As far as I know there are no general authorities for the placement of fixed gear and bolts may have been placed well or poorly. There are however organizations that provide safety guidelines for placing and replacing bolts.
Understand that while good bolts rarely fail there is always a good measure of faith involved. You should learn how to inspect bolts and check every one that life or limb will depend upon, though that's easier said than done in many cases and you may have to trust guide books and beta from other climbers as to the suitability of bolts along a route.
It is my understanding that bolts are often not professionally placed, that is those placing them often have no specific training or certification in their correct application. A likely reason for this is liability mentioned on this Allied Climbers of San Diego page:
San Diego is plagued with outdated and dangerous climbing anchors. Most of San Diego’s climbing areas were established in excess of 30 years ago and are in desperate need of updating. Due to insurance and liability reasons, ACSD regrets that it cannot, itself, engage in climbing anchor replacement.
That page continues with specific warnings starting with:
Any 1/4” bolt is a time bomb. Most come out by simply tapping a knife
blade piton between it and the rock.
The 5/16” bolts that have been removed were sound. However many were
installed with Leeper, Leeper look-alike, or SMC hangers – none of
which are safe. The thin steel has a tendency to crack where the steel
was bent, especially the older, thinner ones (there are 3 generations
of Leeper hangers).
Some safety tips:
- Do not belay or top rope off a single 1/4” bolt or one of these older hangers.
- Do not count on one of these to keep you off the ground lead climbing.
- Do not trust an aluminum hanger, one swing of a hammer will break one off.
Much more detailed information is available from the American Safe Climbing Association. They have a collection of articles on the subject of bolting and bolt inspection, such as: Dangerous Bolts - Bolts to Avoid, and How To Rebolt. Some images are provided, sadly low resolution such as:
Bad Bolts

The type of bolts you may encounter are at least to a degree region specific and you should familiarize yourself with whatever you are likely to come across.
Safer Cliffs Australia has a Bolt Guide with lots of pictures, as well as a page of photos of some of the terrifying stuff you might come across.