AS ISO/IEC 17000—2005

ISO/IEC 17000:2004
AS ISO/IEC 17000—2005

Australian Standard™
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Conformity assessment—Vocabulary
and general principles
 This Australian Standard was prepared by Committee QR-010, Conformity
Assessment. It was approved on behalf of the Council of Standards Australia on
22 August 2005.
This Standard was published on 21 November 2005.

The following are represented on Committee QR-010:

Association of Accredited Certification Bodies

Australian Information Industry Association
Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (Commonwealth)
Certification Interests (Australia)
Certification Interests (New Zealand)
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Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association

Consumers Federation of Australia
International Accreditation Forum
Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand
National Association of Testing Authorities Australia

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This Standard was issued in draft form for comment as DR 05232.

 AS ISO/IEC 17000—2005

Australian Standard™
This is a free 9 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

Conformity assessment—Vocabulary
and general principles

Originated as HB 18.2—1992.
Jointly revised and designated HB 18.2:2003.
Revised and redesignated AS ISO/IEC 17000—2005.

COPYRIGHT
© Standards Australia
All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without the written
permission of the publisher.
Published by Standards Australia, GPO Box 476, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia
ISBN 0 7337 6981 0
 ii

PREFACE

This Standard was prepared by the Australian members of the Joint Standards
Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee QR-010, Conformity Assessment. After
consultation with stakeholders in both countries, Standards Australia and Standards New
Zealand decided to develop this Standard as an Australian Standard rather than an
Australian/New Zealand Standard. It supersedes HB 18.2:2003.
This Standard is identical with, and has been reproduced from the English language part of
ISO/IEC 17000:2004, Conformity assessment—Vocabulary and general principles.
The objective of this Standard is to specify general terms and definitions relating to conformity
assessment, including the accreditation of conformity assessment bodies, and to the use of
conformity assessment to facilitate trade.
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As this Standard is reproduced from an international standard, the following applies:

(a) Its number appears on the cover and title page while the international standard number
appears only on the cover
(b) In the source text ‘ISO/IEC 17000’ or ‘This International Standard’ should read
‘AS ISO/IEC 17000’.
(c) A full point substitutes for a comma when referring to a decimal marker.
(d) Foreign languages in text and on figures should be ignored.
The term ‘informative’ has been used in this Standard to define the application of the annex to
which it applies. An ‘informative’ annex is only for information and guidance.
 ISO/IEC 17000:2004(E/F/R) iii

Contents CONTENTS Page

Page
Foreword ...........................................................................................................................................................vii
0 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................x
1 Scope............................................................................................................................................................1
2 Terms relating to conformity assessment in general .............................................................................1
3 Basic terms ..................................................................................................................................................2
4 Conformity assessment terms relating to selection and determination (see Figure A.1) ....................3
5 Conformity assessment terms relating to review and attestation (see Figure A.1) ..............................3
6 Conformity assessment terms relating to surveillance (see Figure A.1) ...............................................4
7 Terms relating to conformity assessment and facilitation of trade.......................................................5
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Annex A (informative) Principles of conformity assessment.........................................................................7

Annex B (informative) Related terms defined in other documents .............................................................12
Bibliography......................................................................................................................................................13
Alphabetical index............................................................................................................................................14
French alphabetical index (Index alphabétique) .............................................................................................41
Russian alphabetical index (Алфавитный указатель) ..................................................................................42
German alphabetical index (Alphabetisches Stichwortverzeichnis)................................................................43
Spanish alphabetical index (Índice alfabético)................................................................................................44
Italian alphabetical index (Indice alfabetico) ...................................................................................................45
Dutch alphabetical index (Alfabetische index) ................................................................................................46
Swedish alphabetical index (Alfabetiskt register) ...........................................................................................47

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 ISO/IEC 17000:2004(E/F/R) iv

0 Introduction INTRODUCTION

0.1 Terms and definitions applicable to conformity assessment

ISO and ISO/IEC Guides and, more recently, International Standards relating generically to conformity
assessment activities such as testing, inspection and various forms of certification are prepared by working
groups of the ISO Committee on conformity assessment (CASCO). For many years, ISO/IEC Guide 2, last
revised in 1996, has included a core vocabulary for conformity assessment, built up from a small number of
terms and definitions first compiled to facilitate communication and understanding about product certification
based on standards for traditional manufactured goods.

In 2000, CASCO decided to take conformity assessment terminology (Clauses 12 to 17) out of
ISO/IEC Guide 2 and provide instead a self-contained vocabulary more readily applicable within the planned
ISO/IEC 17000 series of standards and in the drafting or revision of related guides. CASCO Working Group 5,
Definitions, has accordingly prepared this International Standard in consultation with other active CASCO
working groups, as a consistent framework within which more specific concepts may be defined appropriately
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and denoted by the most appropriate terms. Extra terms for concepts unique to particular activities within
conformity assessment, such as accreditation, certification of persons and marks of conformity, are found in
the International Standard or Guide related to that activity. Such concepts are not included in this International
Standard.

Until pre-existing CASCO publications are revised, the terminology used in those documents remains valid in
its context; this International Standard is not intended to be applied retrospectively.

Conformity assessment interacts with other fields such as management systems, metrology, standardization
and statistics. This International Standard does not define the boundaries of conformity assessment. These
remain elastic.

0.2 Terms and definitions applicable to trade policy

Clause 7 includes some terms and definitions, drawn mainly from the superseded clauses of
ISO/IEC Guide 2, for several broader concepts. These are intended not only to standardize usage within the
conformity assessment community, but also to help policy makers concerned with the facilitation of trade
within regulatory and international treaty frameworks.

0.3 A functional approach to conformity assessment

The terms and definitions specified in this International Standard, particularly under Clauses 4 and 5, reflect
the adoption by CASCO in November 2001 of the functional approach recommended earlier that year in the
final report of a CASCO – CEN/CENELEC TC 1 joint working group.

To provide a better understanding of the defined concepts, their grouping and their relationships, a description
of the functional approach is included in Annex A for information.

0.4 Selection of terms and definitions

Some of the terms included in this International Standard relate to concepts it was considered essential to
define. Others it was thought helpful to explain. Many of the general terms used to distinguish conformity
assessment concepts are used in common language in a broader sense or with a wider range of meanings.
Some also appear in other standard vocabularies with definitions specific to the relevant field of application.

An alphabetical index lists the terms defined in this International Standard. Standards defining other relevant
terms are given in Annex B with separate alphabetical lists. First are terms applicable to specific aspects of
conformity assessment, as defined in other standards in the ISO/IEC 17000 series. Second are terms for
which the definitions given in either the International vocabulary of basic and general terms in metrology (VIM)
or ISO 9000 are generally applicable in conformity assessment contexts. For the terms “procedure” and
“product”, both used extensively in other definitions, the ISO 9000:2000 definitions are reproduced in 3.2
and 3.3.

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 ISO/IEC 17000:2004(E/F/R)
v

0.5 Changes in terminology

Attention is drawn to significant changes in the terms or their definitions from the superseded clauses of
ISO/IEC Guide 2.

This International Standard does not include a definition of “conformity” on the grounds that it is not necessary
to do so. “Conformity” does not feature in the definition of “conformity assessment”. The concept of
“conformity assessment” is concerned with “fulfilment of specified requirements”, not with the wider concept of
“conformity”. A definition of the term “specified requirement” (3.1) is included. In English, the term
“compliance” is used to distinguish the action of doing what is required (e.g. an organization “complies” by
making something conform or by fulfilling a regulatory requirement).

The ISO 9000 definition of “product” (3.3) includes services as a product category, so that it is no longer
correct to refer to “products and services”.

Instead of “product, process or service”, the generic expression used in ISO/IEC Guide 2 for the “subject of
standardization”, Note 2 to 2.1 introduces the expression “object of conformity assessment” as a means of
referring to the product, process, system, person or body to which conformity assessment is applied. (The
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“subject” would more logically be the body doing the assessment.)

Instead of “assurance of conformity”, the term “attestation” (5.2) is used for the activity of conveying assurance
through the issue of a “statement of conformity”.

The term “accreditation” is now applicable only to attestation regarding a conformity assessment body. The
definition in ISO/IEC Guide 2, by contrast, would have been equally applicable to the certification of persons,
as specified in ISO/IEC 17024. Following this change, the terms “conformity assessment body” (2.5) and
“accreditation body” (2.6) are defined separately. More specific terms relating to accreditation are defined in
ISO/IEC 17011.

To avoid ambiguity, the term “body” is used in this International Standard only when referring to conformity
assessment bodies or accreditation bodies. Otherwise, the term “organization” is used in its general meaning,
as in the ISO 9000 definition. The more specific ISO/IEC Guide 2 definition of an organization as a body
based on membership is not applicable to the field of conformity assessment.

© ISO 2004 – All rights reserved/Tous droits réservés/Все права сохранены xi

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vi

NOTES
 1
ISO/IEC 17000:2004(E/F/R)
AUSTRALIAN STANDARD

Conformity 2 Terms
Évaluation de relating toOценка
conformity 2 Terme
assessment in general conformit
assessment — la conformité — соответствия.
Vocabulary and Vocabulaire
2.1 et Cловарь и общие2.1
general principles принципы
conformity assessment évaluation
demonstration that specified requirements (3.1) démonstratio
relating to a product (3.3), process, system, person relatives à
or body are fulfilled personne ou
NOTE 1 The subject field of conformity assessment NOTE 1 Le
1 Scope includes
1 Domaine d'application activities defined elsewhere in this International
1 Область применения comprend de
Standard, such as testing (4.2), inspection (4.3) and Norme inter
This International Standard La présentecertification (5.5), as well as the accreditation (5.6) of
Norme internationale l'inspection
conformity assessment bodies (2.5). l'accréditatio
specifies general terms and spécifie des termes généraux et
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conformité (2
definitions relating to conformity leurs définitions
NOTE 2 The relatifsexpression
à “object of conformity
assessment, including the l'évaluation assessment”
de la conformité, y is used in this International NOTE 2 L'e
or “object”
accreditation of conformity Standard to encompass any particular material, product, conformité» o
assessment bodies, and to the installation, process, system, person or body to which internationale
use of conformity assessment to conformity assessment is applied. A service is covered by l'installation,
facilitate trade. A description of the definition of a product (see Note 1 to 3.3). l'organisme p
the functional approach to est appliquée
conformity assessment is produit (voir N
included in Annex A, as a further
aid to understanding among users
of conformity assessment, con- 2.2 2.2
formity assessment bodies and first-party conformity assessment activity activité d'
their accreditation bodies, in both conformity assessment activity that is performed by première
voluntary and regulatory environ- the person or organization that provides the object activité d'év
ments. personne ou
NOTE The first-, second- and third-party descriptors
This International Standard does used to characterize conformity assessment activities with NOTE Les
respect to a given object are not to be confused with the partie utilisée
not set out to provide a
legal identification of the relevant parties to a contract. de la conform
vocabulary for all of the concepts
pas être con
that may need to be used in parties prenan
describing particular conformity
assessment activities. Terms and
definitions are given only where
the concept defined would not be
understandable from the general 2.3 2.3
language use of the term, or second-party conformity assessment activité d'
where an existing standard activity seconde
definition is not applicable. conformity assessment activity that is performed by a activité d'éva
person or organization that has a user interest in the personne ou
NOTE 1 The notes appended to object l'utilisation d
certain definitions offer clarification or
examples to facilitate understanding NOTE 1 Persons or organizations performing second- NOTE 1 Pa
of the concepts described. In certain party conformity assessment activities include, for réalisent des
cases, the notes may differ in different example, purchasers or users of products, or potential seconde part
languages for linguistic reasons, or customers seeking to rely on a supplier's management utilisateurs d
additional notes may be given. system, or organizations representing those interests. cherchent
к à
d'un fournisse
NOTE 2 The terms and definitions NOTE 2 See Note to 2.2. intérêts.
are laid out in a systematic order, with
an alphabetical index. A term in a NOTE 2 Vo
definition or note that is defined in
another entry is indicated by bold- х
face followed by its entry number in les notes peuvent être différentes
parentheses. Such terms may be pour des raisons linguistiques ou des
replaced by their complete definition. notes supplémentaires peuvent être
établies. права сохранены
© ISO 2004 – All rights reserved/Tous droits réservés/Все 1
www.standards.com.au © Standards Australia
NOTE 2 Les termes et leurs
www.standards.com.au
définitions sont classés dans un ordre © Standards Australia
systématique, avec un index alphabé-
4 © ISO 2004 – All rights re
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AS ISO/IEC 17000-2005, Conformity assessment -

Vocabulary and general principles
This is a free 9 page sample. Access the full version at http://infostore.saiglobal.com.

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