SCC Witness Audit Requirements as per IAF MD 17:2015 Witnessing Activities for the Accreditation of Management Systems Certification Bodies

Bulletin date:
Bulletin number:
2017-15

IAF MD 17:2015 Witnessing Activities for the Accreditation of Management Systems Certification Bodies will be effective January 7, 2018 and applies to witness audit requirements for all Management Systems Programs (MS schemes) under the IAF MLA.

 

Affected customers

All SCC customers (CBs) in the Management Systems Accreditation Program (MSAP).

 

Background

Witness audits have always been an integral part of managing the MSAP accreditation program. Like many Accreditation Bodies (ABs), SCC has processes for the selection of witness audits that are reflective of the customer’s scope of accreditation. The release of IAF MD:2017 will alter that process.

 

New requirements

IAF MD 17 provides specific approaches and general rules for the witnessing and sampling, as well as, outlines the new technical clusters and critical codes for the Quality Management (QMS) and Environmental Management (EMS) schemes.

 

The key highlights pertaining to the witness auditing process for scheduling and planning are as follows:

  • The CBs shall provide a complete and updated schedule of confirmed and planned audits when requested
  • A CB cannot refuse a chosen witnessing activity without appropriate justification
  • In one 4 year accreditation cycle, SCC must witness at least one of the CB’s stage 1 and stage 2 certifications
  • Each technical cluster must be assessed over an 8 year period
  • If after 8 years, there is no evidence that an IAF code has been assessed then the IAF code will be removed

  • Each fixed office location will have one office assessment and one witness audit per MS scheme during a 4 year accreditation cycle

     

Action Required

Certification Bodies (CBs) must provide the number of certificates issued under each IAF code, as well as, the supporting evidence of competency by August 31, 2017.  SCC Account Managers will be reaching out to their respective customers via a separate email to begin this process. Evidence will be collected and reviewed by SCC. Additional fees may apply.

 

Questions?

Please communicate with your account manager.