EUCC Accreditation: The Complexity of Managing ITSEF’s Technical Competence. How To (M31a)
EUCC has brought new requirements for the accreditation of Conformity Assessment Bodies, particularly those specified in a State of the Art (SotA) mandatory document published along with the regulation, which defines the accreditation requirements for ITSEF (labs). The requirements for accreditation are based on the application of ISO/IEC 17025 but with the interpretation and additional requirements defined in ISO/IEC 23532 series. One of the main aspects on which any accreditation rests, beyond the quality management system required to guarantee independence, impartiality, security of information, etc., is the need to have a systematic approach to guarantee and maintain the competence of the individuals responsible for performing common criteria evaluations. The SotA document proposes the use of the ISO/IEC 19896 series as a baseline for the establishment of a framework for the development of a management system to assist in meeting the minimum requirements set out in the standard completed by the SotA and the maintenance of the laboratory’s technical competence. The requirements and elements of competence, together with the reliance on the different technologies and evaluation techniques identified, pose a model that is difficult to create and even more complicated to maintain. This talk will address the requirements and the model called for in the regulation by providing possible solutions to justify compliance with the competence in audits carried out by National Accreditation Bodies.