ES Digital Global Assessment Guide - Flipbook - Page 7
in the United States. During that time, a handful of third-party certification bodies in the US applied
and received accreditation to that standard. The standard referenced a number of ISO/IEC Guides
to address the related requirements. Globally however, different standards governed this space. In
1978 ISO Guide 24 (currently withdrawn) began to address conformity assessment. Guide 24 was
entitled Guidelines for Acceptance of Testing and Inspection Agencies by Certification Bodies. The
standard addressed two of the most important parts of third-party certification namely, inspection and
testing. In 1983, Guide 40 replaced Guide 24 and addressed conformity assessment more thoroughly
and went beyond testing and inspections. That standard was replaced in 1996 by ISO/IEC Guide 65
entitled General Requirements for Bodies Operating Product Certification Systems. This was the most
comprehensive standard of its kind and as a result was adopted internationally. This guide governed
conformity assessment for a period of 16 years.
ISO/IEC Guide 65 was eventually withdrawn after ISO/IEC 17065 was written in 2012 through ISO
working Group 29 (which ICC staff participates in). This standard was different from Guide 65 in the
following areas:
Restructuring
Introduction ISO/IEC 17000 functional approaches in process requirements
Improvements in impartiality requirements
Inclusion of reference to certification schemes
It is the reference to the scheme that has made ISO/IEC 17065 a much more relevant standard to govern
conformity assessment. Certification bodies operate different schemes and that is one of the reasons why
not all certification bodies are equal.
ISO Requirements for Products, Processes and Services
There are several parties involved in conformity assessment:
1st Party: Generally, the supplier or manufacturer
2nd Party: Generally, the purchaser or user of the product
3rd Party: An independent entity that is generally distinct from the first or second party and has no
interest in transactions between the two parties
Government: Serves a unique role; regulator
Third Party conformity assessment
is the best tool authorities having
jurisdiction (AHJs) have, in order to
approve products for installation with
ease of mind.
Third party conformity assessment by nature is the preferred method to ensure impartial certification
of products to a normative document. This is well described in the definition in ISO/IEC 17000: “Third
party conformity assessment activity is an activity that is performed by a person or organization that
is independent of the provider of the object of conformity assessment and has no user interest in the
object.” All services that the ICC family of solutions offers are of third-party nature – certification,
testing and inspection.
ISO/IEC 17065 makes the following requirements for third party certification bodies:
Legal entity (legally responsible)
Have a certification agreement
Have a method to manage impartiality
Policies and procedures shall be non-discriminatory
Confidentiality
Publicly available information
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