Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Faqs About Conformity Assessment, Accreditation and Certification in Relation To The Iam'S Endorsed Assessor Scheme
Faqs About Conformity Assessment, Accreditation and Certification in Relation To The Iam'S Endorsed Assessor Scheme
Faqs About Conformity Assessment, Accreditation and Certification in Relation To The Iam'S Endorsed Assessor Scheme
There can be confusion with the terminology associated with conformity assessment for
the certification of management systems, and who can issue certificates of conformity.
Also, although in everyday language the terms accreditation and certification are often
used interchangeably, the terms do have very specific meanings in international
standards.
This document seeks to address some FAQs (Frequently Asked Question) related to these
issues, and identify:
the relevant terminology, where to find the definitions in ISO standards / guidelines,
and provide some explanations
the standards / guidelines relevant to assessment of the requirements in ISO 55001
who can issue certificates for ISO 55001:2014, and how National Accreditation Body
schemes and the IAM Endorsed Assessor scheme relate to this
how the IAM is clarifying the competence required for ISO 55001 auditors within the
Endorsed Assessor scheme
To get the most from this document it is recommended that you read it from the
beginning, as the responses to the later questions assume an understanding of the earlier
questions.
FAQs
1. What is conformity assessment?
2. What is accreditation?
3. What is certification?
4. Who can issue a certificate for a management system standard?
5. Can organisations that are not Certification Bodies assess conformity against
ISO 55001?
6. Why is an assessors knowledge and understanding of asset management
important, and how can it be demonstrated?
1. What is accreditation?
By way of example5, for ISO 55001:2014 for the UK (similar arrangements would apply in
other countries):
the Accreditation Body would be UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service).
the Conformity Assessment Bodies who would be accredited by UKAS to assess
organisations against the requirements of ISO 55001, and issue certificates of
conformity, would be known as Certification Bodies6
UKAS would accredit ISO 55001:2014 Certification Bodies by assessing them against
the standards:
o ISO 17021:2011 - This specifies generic requirements for such certification
bodies performing audit and certification of management systems.
2. What is certification?
ISOs formal definition of Certification is "third party attestation related to products,
processes, systems or persons." (ISO 17000:2004)
7ISO 17021-5 Conformity assessment Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of
management systems Part 5: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of asset
management systems
It was for this very reason that the IAM originally established the Endorsed Assessor (EA)
scheme for PAS 55, and has since extended it to cover ISO 55001. Although the IAM has
chosen not to use the term Certification Bodies to describe its EAs, in practice this
would be a correct use of the term for those EAs it has endorsed to issue certificates of
conformity against ISO 55001:2014 or PAS 55:2008.
IAM EAs can only describe themselves as being accredited for assessing against ISO
55001:2014 if they have also been separately accredited against ISO 17021-5 by a
National Accreditation Body (such as UKAS).
However, this is not necessarily the case for case all organisations. Some may wish to be
assessed against ISO 55001:2014 and not aspire to achieve a certificate of conformity.
They may be seeking to understand where they have gaps in their capability with a view
to considering the business value that could be gained from addressing these.
In either of the above cases, an organization does not have to engage a Certification
Body to undertake the gap analysis. However, the IAM believes that for client
organisations to have confidence in, and gain value from, the process of gap analysis,
organisations providing this assessment service should be part of a formal scheme that
requires them to demonstrate the same competence, credibility, independence and
integrity as Certification Bodies.
The IAM strongly believes that for a client to gain most value from assessment of the
conformity of their management system against ISO 55001:2014, the assessor they
engage must have knowledge and understanding of asset management as well as the
management system standard.
For the audit team, and those reviewing the audit report and making the certification
decision, Clause 5 of ISO 17021-5 identifies competence requirements in relation to:
5.1 - Asset management terminology, definitions and principles
5.2 - Asset management practices, activities and methodologies
5.3 - Asset management system standards and normative documents
In conjunction with the other international members of the Global Forum, the IAM has
developed a GFMAM specification8 for the competence of personnel who are to assess
management systems against the requirements of ISO 55001:2014. The competence
requirements in the specification conform to, at least, the requirements of ISO 17021-5.
The IAM has recently changed the Endorsed Assessor Scheme to require all auditors
operating within the scheme to be qualified by one of the above 2 examinations, in
addition to demonstrating appropriate experience. The IAM Certificate is designed to
support Continuing Professional Development (CPD), so auditors who are also IAM
members would find it beneficial to sit the IAM examination.
The IAM is aware that some National Accreditation Bodies are developing accreditation
schemes for ISO 55001. This document will be updated when the IAM understands how
National Accreditation Bodies intend to assess asset management knowledge and
understanding against the requirements in ISO 17021-5.
Notes:
In producing this document, reference has been made to the websites of ISO and UKAS.
It is recommended that you explore the resources on these websites if you want to find
out more about conformity assessment, accreditation or certification.
If your organization is based outside the UK and you wish to find out about arrangements
related to your own country, you should be able to find further information via these
websites:
European Co-operation for Accreditation (EA)
International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
8 GFMAM Competency Specification for an ISO 55001 Asset Management System Auditor / Assessor