FAQs on Inspection
What is
inspection?
 Inspection
is the systematic examination of the extent to which a
product, process or service fulfils specified
requirements by observation and professional judgement
accompanies as appropriate by measurement, testing or
gauging which should be based on accurate and reliable
data.
Inspections
activities are varied and may be very simple such as
checking of quantities, to very complex such as
inspections of dangerous machines, lifts, pressure
equipment, agro-foodstuffs, electrical installations,
etc. Some of the inspection are a legal requirement and
are covered by legislation. The objective of every
inspection is to reduce the risk to the owner, the buyer
and to the user of the item being inspected.
The growth in
international trade over the recent years has been
accompanied by an increase in inspection activities.
Inspection Bodies carry out inspections to verify
compliance with national regulations in the mandatory
areas and customer requirements in the voluntary areas.
Why is it
important to use a competent Inspection Body?
Decisions by
Inspection Bodies have affects on business continuity,
safety of persons and property. Wrong decisions may lead
to financial losses and loss of limb or life.
This is why
Governments, manufacturers, suppliers and customers want
to have confidence in the competence of the Inspection
bodies that perform inspections on their behalf. They
want to be sure that the inspection bodies have the
personnel, facilities, and technical expertise to carry
out inspections professionally and competently and that
they operate a management system which enables them to
control and continually improve their performance.
Why is it
important for Inspection Bodies to be accredited?
Accreditation
provides a formal recognition by an independent and
authoritative third party of the competence of an
Inspection Body to perform a set of defined inspections
as listed in a scope of accreditation. Accreditation
also establishes that the Inspection Body meets the
requirements of the international standard for
inspection bodies namely ISO17020. This standard sets
out general criteria for the operation of various types
of bodies performing inspection.
Accreditation
enhances the credibility of an Inspection Body since it
will be able to demonstrate a full audit trail for the
inspections it carries out. It will also give it a
marketing edge over its non-accredited competitors and
thus improving market access prospects.
Inspection
Bodies may also be interested to become Notified Bodies.
A Notified Body is a third party authorised to perform
conformity assessment tasks as specified in the relevant
EU directives related to CE marking and product safety.
In Malta, an
organisation must be accredited before applying for
recognition as a Notified Body.
What is
expected from an accredited Inspection Body?
Accreditation to
ISO17020 expects that an Inspection Body shall:
·
be
legally identifiable or else if forming part of an
organisation shall be identifiable within that
organisation;
·
clearly describe its functions and technical scope of
the activity for which it is competent;
·
have
adequate liability insurance;
·
have
independently audited accounts;
·
identify its level of independence, impartiality and
integrity;
·
ensure
confidentiality of the information obtained during
inspection activities;
·
ensure
that its organisation enables it to maintain the
capability to perform its technical functions
satisfactorily;
·
have a
technical manager who is qualified and experienced in
the operation of the inspection body;
·
have a
quality management system relevant to its operations
which include a document control system, procedures for
corrective actions and customer feedback, procedures for
customer complaints, internal auditing and management
reviews.
·
sufficient number of personnel with the range of
expertise to carry out its normal functions;
·
have a
code of conduct for its staff;
·
have
suitable and adequate facilities and equipment to permit
all activities associated with the inspection activities
to be carried out. The Inspection Body shall ensure that
such facilities and equipment are continually maintained
and calibrated.
·
have
properly documented inspection methods and procedures;
·
have a
system in place to handle inspection samples and items;
·
have a
contract order control system to ensure that customer
requirements are satisfied;
·
have a
proper system for the control and maintenance of records
which include inspections reports and certificates;
·
interact and exchange experiences with other inspection
bodies.
How can
accreditation be achieved?
From one-person
operations to in-house manufacturing inspection services
and wholly independent Inspection Bodies, inspection
accreditation is offered to all inspection services.
Accreditation
involves a thorough technical assessment of the
inspection body according to the requirements specified
in ISO17020, the requirements set by the Inspection Body
in its management system and the regulations and
policies set by the NAB-MALTA.
The
accreditation assessment starts with a desk audit of the
documents submitted with the application form. This is
normally followed by a preliminary visit during which it
will be established whether the Inspection Body seems to
be prepared enough for the initial assessment. The
preliminary visit also helps the Inspection Body to be
prepared properly for the assessment visit and to
familiarise itself with the accreditation process.
The initial
assessment is carried out by an assessment team selected
by the NAB-MALTA according to the type of Inspection
Body and scope of activities being assessed and covers
all elements contributing to the production of accurate
and reliable inspection results including staffing,
training, supervision, equipment, records and reports.
Part of the assessment also involves observing your
inspectors on the field conducting the inspections and
individually evaluated for their technical competence.
Following a successful initial assessment, the NAB-MALTA
will perform an annual surveillance visit to sample
parts of the operations of the accredited Inspection
Body and it will carry out a full reassessment on the
fifth year.
The ISO standard
is available for purchase from the Malta Standards
Authority whilst the NAB-MALTA regulations, policies and
guidance documents are available as free downloads from
the NAB-MALTA website. Other important documents to be
consulted and downloaded are available from the
EA
website.
Why is it
important for users and customers to choose accredited
Inspection Bodies?
Inspection
certificates and reports issued by accredited Inspection
Bodies are more credible, acceptable and recognized by
the market and it reduces the risk from selecting
incompetent Inspection Bodies plus the risk of products
being rejected by purchasers. You will be ensuring that
the organisation undertaking the inspection has the
people, facilities, technical expertise, management
systems and track record to undertake the inspection
professionally and competently. The selection of a
competent Inspection Body may be crucial to maintaining
your reputation. Accredited Inspection Bodies have to
undergo annual surveillance visits by the NAB-MALTA to
ensure that they maintain and improve their level of
competence in line with international standards for the
activities for which they are accredited.
Using an
NAB-MALTA accredited Inspection Body will help to
demonstrate due diligence in the event of legal actions.
Accreditation eliminates the need for multiple
assessments from various parties which costs money for
both the end user and the supplier.
How can
one identify an accredited Inspection Body?
An accredited
Inspection Body can be identified through an
accreditation mark issued by a recognised Accreditation
Body. Accredited Inspection Bodies are allowed to use
the mark on their reports and certificates. This will
demonstrate that the reports are covered by
accreditation and that the Inspection Body is in
conformance with the requirements of ISO17020.
NAB-MALTA
Accreditation Mark for Inspection Bodies
Each accredited
Inspection Body is identified by a unique number as
reproduced on the accreditation mark. The use of the
mark and reference to accreditation is governed by a set
of regulations.
Accredited
inspection bodies are also issued with an
accreditation certificate by the NAB-MALTA having
the same number as that shown on the accreditation mark.
An integral part of the certificate is the scope which
defines the inspection activities for which the
Inspection Body has been accredited. An Inspection Body
can only claim to be accredited for the activities which
are lists in its scope of accreditation.
An important
aspect of the Accreditation Certificate for Inspection
Bodies is that it defines whether the Inspection Body is
Type A, B or C which identify the level of independence.
What if an
Inspection Body is certified to ISO9001?
ISO17020 should
not be confused with the quality management system
standard ISO9001. ISO9001 is specific to quality
management systems and audits to this standard do not
require evaluation of the technical competence of the
inspection body. ISO9001 should not be regarded
as an “acceptable” alternative to ISO17020.
What is
the NAB-MALTA?
The NAB-MALTA
i.e. the National Accreditation Board is the only
accreditation body in Malta legally recognized to carry
out assessments leading to accreditation for the various
types of conformity assessment bodies including
laboratories, inspection bodies and certification
bodies.
The NAB-MALTA is
a full member of the
European Co-operation for
Accreditation (EA) and participates actively in its
work. EA is composed of all the accreditation bodies of
the EU and EFTA countries and EU candidate countries. It
also maintains a series of contracts of co-operation
with non-European countries.
EA has
established Multi Lateral Agreements (MLAs) as a system
of peer evaluations of its members. EA sets up
assessment teams made up of representatives of its
member accreditation bodies to evaluate the operations
of the accreditation body according to the international
standard ISO17011. The MLA process ensures the
equivalence of operations of accreditation bodies with the result that inspection certificates issued by
accredited organisations are recognized internationally.
Application forms for the accreditation of your
inspection body may be found in the
downloads section.
Here
you can find a
list of the
accredited inspection bodies by NAB-MALTA. |
