ISO 17021:2015
ISO/IEC 17021 Accreditation
ISO/IEC 17021 is an International standard that gives a lot of prerequisites which must be trailed by a Management System Certification Body to ensure that the Certification procedure did is fair, vital, reliable and is done by an equipped individual.
The Assessments done by the certify accreditation bodies according to different administration framework gauges, for example, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 37001, and so on will give benefits and offer some incentive to a wide range of associations.
ISO/IEC 17021 Conformity Assessment — Requirements for bodies giving review and certification of the management systems, as it is formally called, was set up by the ISO Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO) in 2006. It was created to satisfy the need to have an International Standard that could encourage the acknowledgment of bodies that were performing Conformity Assessments and the acknowledgment of their certificate ions on a national and global premise; making it simpler to perceive the Management System Certifications in light of a legitimate concern for universal exchange.
ISO 17021 is an International Standard that gives Certification Bodies (CB) with a lot of necessities that will empower them to guarantee that their administration framework(such as Quality management system, Environmental management system etc.) certification process is carried out in a competent, consistent and impartial manner.
The conformity assessments to be done by ISO 17021 certified Certification Bodies provide assurance that the organization has established and implemented a system for the management of the relevant scope (aspects of its activities, products and services) of the audit, in line with the organization’s policy and the requirements of the respective international management system standard and CBs provide value to these organizations, its customers and interested parties by assuring them.
It has developed to fulfill the need to have an International Standard that could facilitate the recognition of bodies that is performing conformity assessments and the acceptance of their certifications on a national and international basis; making it easier to recognize management system certification in the interests of international business.
This International Standard provides a set of requirements for management systems auditing (i.e. Initial, surveillance and Re-certification) at a generic level, aimed at providing a reliable determination of conformity to the applicable requirements for certification, conducted by a competent audit team, with adequate resources and following the defined certification process, with the results reported in a consistent manner.
It is intended for use by CBs that carry out audit and certification of management systems. It gives conventional necessities for such CBs performing review and confirmation in the field of value, ecological and different types of management system. These CBs can be non-governmental or governmental (with or without regulatory authority) and they do not need to offer all types of management system certification.
More and more organizations are seeking certification of their management systems (quality, ecological, Occupational well being and security, data security, and so on.) to exhibit that it fits in with indicated prerequisites, is able to do reliably accomplishing its expressed strategy and destinations, and is viably executed.
Benefits of ISO/IEC 17021
- Improved efficiency, productivity and effectiveness in the overall certification operation.
- Improved level of motivation, co-operation, and quality awareness including competence.
- Increased confidence in the certificate issued by certification body and competence of its auditors performing the audits for the certification of management system. Greater control of processes and activities throughout certification bodies.
- Provide tips on analysis of data as well as perfect record-keeping.
- Provide guidelines and better control for maintenance of records, etc.
- Establish confidence of management and its customers on the certificate and increase customers' trust as well as market share.
- Better image of certification bodies as a quality certification body in global market.
- Worldwide recognition and credibility.
- An ISO 17021 accredited certification body has a definite edge over competitors.
Technical Requirements of ISO/IEC 17021
Certification bodies have to identify the following technical requirements of ISO/IEC 17021 during implementation:
- Nominate one person as Management Representative for establishing, implementation and monitoring of effective implementation of the management system's requirements.
- Management system, its location of performance, field of certification, types of management system.
