ISO has released the new standard ISO 17021-1\u00a0Conformity assessment \u2014 Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems \u2014 Part 1: Requirements. The standard replaces the previous ISO 17021 standard.<\/p>\n
This standard provides rules for certification bodies and their auditors when conducting conformity assessment audits for the purposes of certification, such as ISO 9001. It\u00a0has been criticized for diluting rules which protect ISO 9001 end users, while relaxing requirements\u00a0for the purposes of reducing costs of operation for the Certification Bodies. For example, the standard does away with the requirement<\/a> for CBs to maintain public registries of their certified clients, making it increasingly difficult to verify the validity of companies claiming ISO 9001 certification. The standard retains previous language that allows, under many conditions, for registrars to engage in consulting, despite growing complaints that this increases costs on users and results in certifications of dubious value.<\/p>\n The standard was written by ISO CASCO,which has been criticized for not allowing participation by standards user organizations, and consisting nearly entirely<\/a> of representatives of Accreditation and Certification Bodies. Some of the rules were drafted by a former BSI executive who previously lobbied <\/a>for the expansion of consulting by registrars.<\/p>\n