A documented competence procedure must set criteria, identify training, prove competence, authorise people formally and monitor their performance.
What applies today
The body must run a documented process, kept current, for managing the competence of everyone involved in the certification process. The procedure must require the body to set competence criteria for each function, taking the scheme requirements into account; identify training needs and provide training on processes, requirements, methods, activities and other scheme requirements; demonstrate that each person has the competence the duties require; formally authorise people for functions in the process; and monitor their performance. The body must keep records for each person involved: name and address, employer and position, education and professional status, experience and training, the assessment of competence, performance monitoring, the authorisations held and the date the record was last updated.
Why it matters
Competence is where a certification body most often drifts. A person who was assessed once for a scheme can keep signing decisions years later while the scheme, the technology or the person's role has changed. The clause asks for a loop, not a certificate: criteria, training, demonstration, authorisation, monitoring. The record list is specific because an assessor needs to reconstruct the decision path for a real certificate.
The public FDIS contents lists clause 6.1.2 as Management of competence for personnel involved in the certification process. This site uses the shorter label Management of competence for personnel for the page. The FDIS requirement wording is not held, so the requirement above is the 2012 text that applies until publication.
Where this clause lands in the revision
This is a resource clause, and the public contents adds titled subclauses around it. The 2012 requirement remains the basis of an assessment until publication. A first artefact an assessor commonly asks for here is competence procedure covering criteria, training, demonstration, authorisation and monitoring. The party this touches first is The competence owner and the line managers who authorise people for certification functions.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Procedure | Competence procedure covering criteria, training, demonstration, authorisation and monitoring |
| Criteria | Function and scheme competence criteria |
| Personnel records | Record per person with all eight required fields and the update date |
| Authorisations | Formal authorisation record tied to the supporting evidence |
| Monitoring | Performance monitoring record with the action taken |
One common question. pick a person who made a recent decision and trace the authorisation back to the competence evidence. A matrix with ticks and no supporting record is not enough.
Common failures
- One criteria matrix is used for every function and every scheme
- Authorisations were issued by email and never recorded
- Performance monitoring is the annual appraisal, with no link to certification work
- Personnel records omit the employer and the update date
Prepare before publication
Pick five people who made decisions in the last quarter. Reconstruct each authorisation from the record and note every missing field.
Dates that matter
The public record gives stage 50.20 on 4 August 2026 and voting to 27 October 2026. The planning date, 15 February 2027, is an estimate from that stage and not an ISO date, and clause 6.1.2 has no separate date.
Cross-references
6.1.1 Certification body personnel: general · 6.1.3 Contract with the personnel · 7.4 Evaluation · 7.5 Review · 7.6 Certification decision
Source
Source for 6.1.2: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Clause 6.1.2, with the ISO/IEC FDIS 17065 public record. Our statement, not the instrument verbatim; the FDIS wording is not held.
Not legal advice; does not certify. A reading of the requirement and the evidence an assessor commonly samples, not a substitute for the standard or your accreditation body's rules.