Certification of the management of organisations (according to the ISO 9000 standards) has arisen independently of accreditation of laboratories (according to ISO Guide 25, and ISO/IEC 17025).

However, the two approaches to quality management have converged over the years. In particular, ISO/IEC 17025 contains management requirements very similar to those of ISO 9000.

Accreditation dealt originally with technical matters, but ISO 9000 also has provisions (e.g. relating to equipment) with technical implications.