Background:
ISO/IEC 17065 clause 4.1.2.1 requires that the certification body shall have a legally enforceable agreement for the provision of certification activities to its clients. Certification agreements shall take into account the responsibilities of the certification body and its clients. According to ISO/IEC 17065, clause 4.1.2.2, the certification body shall ensure its certification agreement requires that the client complies at least, with the following:
a) the client always fulfils the certification requirements (see 3.7). A certification requirement is a specified requirement, including product requirements. Certification requirements include the requirements imposed on the client by the certification body to meet this International Standard.
However, clause 4.1.2.2 a) of the ISO/IEC 17065 standard does not say exactly what additional certification requirements the certification body may stipulate in the agreement.
The question concerns certification in the field of structural metallic products accordance EN 1090-1 (Regulation No 305/2011).
There is not strict requirement that welding procedure specification (WPS) used for welding of structural metallic products must base on accredited welding procedure qualification record (WPQR).
Question:
According to the ISO/IEC 17065 standard clause 4.1.2.2 a), which certification requirements can the certification body set out in its agreement? Can the certification body establish an accreditation requirement for WPQR through agreement?
September 2025
According to EN ISO/IEC 17065, certification requirements, as defined in §3.7 of the standard, are determined by the certification body as a condition of establishing or maintaining certification and are imposed on the client via the certification agreement (§4.1.2.2a)). The certification requirements include product requirements specified in normative documents such as regulations, standards and technical specifications, as well as other requirements deriving from EN ISO/IEC standard and the applicable certification scheme. To this regard, the certification agreement stipulates all applicable certification requirements (product requirements specified in normative documents, EN ISO/IEC 17065 standard requirements, certification scheme’ requirements applicable to the client) for a specified certification activity.In the given case, certification requirements include applicable requirements deriving from the Construction Products Regulation and product requirements defined in EN 1090-1 standard. These certification requirements are established by the scheme owner (European Commission) and are included in the certification scheme, i.e. the Construction Products Regulation. Certification activities shall be carried out in accordance with a specified certification scheme. The CB shall not impose any additional certification requirements to the certification scheme and product normative documents referred therein (accredited welding procedure qualification record), if the scheme does not explicitly include such requirements.