Action required

All SCC-accredited Inspection Bodies shall transition to ILAC P15:05/2020 Application of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 for the Accreditation of Inspection Bodies.

Affected customers

All SCC-accredited and applicant inspection bodies, assessors, and technical experts under the Inspection Body Accreditation Program (IBAP).

Background

ILAC is the global association for the accreditation of laboratories, inspection bodies, proficiency testing providers, and reference material producers with a membership consisting of accreditation bodies and stakeholder organizations all over the world.

The new edition of ILAC-P15 was published in May 2020 which includes updates and various changes. In order to follow the best practices, SCC has implemented the ILAC-P15:05/2020 document, which provides requirements and guidance for the application of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Conformity assessment – Requirements for the operation of various types of bodies performing inspection for the accreditation of inspection bodies. It is intended to be used by accreditation bodies assessing inspection bodies for accreditation as well as by inspection bodies seeking to manage their operations in a manner that fulfills the requirements for accreditation.

This version of the document includes guidance on emerging technologies that are not addressed in ISO/IEC 17020:2012 and takes in consideration that inspection can be an activity embedded in a larger process including testing and certification.
Below are some examples of the changes identified throughout this new document:  

• Insertion of Annex with an example of a possible format for an impartiality risk analysis, which is divided into three different categories including, 1) Activities of the inspection body,2) Relationships of the inspection body, and 3) Relationships of personnel.
• Technical Manager’s capabilities are explained in the case of remote inspection verification along with competence requirements based on regulators, scheme owners, and/or clients.
• The use of client equipment and resources during the inspection activities were included under resource and subcontracting requirements, respectively. 
• The “mentored working period” was defined with added clarity.
•  Capability and competence requirements to carry out infrequent inspection activities.
• The requirements of retaining and documenting rational for decisions on the significance or otherwise of items of equipment used to support inspection results, as these decisions are critical foundations for subsequent decisions on calibration and traceability.
•  Addition of informative Annex with guidance for a relationship between impartiality and Type A inspection bodies independence requirements.

New requirements

All accredited Inspection Bodies shall be assessed against requirements of this new ILAC-P15:05/2020, for the application of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 during the next schedule assessment activity.

 
The new ILAC-P15:05/2020 can be found here. 

Deadline

Effective Immediately.

Questions?

Please contact Abdel Kassou, Manager, Compliance and Assessment Services, at abdel.kassou@scc.ca or +1 613 238 3222 ext. 443 for more information.