1S0/IEC
17021-1:2015(E)
4.2.2
It is recognized
that
the
source of revenue for a certification body is its client paying for certification,
and
that
this is a potential
threat
to impartiality.
4.2.3
To
obtain
and
maintain confidence, it is essential
that
a certification body's decisions be
based
on objective evidence of conformity (
or
nonconformity) obtained
by
the
certification body,
and
that
its
decisions
are
not
influenced
by
other
interests
or
by
other
parties.
4.2.4
Threats to impartiality may include
but
are
not
limited to
the
following.
a)
Self-interest:
threats
that
arise
from a
person
or
body
acting
in
their
own
interest.
A concern
related
to
certification,
as
a
threat
to
impartiality, is financial self-interest.
b)
Self-review:
threats
that
arise
from a
person
or
body
reviewing
the
work
done
by
themselves.
Auditing
the
management
systems
of a client to
whom
the
certification
body
provided
management
systems
consultancy
would
be
a self-review
threat.
c)
Familiarity (
or
trust):
threats
that
arise
from a
person
or
body
being too familiar
with
or
trusting
of
another
person
instead
of
seeking
audit
evidence.
d) Intimidation:
threats
that
arise
from a
person
or
body
having a
perception
of being coerced openly
or
secretively, such
as
a
threat
to
be
replaced
or
reported
to a supervisor.
4.3 Competence
4.3.1
Competence of
the
personnel
of
the
certification body in all functions involved in certification
activities is
necessary
to deliver certification
that
provides confidence.
4.3.2
The competence also
needs
to
be
supported
by
the
management
system of
the
certification body.
4.3.3
It is a key issue for
the
management
of
the
certification body to have an implemented process for
the
establishment
of
competence criteria for
the
personnel
involved in
the
audit
and
other
certification
activities
and
to
perform
evaluation against
the
criteria.
4.4
Responsibility
4.4.1
The certified client,
and
not
the
certification body,
has
the
responsibility for consistently achieving
the
intended
results of implementation of
the
management
system
standard
and
conformity with
the
requirements
for certification.
4.4.2 The certification body has
the
responsibility to assess sufficient objective evidence upon which to
base a certification decision. Based on audit conclusions, it makes a decision to
grant
certification if
there
is
sufficient evidence of conformity,
or
not
to
grant
certification if
there
is
not
sufficient evidence of conformity.
NOTE
Any
audit
is
based
on
sampling
within
an
organization's
management
system
and
therefore
is
not
a
guarantee
of
100 %
conformity
with
requirements.
4.5
Openness
4.5.1
A certification body
needs
to provide public access to,
or
disclosure
of,
appropriate
and
timely
information
about
its
audit
process
and
certification process,
and
about
the
certification
status
(i.e.
the
granting, maintaining of certification, expanding
or
reducing
the
scope of certification, renewing,
suspending
or
restoring,
or
withdrawing
of certification) of any organization, in
order
to gain confidence
in
the
integrity
and
credibility
of
certification. Openness is a principle of access to,
or
disclosure
of,
appropriate
information.
© 1S0/IEC
2015
-All
rights
reserved
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