ISO/NP 37304

Compliance management systems — Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification ofcompliance management systems

Scope

This standard establishes requirements for certification bodies to follow in order to ensure that certification bodies implement certification programs in a competent, consistent and impartial manner, to promote international recognition of those certification bodies, and to provide confidence in the effectiveness of CMS of certified organizations.
This standard may be used as a guideline document for designated use by government departments, certification program owners, accreditation bodies, or others.
The requirements of this standard are general guidelines for certification bodies implementing a CMS certification program.
This document addresses the additional requirements necessary for the CMS audit process. It covers the planning process, the initial certification, conducting audits, audit time, etc.
This standard does not impose requirements on the content of the certification program and its development, nor does it limit the role or choices of the program owner, but it is not appropriate for the content of the program to exclude or conflict with any of the requirements of this standard.
This standard applies not only to third-party CMS certification, but many of its provisions may also be used in first- and second-party CMS assessment programs.