What’s the difference between inspection, testing, and certification?

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What are the differences between inspection, testing, and certification? 1) The standard followed by testing agencies is ISO 17020. These agencies may provide the results of tests, but more importantly, they need to deliver a test conclusion. For example, the assessment of a building is a typical form of testing, and the goal is to determine whether the building is dangerous or still safe for use. In this testing process, test data may be used as support for arriving at such a conclusion. 2) In accordance with ISO 17025 guidelines, testing laboratories generally provide only the test results, without issuing any inspection conclusions regarding the samples. The assessment of conformity based on the requirements specified in the product standards does not fall under the category of inspection conclusions; it is rather an assessment of whether the test results meet those requirements. 3) Certification bodies such as Fangyuan Certification have the capability to issue ISO9000 certifications; they conducted the ISO9000 certification for Huawei. In this case, Fangyuan Certification is able to certify a company because its certification capabilities have been recognized by the CNAS accreditation body. For such a body to be able to provide certification services, it must itself possess the necessary certification capabilities, and this is an act of accreditation ； When Fangyuan Certification carries out certification for a certain company, it is performing a certification process by utilizing its own certification capabilities. In corporate activities, there are various types of certification processes, such as those for ISO9000, ISO14000, and ISO45001. CNAS and CMA relate to certifications issued by testing laboratories, while inspection agencies are also subject to accreditation processes. The core of recognition is the acknowledgment of abilities. Certification is an acknowledgment of conformity.