In the clause 6.2.1 of the standard EN ISO/IEC 17020 there is the following note:
NOTE: The inspection body need not be the owner of the facilities or equipment that it uses. Facilities and equipment can be borrowed, rented, hired, leased or provided by another party (e.g. the manufacturer or installer of the equipment). However, the responsibility for the suitability and the calibration status of the equipment used in inspection, whether owned by the inspection body or not, lies solely with the inspection body.
What evidence should an inspection body maintain to the for equipment having a significant influence on the results of the Inspection, if the equipment is not owned by the inspection body and is out of the control of the inspection body? This happens in very few situations e.g.:
- Equipment provided by another party: when the inspection body uses equipment that is fixed in the client installation, e.g. manometers in hydraulic elevators or boilers that do not have another outlet to allow the inspection body to fix another manometer of its property in the same installation in parallel.
- Equipment rented: It can occur in very specific inspections that the inspection body does not perform normally and in which the equipment is very expensive, e.g. in High voltage, check of the main insulation of the cover of the cables.
March 2020
Clause 6.2.1 of the ISO/IEC 17020 and ILAC P15 are applicable. For measurements ILAC P10 is applicable.
It is up to the particular inspection program or to the inspector to decide if calibration is required or whether an indication during a function test (see 6.2.6) is sufficient.
The use of external equipment may bear some risks, the inspection body stays responsible.