 96 317
Force / Torque 65 98 508 264 20 17
Fuel Testing 235 40 103 121 37 25
Gas Analysis 51 19 46 43 5 20
Geotechnical Testing 100 108 94 160 26 33
Hardness (Vickers, Rockwell, Brinell) 64 112 520 401 89 98
Hematology 19 7 818 292 2 1
High Voltage Testing 45 16 104 41 11 7
Histopathology / Cytology 4 6 84 76 0 0
Immunology / Serology 19 5 4,727 375 7 46
Impact / Charpy / Izod 86 97 233 255 62 180
Installation / Wiring Testing 14 12 83 41 3 4
Legionella / Microbiological 47 35 13 41 4 194
Lubricants / Oils 68 36 79 83 32 30
Magnetic Particle (MT) 28 34 35 114 1 2
Mechanical 87 107 213 235 44 64
Medical / Clinical Laboratory 11 6 31 19 2 2
Molecular Diagnostics / PCR 13 24 8,310 478 4 5
Noise / Acoustics 74 64 463 243 65 125
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) 35 77 81 124 17 27
Nutritional Analysis 77 27 20 25 104 59
Penetrant Testing (PT) 26 41 50 133 8 5
Pesticide Residues 0 0 3 6 0 0
Petroleum & Petrochemical 1 1 9 10 0 0
Pharmaceutical 9 4 10 8 19 10
Physical Properties 300 58 509 154 158 51
Product Safety (IEC 60335, IEC 62368) 346 79 1,296 327 148 39
REACH Substance Testing 31 25 85 131 26 39
Radio Frequency 258 40 370 108 11 5
Radiographic Testing (RT) 22 18 84 148 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 84 31
Resistance to Fire 138 37 204 86 54 21
RoHS Compliance Testing 7 4 11 20 3 2
Spectroscopy (XRF, ICP, AAS) 126 89 3,075 1,021 166 307
Stability Testing 1 1 1 1 0 0
Sterility Testing 61 27 2,132 335 17 23
Technical Cleanliness 48 132 37 63 20 93
Temperature / Pressure 591 369 1,594 847 71 61
Tensile / Compression / Flexural 705 405 1,825 583 515 242
Textile / Consumer Goods 30 15 14 15 15 10
Torsion / Shear 35 41 191 165 39 55
Transport / Rail Testing 10 11 80 55 9 14
UV / Weathering 26 16 71 89 19 70
Ultrasonic Testing (UT) 50 40 134 166 13 17
Vibration / Shock 195 62 201 250 29 41
Wastewater / Effluent Testing 16 6 54 289 40 110
Water & Wastewater 0 0 5 4 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 May 2026. The ILAC MRA status of UKAS is verified against the ILAC signatory directory.

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