Can an Accreditation Body that is linked to a separate legal entity that provides consulting services have shared resources (office space, finances, sales, marketing, accounting, human resources, legal counsel, etc.) and meet the impartiality requirements of ISO/IEC 17011:2017 Section 4.4?
STANDARD: ISO/IEC 17011 · CLAUSE: Clause 4.4 · TOPIC: Impartiality
Answer:
| The absence of ‘shared resources’ is not required by clause 4.4.12 and is therefore not applicable; however, ‘shared resources’ can be a source of risk to impartiality (Note 1 of 4.4.6) and it should be considered in the risk analysis process covered by clause 4.4.6. The type of resource being shared can introduce additional requirements that should be considered, for example: – sharing office space can infringe confidentiality and public perception requirements; – sharing personnel can violate confidentiality, impartiality, and public perception requirements; – sharing finances can violate confidentiality requirements and allow commercial and financial pressures to appear; – sharing sales or marketing prevents meeting clause 4.4.13. |
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