NEN-EN-ISO/IEC 17021-1

NEN-EN-ISO/IEC 17021-1

The outcome of a certification audit must of course be reliable. Certification bodies must therefore work carefully. ISO 17021 describes what they must arrange to ensure that their certification results can be trusted by the outside world.

ISO 17021 requires, among other things, that certification bodies:

• Establish and implement a sound process for conducting audits. Transparent as well, to enable traceability.
• take measures to ensure independence and impartiality in the certification process. Either no positive or negative influence on the outcome of a certification audit;
• use objective criteria to assess its auditors and develop their competences. Only auditors who demonstrably possess sufficient knowledge and skills, for example about a sector, may be deployed by the certifying body;
• implements a well-functioning management system with full control of processes. Practice what you preach, after all.

This makes ISO 17021 an important building block of the certification system. The value of a certificate is largely determined by the reliability of the party issuing it. It is important that this institution is competent. Only then is the 'declaration of conformity' usable and reliable.

It is the Accreditation Council that periodically assesses whether a certification body meets all requirements. This independent, and above all disinterested supervision allows everyone to trust that the activities of accredited certification bodies are carried out in a careful – reliable – manner. That the certificates issued by them also represent real value.

Bureau Via ensures that certification institutions also comply with the rules. But also in a way that suits them. We are deployed for peak loads, as interim quality managers, as team member or driving force during a project or as trainer.