38th meeting of EA IC

European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) Inspection Committee (IC) held its 38th meeting on 5-6 September 2019 in Berlin.

European co-operation for Accreditation Inspection Committee held its 38th meeting with 52 participants from 41 National Accreditation Bodies (NABs) and EUROLAB on 5-6 September 2019 in Berlin (Germany).

Next vice-chair

Brian REED from NA, Norwegian National Accreditation Body, was appointed Vice-Chair of the Inspection Committee for the period 2020-2021.

The discussions mainly focused on the following subjects:

Harmonization of Scope of Accreditation

According to the results of the survey conducted for scopes of periodic inspection of pressure equipment and lifts, it was emphasized that there are differences as well as clear similarities in the approach of accreditation bodies to scope presentation. The common elements, as well as the particularities of the presented scopes, were highlighted.

For the purpose of harmonization, ABs were invited to take advantage of these similarities when presenting the scope of their inspection scopes and be aware that others may present it differently but still state similar information.

Application of ISO/IEC 17020 in the field of crime scene investigation (CSI)

Presentation of scope of accreditation was briefly discussed in the field of crime scene investigation based on the outcome of the survey performed beforehand.
The EA IC agreed that ensuring harmonization in this special field would be beneficial. Setting up a TFG for CSI activities is an option for 2020.

Car Inspection and Type Approval

The revision of EA 5/02: EA Guideline on the Implementation of ISO/IEC 17020 in the Periodic Inspection of the Roadworthiness of Motor Vehicles and Trailers was approved. A new work item proposal will be submitted to the EA General Assembly for adoption in November 2019. The draft revised document should be presented at the EAIC meeting in March 2020.

After a comprehensive presentation was made on the legal requirements and the overall business of type approval activities in the automotive sector, it was agreed to think about setting up a dedicated TFG. Setting up a TFG for type approval activities is an option for 2020.

Inspection Committee Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Database

A TURKAK-designed Inspection Committee Frequently Asked Questions (EAIC-FAQs) Database, offering advanced search and follow-up options, was presented to the committee members as a draft project. Committee members welcomed the presented database and conveyed their evaluation on its development. Considerations on whether the draft EAIC-FAQ database will be made available by EAIC are underway to be further elaborated in 2020.

Workshop on Scopes of Inspection Bodies (IBs) Inspecting According to Legal Requirements and Inspection Procedures

The second-day workshop of the meeting was dedicated to the following topics:

• Scope issues of IBs,
• Consideration of NAB in assessment when an IB is inspecting according to legal requirements (acceptable details in the scope presentation and amount of freedom of improvisation depending on the scope presentation)

In 2020, the EA IC will organize a workshop on the second day of its meeting in Paris focusing on “calibration” and “verification” issues in inspection, and eventually on particularities identified in the new version of ILAC P15.

ILAC P15 Revision

EAIC Members were urged to go through the draft revised ILAC P15 and to send their comments to ILAC by 11 October 2019.

A great majority of EAIC members already agreed the following to be put forward by the EAIC Chair to the ILAC IC meeting on 25 October 2019 in Frankfurt:

• to remove out § 4.1.3c about the identification of impartiality risks;
• to remove out the addition made under § 6.1.10a about records of authorization;
• to remove out all the changes introduced under Options A and B on page 15 because they generate no added value to the reader of the document.

This meeting was the last one chaired by Rolf Straub (SAS, Switzerland), who dedicated 8 years to the EA Inspection Committee. Orbay Evrensevdi (TURKAK, Turkey), the next chair, expressed his deep gratitude on behalf of the members of EA IC for Rolf’s great services and benefits to the committee and its members.

More information could be found on the official EA website HERE http://www.european-accreditation.org/

The next EA IC meeting will be on 10 March 2020 in Sofia (Bulgaria), hosted by BAS.