New IATF rules for certification to ISO/TS 16949:2002 What has changed?
With the publication of ISO/TS 16949:2002 in April 2002, the automotive sector took another large step towards Automotive Excellence. The technical specification ISO/TS 16949 is the result of a joint working group of the International Automotive Task Force (IATF) and the ISO Technical Committee (ISO/TC 176) as well as its sub-committees.
Effective October 1, 2008, the IATF (International Automotive Task Force), represented in Germany by the VDA QMC in Oberursel, published new rules for the certification process. The new rules become valid for all current and new certifications on January 1, 2009, without further rules for transitioning.
The most important changes for certified organization
When planning the date of the recertification audit, it must be ensured that the certificate decision is made before the expiry date of the existing certificate, but at the latest on the last day of validity. This means that all activities within the framework of a recertification audit must be completed before the certificate expires.
Recommendation:
the recertification audit should begin 3 months before the existing certificate expires.
The certification body shall appoint at least one auditor from the initial certification audit team to participate in all surveillance audits of the three (3) year audit cycle.
For each subsequent recertification and surveillance audits, different auditors shall be used.
Remote supporting functions like development,purchasing, contract verification and extended worbenches need to be listed in a certificate appendix.
In the case of a certificate withdrawal within a corporate audit scheme, the withdrawal shall only apply to the affected site(s).
The new certification requirements are available in German and English (original version) at www.vda-qmc.de.
