A33: it depends on the situation and the associated risks.
Q25: During the COVID-19 crisis, if a CAB conducts a part of the recertification of a management system with remote audit activities and plans to complete the remainder of the audit onsite within six months, is it possible to reissue the certificate at the conclusion of the remote audit activities?
A25:
- If the CAB is not able to perform evaluation activities physically or when these cannot fully be replaced with evaluation activities as per IAF MD 4, then the normal scheduled recertification activities may be postponed for up to 6 months (see Q13)
- A certificate can only be renewed if the CAB is able to evaluate all the applicable requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1 (9.6.3.2) through a complete and effective audit of the client’s management system, followed by a successful review and decision making activities
Updated 14/05/2020
Q23: In consideration of this extraordinary period, if a Management Systems Certification Body is not able to perform audits, physically or with remote audit technique, can an Accreditation Body replace a witness assessment, as required in IAF MD17, with a remote office assessment or with other assessment activities (IAF MD17, § 2.2.1)?
A23: If witnessing cannot be delayed, instead of observing a CAB carrying out conformity assessment services, an Accreditation Body may either :
- use other mechanisms (office assessment activities or other assessment activities IAF MD17, § 2.2.1) to assess the scope of accreditation.
- or maintain the scope of accreditation providing that the witnessing assessment shall still be conducted immediately once it is possible.
Q21: A number of CB clients are, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, switching their manufacturing to manufacture items such as face masks or ventilators, some governments are requesting that they have these items within their scope of management system certification approvals. Can such scope extension be done by remote means using MD4?
A21: Yes, following what was already clarified in Q5.
Q19: According ISO/IEC 17021-1, § 7.2.4, “The initial competence evaluation of an auditor shall include the ability to apply required knowledge and skills during audits, as determined by a competent evaluator observing the auditor conducting an audit”. Is it possible to conduct this observation if the observer is using remote audit techniques?
A19: Yes, provided that the remote audit being observed can fully replace physical audit.
Q17: During the COVID-19 crisis, if a CAB conducts a part of the initial certification of a management system with remote audit activities and plans to complete the remainder of the audit onsite within six months, is it possible to issue the certificate at the conclusion of the remote audit activities?
A17: No, a certificate can only be issued if the CAB is able to evaluate all the applicable requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1 (9.3.1.2 Stage 1 and 9.3.1.3 Stage 2) through a complete and effective audit of the client’s management system, followed by a successful review and decision making activities. However, this could change for specific schemes.
Q16: in order to transfer an Accredited Certification of Management Systems (IAF MD2:2017), is it possible to conduct the pre-transfer visit with remote auditing techniques?
A16: Yes, if all the points listed in § 2.2.4 of IAF MD2:2017 and any issues arising from the document review, for example major nonconformities (2.2.2) can be evaluated remotely. However, this could change for specific schemes.
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