New ballot needed for ISO/IEC FDIS 17011

ISO/IEC 17011 specifies the general requirements for accreditation bodies assessing and accrediting conformity assessment bodies (CABs) and appropriate as a requirements document for the peer evaluation process for mutual recognition arrangements between accreditation bodies.

A revision is under development to propose a new structure of the standard, including changes such as:

• Amendment of the title and the scope;
• Removal of the normative references;
• Adaptation to DIN EN ISO 9000: 2015-11;
• Definition and implementation of new terms (flexible scope of accreditation, witnessing, remote assessment, assessment programme, assessment techniques, accreditation scheme, etc).

Moreover, an informative Annex A regarding required knowledge and skills for functions in the accreditation process has been added.

The ballot of the appeal on ISO/IEC 17011 closed on 14 July with positive results. The appeal contained a proposed change of wording, that brings a technical change, for three sub clauses.

As per the ISO IEC Directives, a Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) stage ballot is required and has been open on the 14 August and will close on the 9 October.