ISO/IEC 17020 clause 4.1.3 states that: The inspection body (A type) shall identify risks to its impartiality on an ongoing basis. This shall include those risks that arise from its activities, from its relationships, or from the relationships of its personnel.
Question: how deep relationship of inspection body owner/shareholder (family relationship) should be analyzed in order to ascertain potential influence on impartiality?
March 2023
ISO/IEC 17020:2012 A.1 “a) The inspection body shall be independent of the parties involved.”The ability to influence the outcome of the inspection is probably given by a family relationship.
The impartiality analysis of the inspection body must be sufficiently deep and identify any relationships of its personnel (4.1.3) which includes family relationships of its owner. (A.1 d) 4) says: The inspection body shall not be linked to a separate legal entity … by … other means that may have an ability to influence the outcome).
There is no general “model/rule”, it needs to be assessed on case-by-case basis with regard to the possible impact on the subject of the inspection/possible influence on the inspection process.
The risk of impartiality depends on the ability to influence the outcome of the inspection. It must be declared and analyzed by the inspection body.
Comment: ILAC P15:2020 (informative annex 2) allows to mitigate the risks of clause A.1 d by control measures.