ISO/IEC 17024

Introduction

ISO/IEC 17024: Conformity assessment - General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons is an International Standard which specifies criteria for the operation of a Personnel Certification Body (also known as a certification body for persons). The standard includes requirements for the development and maintenance of the certification scheme for persons upon which the certification is based.

ISO/IEC 17024:2012

The most recent version of the standard is ISO/IEC 17024:2012 updated in July 2012.^[1]

This version contains requirements for (Certification Body for Persons) in the following areas

General Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons
Structural Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons
Resource Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons
Records and Information Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons
Certification Scheme (Development of)
Certification Process Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons
Management System Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons

The major changes between the 2003 version and the 2012 version is the detailed information regarding the development of the scheme for certification of persons. The 2003 version required the Certification Body to have a Scheme Committee who had overall responsibility for the development of the scheme but did not elaborate on the components that must be included in the scheme. The 2012 version has an entire clause (Clause 8) that provides detailed information regarding the components that must be included in the development and maintenance of the scheme but allows the scheme owner to be outside of the Certification Body for Persons.

Other changes include a change in reference of "Personnel Certification Body" to "Certification Body for Persons", defining of additional terms such as "validity" and "reliability", and the addition of a "principles" section that defines the foundational principles for the standard. ^[2]

General Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons

This section describes the general requirements for Certification Bodies for Persons. General requirements include criteria for the legal status of the Certification Body for Persons (the certification body must be a legal entity), criteria associated with the financial resources and liability responsibilities of the Certification Body for Persons (the certification body must have sufficient finances to cover its liabilities and for the operation of the entity), requirements regarding the impartiality and impartial operation of the Certification Body for Persons, and requirements that the Certification Body for Persons maintains responsibility for the decision on certification (the decision to award certification to a person cannot be outsourced to any other body).

Structural Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons

This section describes the structural requirements for Certification Bodies for Persons. Structural requirements contain criteria for the organizational structure of the Certification Body for Persons including how it is managed. Specific requirements relating to the structure of the Certification Body in relation to training is included in this section. Specifically, if the certification body also offers training it must demonstrate how the impartiality of the certification is not compromised by the training.

Resource Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons

This section describes the resource requirements for Certification Bodies for Persons. Resource requirements include criteria for the personnel and staff of the Certification Body for Persons. Specific requirements for persons (both internal to the organization and external to the organization such as consultants and volunteers) involved in certification activities are included as are criteria associated with outsourcing to other bodies. This section also includes requirements for other resources such as examination equipment required to operate the certification activities.

Records and Information Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons

This section describes the records and information requirements for Certification Bodies for Persons. The requirements include criteria relating to the records of applicants, candidates and certified persons. Requirements regarding information that must be made public as well as information that must be kept confidential are included in this section and criteria for the information security (exam papers, etc.) are described.

Certification Scheme

This section includes requirements for the development and maintenance of the certification scheme. The certification scheme is the competence and other requirements for awarding the certification to a person and includes a scope of certification, job and task description, required competence, abilities (when applicable), prerequisites (when applicable), and a code of conduct (when applicable). Criteria for the initial certification and recertification must be part of the scheme and includes description of the assessment methods, and the criteria for suspending and withdrawing the certification.

Certification Process Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons

This section includes requirements for the certification process including criteria for the certification application process, assessment process, examination process, and the decision on certification. Criteria for suspending, withdrawing or reducing the scope of certification and recertification requirements are included in this section. This section also includes requirements for the use of certificates, logos and marks, and requirements associated with appeals and complaints.

Management System Requirements for the Certification Body for Persons

This section requires the Certification Body for Persons to establish, document, implement and maintain a management system capable of supporting the requirements of the standard. A body that has established and maintains a management system in accordance with ISO 9001 and that is capable of supporting ISO/IEC 17024 fulfills the management system requirements of ISO/IEC 17024.

ISO/IEC 17024:2003

Released by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2003, ISO/IEC 17024 was designed to harmonize the personnel certification process worldwide.^[3] In the European Union ISO/IEC 17024 replaced EN 45013 (1989), which was published in the UK as BS 7513:1989.

The issues that ISO 17024 tackles can be summarized as

Defining what it is you examine (the competencies)
Knowledge, skills and personal attributes
Examination must be independent
Examination must be a valid test of competence

where competency is typically described as “the demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, skills and attributes”.

Guidance

Each accreditation body provides various levels of guidance around compliance and the implementation of ISO 17024.

International Accreditation Forum (IAF)

ISO 17024 Guidance(Note: This guidance is outdated. It refers to the 2003 version of ISO/IEC 17024.)

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

References

↑ Gasiorowski-Denis, E: "New and improved ISO/IEC 17024 standard for personnel certification programmes", , July 24, 2012
↑ MacCurtain, S. and Woodley, C., "Presentation of the New Standard:ISO/IEC 17024:2012",
↑ Davies, S: "Easy reference for ISO 17024", Personnel Certification and Training, June 2007

ISO standards by standard number

List of ISO standards / ISO romanizations / IEC standards

1–9999	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 16 31 -0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 128 216 217 226 228 233 259 269 302 306 428 518 519 639 -1 -2 -3 -5 -6 646 690 732 764 843 898 965 1000 1004 1007 1073-1 1413 1538 1745 1989 2014 2015 2022 2047 2108 2145 2146 2240 2281 2709 2711 2788 2852 3029 3103 3166 -1 -2 -3 3297 3307 3602 3864 3901 3977 4031 4157 4217 4909 5218 5428 5775 5776 5800 5964 6166 6344 6346 6385 6425 6429 6438 6523 6709 7001 7002 7098 7185 7200 7498 7736 7810 7811 7812 7813 7816 8000 8178 8217 8571 8583 8601 8632 8652 8691 8807 8820-5 8859 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -8-I -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 8879 9000/9001 9075 9126 9293 9241 9362 9407 9506 9529 9564 9594 9660 9897 9945 9984 9985 9995

10000–19999	10006 10116 10118-3 10160 10161 10165 10179 10206 10218 10303 -11 -21 -22 -28 -238 10383 10487 10585 10589 10646 10664 10746 10861 10957 10962 10967 11073 11170 11179 11404 11544 11783 11784 11785 11801 11898 11940 (-2) 11941 11941 (TR) 11992 12006 12182 12207 12234-2 13211 -1 -2 13216 13250 13399 13406-2 13407 13450 13485 13490 13567 13568 13584 13616 14000 14031 14224 14289 14396 14443 14496 -2 -3 -6 -10 -11 -12 -14 -17 -20 14644 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 14649 14651 14698 -2 14750 14764 14882 14971 15022 15189 15288 15291 15292 15398 15408 15444 -3 15445 15438 15504 15511 15686 15693 15706 -2 15707 15897 15919 15924 15926 15926 WIP 15930 16023 16262 16612-2 16750 16949 (TS) 17024 17025 17203 17369 17799 18000 18004 18014 18245 18629 18916 19005 19011 19092 (-1 -2) 19114 19115 19125 19136 19439 19500 19501 19502 19503 19505 19506 19507 19508 19509 19510 19600 19752 19757 19770 19775-1 19794-5 19831

20000+	20000 20022 20121 21000 21047 21500 21827:2002 22000 23270 23271 23360 24517 24613 24617 24707 25178 25964 26000 26300 26324 27000 series 27000 27001:2005 27001:2013 27002 27003 27004 27005 27006 27007 27729 27799 28000 29110 29148 29199-2 29500 30170 31000 32000 38500 40500 42010 80000 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14

Categories	ISO standards ISO 639 ISO 3166 ISO / IEC standards OSI protocols

All articles with prefix "ISO"

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.