Most NATA Members will have seen the NATA communication on the new fee model which will come into effect for Members from 1 July 2024.
In planning for this, NATA has undertaken a comprehensive review of its fee model for accreditation services being mindful of its responsibilities as a not-for-profit member organisation to balance the expectations of Members with business responsibilities and realities.
Following feedback from Members about the complexities of the existing fee structure, NATA has created a standardised, scalable, and transparent model that is easier to understand, reduces ambiguity, and improves equity across the different types of conformity assessment bodies. We have also discontinued the distance surcharges.
The new structure is based on the scope of accreditation per site and comprises two components:
- Membership Fee
This applies to each site covering one Standard and includes a set amount of grouped services. The membership fee may vary by program and is based on the size classification of a site.
A multi-site discount of 10% applies to the membership fee for all sites that qualify for multi-site accreditation (refer to Multi-site Accreditation – NATA
- Grouped Service Fee
This is a variable component based on additional grouped services per site. Services are grouped based on related conformity assessment activities.
Accreditation services are provided to conformity assessment bodies against several standards, including ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 15189, ISO/IEC 17020, ISO 17034, ISO/IEC 17043, and ISO 20387. Fee schedules have been defined for these programs that reflect the organisation’s corporate structure as well as its scope of accreditation.
To understand your organisational structure as defined by NATA, we have the following definitions:
Facility Legal entity that is granted accreditation.
Site Permanent physical location where conformity assessment
activities are performed under one accreditation program.
Department Subdivision of a site covering Point of Care Testing (POCT), Annex, Mobile, Inspectorates, and off-site locations. Some departments will have additional fees depending on the program being accredited.
Service Accredited type of conformity assessment activity carried out by the site.
Early in 2024, we will provide each Member with more information including details of the Grouped Services for each site. In the meantime, should you have any specific questions or require more information on the new model, please email your enquiry to AnnualFee@nata.com.au.
For information on the Fee Schedule for the current financial year, please refer to the NATA portal.