New edition of ISO/IEC 17024:2012
Current eventsNew edition of ISO/IEC 17024, ISO/IEC 17024:2012 Conformity assessment - General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons, was published on 1st July 2012.
Hence the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) made a decision that a transitional period for the application of the new edition of ISO/IEC 17024, ISO/IEC 17024:2012, should be 3 years from the date of issue which means that all conformity assessment bodies accredited as per ISO/IEC 17024:2003 should, by 01.07.2015, harmonise their activities with ISO/IEC 17024:2012.
When compared with the previous edition of the standard the following important changes were made:
- Restructuring of the standard based on a common structure adopted by ISO/CASCO,
- Modifications based on the following standards ISO/PAS 17001, ISO/PAS 17002, ISO/PAS 17003, ISO/PAS 17004 and ISO/PAS 17005,
- Upgrade taking into account elements of IAF GD24:2009 guidance document,
- Revision of terms and definitions.
On 24th September 2012 the Institute for Standardization of Serbia published SRPS ISO/IEC 17024:2012 Conformity assessment - General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons. This edition of the standard repeals and replaces SRPS ISO/IEC 17024:2005.
ATS planned all activities and carried out all of them (change in the management system documents, training of assessors and persons participating in decision-making) in order to harmonise the accreditation of certification bodies operating certification of persons as per SRPS ISO/IEC 17024:2012.
ATS will commence performing assessments as per the new edition of the standard by 15th October 2013 at the latest. Exact date of assessments as per the new edition of the standard and detailed information about transition to the new edition of the standard will be published at a later stage by ATS.
In the meantime, CABs wishing to harmonise their mode of operation with the requirements of the new edition of the standard are recommended to identify changes to be made so that they could adapt to the new edition of the standard, and to produce an implementation plan for the transition to the new edition of the standard.
Assessments of accredited CBs operating certification of persons in terms of transition/approximation/harmonisation with the new edition of the standard will be carried out during regular surveillance assessments.
After 01.07.2015 accreditations granted as per SRPS ISO/IEC 17024:2005 shall no longer be valid.