Kevin Belson
Chair, IAF Technical Committee
Technical Manager – International, UKAS

One of the key regular tasks of the IAF Technical Committee (TC) is to monitor, and provide input to, the updating and development of standards in the conformity assessment sphere. This is important because we as an accreditation community need to be ready at an early stage to enable smooth and technically effective transitions and implementation. This article provides an overview of our involvement in standardisation activity.  

To enable this we, wherever possible, appoint official IAF liaisons, able to represent the IAF perspective and to feed back into the IAF TC, the key points and discussions within the standards committees. The TC also welcomes inputs from members that are also members of ISO or other standards committees.

Standards development will normally be on the agenda for the individual IAF Working Group, as this is where the sector expertise is concentrated, and key discussion, including any need for a formal IAF TC position, will be fed into the TC itself. Liaisons can also feed in directly using liaison reports, a standard item on the TC agenda.

Another useful opportunity for IAF to provide input to the standards process is through the ISO/CASCO Conformity Assessment Technical Interface Group (TIG), of which the TC Chair is now a member. The TIG is a technical group that reviews standards that contain reference to conformity assessment, and provide input to the ISO WGs involved. Again key discussions will be fed back through liaison reports.

This standards liaison activity is particularly important where key standards used by IAF are being revised or considered for revision. This is the case at the moment with a number of key standards under review and revision, including (but not limited to):

ISO/IEC 17024:  Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection

Currently being revised, and monitored closely by the TC WG Persons at the working draft stage.

ISO/IEC 17067:  Fundamentals of product certification and guidelines for product certification schemes

Currently being revised, monitored closely by the TC WG Products, Processes and Services, currently at the working draft stage.

ISO 9001: Quality management systems – Requirements

Currently being reviewed, at the Committee Draft stage.

ISO 19011: Guidelines for Auditing Management Systems.

Revision underway, at the Committee Draft stage.

Please note that recently ISO/IEC 17065 – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services, was confirmed by the ISO Working Group, meaning that there will be no revision to this standard at this time, it will be reconsidered at a later date.

More detailed information on IAF standardisation activities can be found via outputs from the IAF TC and its Working Groups, liaison reports and at the TC itself.

We are also monitoring the development of a number of new conformity assessment related standards.

As the process for each standard progresses, the TC and its WGs will start to consider the need for transition guidance in accordance with the IAF publication PR 7 Requirements for Producing IAF Mandatory Documents on Transitions, such that we are ready with a clear transition programme, in time for the new standard version to be published.

If any TC member has a wish to become involved in a standards committee as a liaison, any new opportunities and calls for volunteers are cascaded from the IAF Secretariat using the Forum system.