ISO/IEC 17029, “Conformity assessment–General requirements for verification and validation bodies” was published on Oct. 30, 2019. The new standard contains general principles and requirements for the impartial, competent, and consistent provision of validation and verification activities by validation and verification bodies. The standard is applicable to these bodies in any sector and can be used in conjunction with sector-specific programs and schemes that contain requirements for validation and verification processes and procedures. The standard will serve as a framework standard for all types of verification in a wider range of conformity assessments. The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) was an active member of the ISO Working Group that developed the standard, thereby gaining first-hand knowledge of how the requirements were developed and the rationale behind them.
UKAS will be developing programs to provide accreditation for schemes under the new standard and will seek expressions of interest for such schemes as they become available. The organization is currently developing a training package to share an understanding of the standard and to support applicants through the accreditation process.
Current examples for validation/verification as accredited under ISO 14065 as conformity assessment activities include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (e.g., according to ISO 14064-3), the Forestry Commission Woodland Carbon Code, the ICAO CORSIA scheme, and the EU Shipping MRV scheme. Existing accreditation programs under ISO 14065: 2013 will continue until the transition arrangements are finalized.
ISO 14065 is currently being revised (due for publication in 2020 or 2021) and the scope will be expanded to cover schemes for environmental labeling, declarations and footprints (e.g., according to ISO 14020 series, such as the environmental product declaration, EPD), sustainability, or environmental reporting (e.g., according to ISO 14016).
Potential new applications under ISO/IEC 17029 can include claims relating to construction technology, energy management, financial management, industrial automation systems, software and systems engineering, artificial intelligence, information technology, health care products and medical devices, machine safety, safety and design engineering, and social responsibility.
This article first appeared on the UKAS website and is published here with permission.