The assignment of IAF activity codes is done following the evaluation of the auditors’ skills at the CAB site or during the witness on customer site?
Note: after consultation with NAB, the question was clarified as follows: –
How does the accreditation body allocate IAF activity codes, is it by checking the auditors’ competences and qualifications during the on-site assessment, or should it be based on the witness assessment alone on the IAF activity code?
September 2021
It is the responsibility of the CB to define technical fields and to define the competence criteria to support them, such technical fields do not have to be based on the scope areas in IAF ID 1, however for consistency the ABs schedules tend to use ID1 for determining fields of accreditation.
When accrediting an MS certification body (especially for ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001), the scope of accreditation may be determined according to the IAF codes defined in IAF ID 1, or may be defined in some other way.
The AB can use a number of methods to determine the effectiveness of the competence criteria and demonstration of competences. While determining the relevant IAF codes as the scope of accreditation, the AB should consider a mixture of the following techniques:
1- Review of the CB’s process for competence and output from them in terms of demonstrated competence of individuals has defined and demonstrated competence in the relevant MS and technical field (IAF code, etc.) (e.g. auditors, lead auditors, technical experts and other personnel involved in certification activities.)
2- The performance of audit team(s) in witnessed audits according to IAF MD 17 requirements and relevant AB rules.
3- Records of documented client organizations (for checking proper implementation of MS certification process in specific technical fields.)
4- The adequacy and completeness of personnel records showing competence for each certification function (e.g., application review, planning, decision making, technical review, auditing etc.) and technical field (e.g. IAF codes, categories etc.).
From this perspective, the answer to the question is: both can be used, but additional activities should also be done.