Interpretation request - ISO/IEC 17021:2006 clauses 7.5.2, 8.2.3 and 7.2.4/7.2.7  (April 2010)

Summary

Question 1
Does this clause 7.5.2 of ISO/IEC 17021:2006 imply that only persons who are full-time salaried to the Certification Body's legal entity that is accredited are considered as meeting this requirement?

The consensus result of the panel is:
The use of external persons for decision making by the certification body is acceptable provided the relevant parts of the standard e.g. 5.1.3, 5.2.2, 5.2.12, 5.2.13, 7.1, 7.2 etc. are met.
This answer was agreed by 84% of CASCO P-Members voting (37 in favour and 7 against out of 44 votes cast).
Note: The answer to Question 1 has been modified according to comments received
(see below Circular CASCO 12/2010 rev.1)

Question 2
If an organization has a single management system covering a number of site / locations, is it acceptable to have several sites covered under one certificate for
a)  the Quality Management System
b)  the Environmental Management System
c)  the Workplace Health & Safety Management System
d)  a fully integrated Management System

The consensus result of the panel is:
It is acceptable to have several sites covered under one certificate when an organization has a single management system covering a number of sites/locations.
This answer was agreed by 93% of CASCO P-Members voting (41 in favour and 3 against out of 44 votes cast).

Question 3
If a Certification Body can show through documentation that an auditor has significant experience in a particular field (e.g. through a Career Resume indicating that the person has many years experience working in a particular branch of industry), can this be considered sufficient to demonstrate the auditor's Technical competence prior to assigning him/her to an audit mission in that branch?

The consensus result of the panel is:
Documentation that an auditor has significant experience in a particular field (e.g. a career resume/CV) CANNOT be considered sufficient to demonstrate the auditor's technical competence.
This answer was agreed by 84% of CASCO P-members voting (37 in favour and 7 against out of 44 votes cast).

Background

• CASCO 12/2010 rev.1 - Interpretation request ISO/IEC 17021:2006 [PDF 57Kb]