ISO/IEC 17021 accredited Certification Bodies should be aware of developments in the ISO/IEC 17021 series of documents.

CBs should note that TS documents are Technical Specifications and not direct requirement documents, however the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) has adopted these and they therefore hold the same status as IAF Mandatory Guidance i.e. CBs must pay due cognisance to them within their accredited activities. It should also be noted that at the first review stages of these publications ISO is upgrading these Technical Specifications to International Standard status.

IAF has confirmed that the ISO/IEC 17021 documents that fall within the Multilateral Recognition Agreement (MLA) are endorsed normative documents to be applied in conjunction with ISO/IEC 17021-1, and the deadline for implementation is two years after publication. Furthermore, the UKAS Management System Certification Technical Advisory Committee has agreed that all these documents should be considered as normative irrespective of the IAF MLA, as all are covered under the European cooperation for Accreditation (EA) MLA. This bulletin overviews the current status of these documents, which continue to be developed.

 

  • ISO/IEC 17021-2: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of environmental management systems

This document specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1.

This document was reissued as an International Standard in November 2016, replacing the previous Technical Specification that was published in August 2012.

 

  • ISO/IEC 17021-3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems

This document specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for quality management systems (QMS) and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1.

This document was initially published as a TS in May 2013 but underwent review during 2016. Publication of this revised document as an International Standard is expected in January 2017.

 

  • ISO/IEC TS 17021-4: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of event sustainability management

This TS specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for Event Sustainability Management Systems (ESMS) and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1. It was published in October 2013.

 

  • ISO/IEC TS 17021-5: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of asset management systems

This TS specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for Asset Management Systems (ESMS) and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1. It was published in April 2014.

 

  • ISO/IEC TS 17021-6: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of business continuity management systems

This TS specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for business continuity management systems (BCMS) and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1. It was published in November 2014.

 

  • ISO/IEC TS 17021-7: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of RTS/road traffic safety management systems

This TS specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for road traffic safety (RTS) management systems and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1. It was published in October 2014.

 

  • ISO/IEC TS 17021-9: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of anti-bribery management systems

This TS specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit and certification process for anti-bribery management systems and complements the existing requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1. It was published in October 2016.

 

The following Technical Specifications are currently under development:

  • ISO/IEC DTS 17021-8:

It is understood that this number was previously designated for a new Security Management Systems standard although at the time of writing this article it is believed that this is currently dormant and may even be withdrawn

 

  • ISO/IEC DTS 17021-10: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of occupational health and safety management systems

A New Work Item Proposal to produce this TS was accepted in May 2016.   The ISO website indicates that there has been no further progress by the end of 2016.