Is an inspection body allowed to subcontract activities under the provisions of ISO/IEC 17020, clause 6.3.1 and ILAC P15 clause 6.3.1 n1 to a subcontractor which does not hold an ISO/IEC 17020:2012 accreditation?
In other words, is an accreditation an indispensable condition to demonstrate competence of a subcontractor or one option to be considered by the inspection body?
September 2024
The ISO/IEC 17020:2012 clause 6.3 Subcontracting says:
6.3.1 The inspection body shall itself normally perform the inspections that it contracts to undertake. Where an inspection body subcontracts any part of the inspection, it shall ensure and be able to demonstrate that the subcontractor is competent to perform the activities in question and, where applicable, complies with the relevant requirements stipulated in this International Standard or in other relevant conformity assessment standards
ILAC P15:2020 states the following: 6.3.4 n1 Accreditation is the preferred means to demonstrate the competence of the subcontractor, but in justified situations (on the basis of qualified evaluation/professional judgement) results from non-accredited bodies could be accepted.
It could be accepted in justified situations (ILAC P15:2020, 6.3.4n1) that the subcontractor is not accredited. In this case, the accreditation body assesses how the inspection body has assessed the compliance of the subcontractor with the relevant standard.
Always consider the clause 6.3.3 of the standard: “Whenever subcontractors carry out work that forms part of an inspection, the responsibility for any determination of conformity of the inspected item with the requirements shall remain with the inspection body.”