Evaluation Guidlines

Evaluation guidelines

1.     General

Evaluation guidelines[2] shall form the basis for the issue and maintenance of certificates. They shall be prepared in proper consultation with the interested professionals and parties.
Each evaluation guideline shall comprise all the arrangements made within a Board of Experts on a particular subject of certification. This concerns both

• the requirements which have to be met by the supplier;
• and the requirements which have to be met by the certification body.

2.     Definitions

The various types of requirements are defined as follows:
Performance requirements: requirements made concrete by means of measures or figures, focusing on specific (functional) characteristics of composite product in its application and containing a limiting value to be achieved, which limiting value can be calculated or measured in an unequivocal manner.

Product requirements: requirements made concrete by means of measures or figures. focusing on (identifiable) characteristics of products and containing a limiting value to be achieved, which limiting can be calculated or measured in an unequivocal manner.

Process requirements: concrete requirements which have to be met by the process, including the conditions to be used therein and the preconditions in which the process may or has taken place, if necessary.

Processing instructions: actions described in order to ensure that products are processed in a correct manner or that a process takes place in a controlled manner.

Professional skill requirements: concrete, quantifiable requirements in order to be able to assess the knowledge, skill and abilities of a person. Requirements to be imposed on the quality system: the auditing scheme used by the supplier and the procedures observed by him in order to ensure that certified products an processes comply with the requirements laid down in the guidlines.

3.     Requirements per certification scheme

Depending on the certification scheme (product certification, process certification, personal certification) requirements or demands are laid down in an evaluation guideline for the following:

4.      Public law requirements

The evaluation guidelines have to include the public law requirements applicable to the subject of certification. This concerns both the applicable government regulations and the standards, codes of practice or equivalent documents to which reference is made by the government regulations.

5.     Private law requirements

In addition to the public law requirements, private law requirements may be laid down in evaluation guidelines. Such requirements may be taken from national or international standards, codes of practice or equivalent documents. In the absence of such documents requirements may be laid down in evaluation guidelines by the Boards of Experts themselves.

6.     Requirements in respect of the certification body

6.1.  The requirements in respect of the quality system shall be described in the evaluation guidelines concerned. These requirements shall relate to the need to have an IQC scheme and procedures that are of importance in the context of the certification.

6.2.  The IQC scheme shall, insofar as applicable, relate to:

• products or services supplied
• the production process
• end-products
• the status of measuring and auditing means
  
  

For each of these elements the producer must have demonstrably recorded following:

• The inspection aspects
• The inspection method used
• The inspection frequency
• The manner in which the inspection results are reported and kept.

6.3.  The procedures considered important in the context of certification shall always include:

• A procedure concerning the corrective actions to be taken if non-conformities should be found to be present
• A procedure for dealing with processes showing deviations
• A procedure for dealing with complains.

7.     Requirement in respect of the certification body

7.1. Certification body shall relate to:

• compliance with the accreditation requirements:
• availability of general rules;
• requirements in respect of the certification personnel and their
  qualifications;
• reporting on the audits and audits carried out;
• rules concerning the decision on the granting of certificates;
• implementation form of the certificate;
• nature and frequency of the audits;
• reporting to the Boards of Experts;
• recording the interpretations of requirements in interpretator documents, if necessary;
• specific demands made on the certification body.

8.     Procedure for creating evaluation guidelines

8.1.  IHMQ shall consult the relevant Boards of Experts on the need for new evaluation guidelines or for the amendment of existing evaluation guidelines.

8.2.  Should such a need be apparent, it shall be the duty of the Board of Experts to prepare or amend, whether directly or indirectly, the evaluation guideline concerned. If necessary, IHMQ shall set up a committee for this purpose on the recommendation of the Board concerned.

8.3.  If the Board of Experts agrees with the draft of an evaluation guideline, it shall be published by IHMQ for appraisal.

8.4.  The draft evaluation guideline does not have to be published for appraisal if the relative parts of the draft evaluation guideline have been drafted with the required participation of the interested parties.

8.5.  After incorporating the comments received on the draft evaluation guideline, the definitive text shall be adopted by the Board of Experts.

8.6.  Evaluation guidelines adopted by the Boards of Experts shall be validated and published by IHMQ, while stating the effective date as well as any transitional period.

9. Withdrawal of evaluation guidelines

After consulting the relative Board of Experts IHMQ may decide to withdraw an evaluation guideline.

[1] In the event of personal certification the term Guarantee Committee is often used instead of Board of Experts. A Guarantee Committee is a Board of Experts within the meaning of these Regulations.

[2] n the case of personal certification it is customary to use the term professional skill requirements