According to ISO 17024 cl 7.2.2, and 7.2.3, the only information that shall be publicly available without request, is that regarding the “scope” of the scheme (cl 8.2. a)) a general description of the certification process and the prerequisites (cl 8.2. e)).
Please give us your opinion (agreement or not with and if not, details for justification) on the following:
a) the previous paragraph,
b) that the standard clearly excludes the required “competencies” of the person (cl 8.2 c) be publicly available without request, and
c) Upon request, both the “competencies” (cl 8.2 c) and the “job description” (cl 8.2 b) shall be provided (this does not exclude the right of the scheme owner to be paid for that information (please note that this is the case of the Standardization Bodies)
March 2017
As a preliminary, the standard has 3 different levels of diffusion regarding information :
- The one without request (4.3.1, 7.2.2 ,7.2.3, 9.2.2, 9.8.3, 9.9.2) to any one
- The one upon request i.e. to anyone requesting
- The one for applicants (9.1.1) : this is also upon request (through the application)
a. Not in agreement: we do not interpret the clauses like this: the minimum mandatory publicly available information are 8.2.a and 8.2.e). This doesn’t prevent CBs to have other publicly available information if they wish to do.
b. Not in agreement (from answer to a))
c. Partial agreement: as per §9.1.1, the CB shall make available “the requirements for certification and its scope”. The “requirements for certification” of 9.1.1 are considered to be equal to the “c) required competence; » of 8.2.c. It is not nevertheless mandatory to give the 8.2.b, even upon request