Your integrator certification questions answered.

The UK A3 / BARA Robot Integrators’ Certification Scheme is available to all companies (not sole traders) registered in England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland involved in industrial robot integration. Interested companies are required to complete a free self-assessment to check whether they meet the necessary criteria before  applying to be assessed by a certified A3 auditor.

All companies can complete a free self-assessment to check their eligibility under the A3 / BARA Robot Integrators’ Certification Scheme. To proceed to a formal audit, the applicant will be required to pay the registration fee (payable to Automate UK) and the audit fee (payable to the assigned certified A3 auditor in advance of the audit) in full. Go to Certification Scheme Costs to find out more.

All companies certified under the A3 / BARA Robot Integrators’ Certification Scheme are required to be re-audited every two years. The UK Scheme A3 auditor will notify all certified companies before  the end of the certification period. 

Companies must complete and return the ‘Biennial Integrator Re-certification Assessment Form’ to the auditor before the end of the two-year certification period. This includes the cost of re-certification.

Re-certification requires the certified robot integrator to complete a new self-assessment. This enables the auditor to establish whether there have been any major changes since the previous certification audit.

Should the re-certification period elapse without satisfying the payment terms of the assessment form requirement, the applicant company will be treated as a new integrator and will again need to meet the cost of a first audit. No registration fee will apply if previously paid.

Cost(s) for re-certification can be found here.

Once certified under the A3 / BARA Robot Integrators’ Certification Scheme (‘UK Scheme’), companies will be authorised to display the official A3 / BARA certified robot integrator logo on their business stationery and company website for the two-year certification period.

Use of the UK Scheme logo remains the dual copyright of the A3 Robotics and the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA).

A list of UK Certified Robot Integrators is also published here.

It is a prerequisite for integrators to conduct a risk assessment (as per ISO 10218-2) to satisfy the criteria to become a Certified Robot Integrator (see Question 8 on the self-assessment scorecard).

An integrator will score ‘five marks’ if they conduct the robot risk-assessment on a customer’s system in conjunction with the customer, and ‘four marks’ if the integrator undertakes the risk assessment  by him/herself with no consultation with the customer.

A risk assessment shall take into effect all the tasks and hazards associated with the robot system, which in return produces the safest robot system. Integrators can then publish the following statement in the system instruction manual(s) / book(s): ‘A robot risk-assessment has been conducted on this system to ensure the safety of those associated with using it.’

The Certification Scheme covers both ‘collaborative robots’ and ‘industrial robots’, which fall under the same ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standard. It does not, however, cover mobile robots, such as AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robot) and AGV (Automated Guided Vehicles).