certified

Certified is an adjective meaning officially recognized as conforming to a defined standard, typically granted by a third-party credentialing or certification body after evaluation. The term is applied to people, processes, products, and services to signal compliance with established criteria.

Certification processes vary but commonly involve training, testing, audits, or inspections, followed by the issuance of a certificate or credential. Many certifications require renewal or continuing education to remain valid, ensuring ongoing compliance with the standard.

Common uses include professional credentials such as Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Project Management Professional (PMP); information security such as Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); software quality or process improvement such as Six Sigma Green Belt. Certification is also used for products and services, for example Certified Organic under agricultural standards, or safety or performance marks such as UL or CE marks; ISO 9001 certification for organizational quality management; the term may appear in marketing with a country- or industry-specific basis, regulated in some jurisdictions.

Regulation and accreditation: Certification bodies may be accredited by national or international accreditation entities (e.g., ANSI, UKAS) to ensure impartiality and competence. Certification is not a guarantee of ongoing ability or quality; it reflects status at the time of assessment and may require ongoing compliance and periodic reassessment. There can be variations in rigor and scope across programs, and some marks are protected or restricted by law to authorized issuers.

The concept of 'certified' thus denotes conformity and verification across diverse domains, with standards, processes, and protections that differ by field and region.