Publication of new Explanatory document Flexible scopes of accreditation (RvA-T054-NL)

This document describes the RvA policy and the working method with regard to flexible scopes. The document is based on the publication EA-2/15 ‘EA requirements on the accreditation of flexible scopes’. The RvA-T054 is mandatory for all bodies that have or apply for a flexible scope of accreditation. At the moment the flexible scope is only applicable for bodies accredited with ISO 15189, ISO/IEC 17025 (testing), ISO 17034 and ISO/IEC 17043.

Most of the content of the new document is already applied at the bodies with a flexible scope, since the EA-2/15 has been in place and assessed for some time. We point out to all bodies with a flexible scope that there are some minor changes in dealing with a flexible scope, resulting from the revised EA-2/15. These changes have also been incorporated into the new RvA-T054. The most important change is a clear(er) indication of the limits of flexibility on the scope of accreditation.

In the next amendment of Specific Accreditation Protocol (SAP) for the relevant standards, the overlap with T054 will be removed from the specific SAP.

The RvA would like to thank Fenelab for the comments received. Fenelab was directly informed about the way in which the comments were processed.