EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018

Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems - Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)

This document specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in the audit
and certification process for quality management systems (QMS) and complements the existing
requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1.
NOTE This document is applicable for auditing and certification of a QMS based on ISO 9001. It can also be
used for other QMS applications.

Konformitätsbewertung - Anforderungen an Stellen, die Managementsysteme auditieren und zertifizieren - Teil 3: Anforderungen an die Kompetenz für die Auditierung und Zertifizierung von Qualitätsmanagementsystemen (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)

Évaluation de la conformité - Exigences pour les organismes procédant à l'audit et à la certification des systèmes de management - Partie 3: Exigences de compétence pour l'audit et la certification des systèmes de management de la qualité (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)

Ugotavljanje skladnosti - Zahteve za organe, ki presojajo in certificirajo sisteme vodenja - 3. del: Zahteve za usposobljenost za presojanje in certificiranje sistemov vodenja kakovosti (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)

Ta dokument določa dodatne zahteve za usposobljenost osebja, vključenega v postopek presojanja in certificiranja sistemov vodenja kakovosti (QMS), in dopolnjuje obstoječe zahteve iz standarda ISO/IEC 17021-1.
OPOMBA: Ta dokument se uporablja za presojanje in certificiranje sistema vodenja kakovosti na podlagi standarda ISO 9001. Primeren je tudi za druge vrste uporabe sistema vodenja kakovosti.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 11-Dec-2018
• Withdrawal Date: 29-Jun-2019
• ICS: 03.120.20 - Product and company certification. Conformity assessment
• Technical Committee: CEN/CLC/TC 1 - Criteria for conformity assessment bodies
• Drafting Committee: CEN/CLC/TC 1 - Criteria for conformity assessment bodies
• Current Stage: 6060 - Definitive text made available (DAV) - Publishing
• Start Date: 12-Dec-2018
• Completion Date: 12-Dec-2018
• Ref Project: SIST EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2019 - Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems - Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)

Relations

• Replaces: CEN/CLC ISO/IEC/TS 17021-3:2016 - Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems - Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of quality management systems (ISO/IEC/TS 17021-3:2013)
• Effective Date: 19-Dec-2018

Overview

EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018 (adoption of ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017) specifies additional competence requirements for personnel involved in audit and certification of quality management systems (QMS). It complements ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 by detailing the QMS-specific knowledge and skills required of auditors, audit teams, and other certification personnel. The document is primarily applicable to QMS audits based on ISO 9001, but can be used for other QMS applications.

Key Topics

• Scope and purpose
  • Defines QMS-specific competence expectations that certification bodies must adopt in addition to ISO/IEC 17021-1 generic requirements.
• Generic competence requirements
  • Certification bodies shall define competence for each certification function, taking into account ISO/IEC 17021-1 and clauses in this part.
• Competence of QMS auditors and audit teams
  • Audit teams must have the collective competence to achieve audit objectives; individual members need not each have the full set of competencies.
• Fundamental concepts & quality management principles (audit-level knowledge)
  • Understanding of quality management principles, terms, process approach, PDCA, leadership role, risk-based thinking, documented information structures, and quality tools and techniques.
• Context of the organization
  • Knowledge to evaluate identification of external/internal issues, interested parties’ needs, and the scope/boundaries of the QMS.
• Client products, services and processes
  • Familiarity with client-specific terminology, technology and processes relevant to audit scope.
• Other personnel
  • Competence requirements also cover personnel who review audit reports and make certification decisions.
• Annex A
  • Provides a summary list of knowledge topics for QMS auditing and certification.

Applications

• Who uses it
  • Certification bodies, accreditation bodies, QMS auditors, audit team leaders, technical experts, and organizations preparing for QMS certification.
• Practical uses
  • Establishing auditor qualification matrices and training programs.
  • Defining competency profiles for recruitment and competency assessment.
  • Guiding audit team composition for ISO 9001 certification engagements.
  • Supporting accreditation assessments and internal quality assurance of certification processes.
• Benefits
  • Improves audit consistency and credibility, ensures auditors can assess risk-based thinking and leadership impact, and aligns certification practices with current ISO 9001 requirements.

Related Standards

• ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 - Generic requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems.
• ISO 9001 - Quality management system requirements (basis for many QMS audits).
• ISO 9000 - Fundamentals and vocabulary for quality management systems.

Keywords: EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018, ISO/IEC 17021-3, competence requirements, QMS auditors, certification bodies, ISO 9001, audit teams, conformity assessment.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-marec-2019
1DGRPHãþD
SIST-TS CEN/CLC ISO/IEC/TS 17021-3:2016
Ugotavljanje skladnosti - Zahteve za organe, ki presojajo in certificirajo sisteme
vodenja - 3. del: Zahteve za usposobljenost za presojanje in certificiranje sistemov
vodenja kakovosti (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)
Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of
management systems - Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of
quality management systems (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)
Konformitätsbewertung - Anforderungen an Stellen, die Managementsysteme auditieren
und zertifizieren - Teil 3: Anforderungen an die Kompetenz für die Auditierung und
Zertifizierung von Qualitätsmanagementsystemen (ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017)
Évaluation de la conformité - Exigences pour les organismes procédant à l'audit et à la
certification des systèmes de management - Partie 3: Exigences de compétence pour
l'audit et la certification des systèmes de management de la qualité (ISO/IEC 17021-
3:2017)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018
ICS:
03.100.70 Sistemi vodenja Management systems
03.120.20 Certificiranje proizvodov in Product and company
podjetij. Ugotavljanje certification. Conformity
skladnosti assessment
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD EN ISO/IEC 17021-3

NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
December 2018
ICS 03.120.20
Supersedes CEN/CLC ISO/IEC/TS 17021-3:2016
English version
Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies
providing audit and certification of management systems -
Part 3: Competence requirements for auditing and
certification of quality management systems (ISO/IEC
17021-3:2017)
Évaluation de la conformité - Exigences pour les Konformitätsbewertung - Anforderungen an Stellen,
organismes procédant à l'audit et à la certification des die Managementsysteme auditieren und zertifizieren -
systèmes de management - Partie 3: Exigences de Teil 3: Anforderungen an die Kompetenz für die
compétence pour l'audit et la certification des Auditierung und Zertifizierung von
systèmes de management de la qualité (ISO/IEC Qualitätsmanagementsystemen (ISO/IEC 17021-
17021-3:2017) 3:2017)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 26 November 2018.

CEN and CENELEC members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for
giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical
references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to
any CEN and CENELEC member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN and CENELEC member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN and CENELEC members are the national standards bodies and national electrotechnical committees of Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre:
Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2018 CEN/CENELEC All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means Ref. No. EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018 E
reserved worldwide for CEN national Members and for
CENELEC Members.
Contents Page
European foreword . 3

European foreword
The text of ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017 has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/CASCO "Committee
on conformity assessment” of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has been
taken over as EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018 by Technical Committee CEN/CLC/JTC 1 “Criteria for
conformity assessment bodies” the secretariat of which is held by BSI.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by June 2019, and conflicting national standards shall be
withdrawn at the latest by June 2019.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes CEN/CLC ISO/IEC/TS 17021-3:2016.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO/IEC 17021-3:2018 without any
modification.
INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 17021-3
First edition
2017-03
Conformity assessment —
Requirements for bodies providing
audit and certification of management
systems —
Part 3:
Competence requirements for
auditing and certification of quality
management systems
Évaluation de la conformité — Exigences pour les organismes
procédant à l’audit et à la certification des systèmes de
management —
Partie 3: Exigences de compétence pour l’audit et la certification des
systèmes de management de la qualité
Reference number
ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017(E)
©
ISO/IEC 2017
ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017(E)
© ISO/IEC 2017, Published in Switzerland
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior
written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of
the requester.
ISO copyright office
Ch. de Blandonnet 8 • CP 401
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Fax [phone]
[e-mail]
www.iso.org
ii © ISO/IEC 2017 – All rights reserved

ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Generic competence requirements . 1
5 Competence requirements for QMS auditors and audit teams . 2
5.1 General . 2
5.2 Fundamental concepts and quality management principles . 2
5.3 Context of the organization . 2
5.4 Client products, services, processes and organization . 2
6 Competence requirements for other personnel . 3
6.1 General . 3
6.2 Competence of personnel reviewing audit reports and making certification decisions. 3
Annex A (informative) Knowledge for QMS auditing and certification . 4
Bibliography . 5
© ISO/IEC 2017 – All rights reserved iii

ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work. In the field of conformity assessment, ISO and IEC develop joint ISO/IEC documents under the
management of the ISO Com
...