1.1 This International Standard specifies the general requirements for the peer assessment process to be carried out by agreement groups of accreditation bodies or conformity assessment bodies. It addresses the structure and operation of the agreement group only insofar as they relate to the peer assessment process.
1.2 This International Standard is not concerned with the wider issues of the arrangements for the formation, organization and management of the agreement group, and does not cover how the group will use peer assessment in deciding membership of the group. Such matters, which could for example include a procedure for applicants to appeal against decisions of the agreement group, are outside the scope of this International Standard.
NOTE 1 Further information on the wider issues is contained in ISO/IEC Guide 68.
1.3 This International Standard is applicable to peer assessment of conformity assessment bodies performing activities such as
a) testing,
b) product certification,
c) inspection,
d) management system certification (sometimes also called registration), and
e) personnel certification.
More than one type of activity can be included in a peer assessment process. This can be considered particularly appropriate when the body under assessment conducts combined assessments of multiple conformity assessment activities.
This International Standard is also applicable to peer assessment amongst accreditation bodies, which is also known as peer evaluation.
NOTE 2 Bodies that are members of an agreement group might wish to rely on the soundness of the peer assessment process for evaluating the competence of a peer body as a potential subcontractor.