Update on the Revision of ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Draft International Standard (DIS) Ballot

In this informative webinar, ANAB details the main changes made to the draft international standard (DIS) of ISO/IEC 17020 and expected to be reflected in the upcoming revision of the standard, which is expected to be published in late 2025.

Notably, the ISO/IEC 27020 revision will have a new title, “Requirements for Bodies Performing Inspections.” The ISO/CASCO CAS/PROC 33 common elements in CASCO standards have marked significant changes to the new 17020, affecting Clause 4 (Impartiality and Confidentiality), Clause 6.1 (Competence, Impartiality, and Confidentiality), Clause 7.5 (Appeals), Clause 7.6 (Complaints), and Clause 8.1 (management systems). These new common elements were added and inserted into these standards to harmonize all 170XX standards. Further details to these clauses and definitions are addressed in the webinar.

Audience Questions

At the end of the webinar, questions were answered from the audience. Some of these included:

• Does the new version of ISO/IEC 17020 require the participation of inspection bodies for proficiency testing and ILC? As it stands right now, it doesn’t really seem to be addressed well.
• Do you have a date we should expect the standard to be published?
• With the change in title to the standard, is this an indication that it will be less applicable to the forensics community in the future?
• Is the DIS available to interested parties in the US?

Presenters

Paul Matera, Senior Manager of Accreditation, Inspection, Laboratories, and Related Activities

Paul Matera, ANAB Sr. Accreditation Manager who heads up ANAB’s Inspection Body program, and is a US expert to ISO CASCO WG 31 revising ISO/IEC 17020.  Paul is currently serving as the Chair of the Task Group on Risk in WG 31, and represents ANAB on the ILAC Inspection Committee, as well as other Inspection Committees for other Regional Cooperation Bodies worldwide.  He has over 30 years experience in the inspection field. He will be joined by Keith Mowry, a Sr. Manager in ANAB’s training group, as well as ANAB’s representative on the ANSI International Conformity Assessment Committee (ICAC) – the national mirror committee to ISO CASCO.  He served as ICAC Chair for over 20 years and has over 30 years experience with ISO Standards & Guides for conformity assessment. Together they will provide an update on the revision to ISO/IEC 17020:2012.

Keith Mowry, Senior Manager of Accreditation

As Senior Manager Business Development Keith Mowry collaborates with clients and schemes in all fields of conformity assessment to create and enhance conformity assessment solutions. He represents the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) on the ANSI International Conformity Assessment Committee (ANSI ICAC, the US mirror committee to ISO CASCO), including active membership and participation on the ANSI ICAC Subcommittee for ISO CASCO Chair’s Policy and Coordination Committee.

In addition to Business Development responsibilities, Keith also coordinates ANAB participation in standardization activities at the tactical and strategic levels. In particular, he provides expertise and support regarding the ISO/IEC 17000 series standards to ANAB staff, assessors, clients and stakeholders to promote and achieve cost effective, private sector conformity assessment solutions for market operators and regulators alike.

Keith holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, With Distinction in the Curriculum. Keith’s external standards and conformity assessment committee work includes various ISO CASCO Working Groups and Technical Advisory Committees.