Key takeaways
- 1ISO/IEC 17021-1 clause 5.2.13 requires certification bodies to require personnel, internal and external, to reveal any situation known to them that can present them or the body with a conflict of interest — and to record and use that information, and not to use the person unless it can be demonstrated that there is no conflict.
- 2Employment. Current or past employment with the client, or with a company in the same group.
- 3A declared relationship removes the person from the assignment.
Impartiality is managed one assignment at a time. Before an auditor is assigned to a client, and before a decision-maker reviews the file, each of them answers the same questions. This is what those questions are, and why.
The requirement
ISO/IEC 17021-1 clause 5.2.13 requires certification bodies to require personnel, internal and external, to reveal any situation known to them that can present them or the body with a conflict of interest — and to record and use that information, and not to use the person unless it can be demonstrated that there is no conflict.
The declaration is how that requirement is met per assignment, rather than once at recruitment.
What is declared
Employment. Current or past employment with the client, or with a company in the same group.
Consultancy. Any management system consultancy provided to the client, by the person or by an organization they were part of — with dates. Clause 5.2.10 sets a minimum of two years since the consultancy ended before the person may take part in that client's certification activities.
Financial interest. Shares, loans, commissions, or any payment connected to the client.
Personal relationships. Family or close personal connections with the client's management or staff.
Prior audit history. Whether the person has audited this client before, and in what role. This is not a conflict by itself, but it is recorded, because the body also manages auditor rotation.
Anything else. The clause says "any situation known to them". The form ends with an open line for that reason.
What happens with the answers
A declared relationship removes the person from the assignment. That is the normal outcome and it is not a mark against anyone; it is the process working. Where a situation is unclear, it is referred to the person responsible for impartiality, and the reasoning is recorded.
The declarations are retained with the certification file. They are among the records an accreditation body samples when it assesses the certification body, because they are the evidence that 5.2.13 is applied, not just written.
The decision-maker's declaration
The person or group who takes the certification decision signs the same declaration and one more line: that they did not take part in the audit. ISO/IEC 17021-1 separates the audit function from the decision function, and the declaration makes the separation visible in the file.
What you will notice as a client
Occasionally an auditor you have worked with is replaced without a reason being given. Often the reason is a declaration. The body does not explain, because the declaration is the auditor's, and the outcome — an auditor with no conflict — is what you are entitled to.
CAS — An EGAC accredited MS certification body No. 012418. Accredited scope: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 22000, ISO 50001 and ISO 22301. Certificates accredited for ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 22000 and 50001 fall within EGAC's IAF MLA scope; ISO 22301 is accredited by EGAC and sits outside that scope.
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