New or revised scheme requirements must reach every client, be verified in use, and any change to a certificate must follow the full process.
What applies today
When the scheme adopts a new or changed requirement that touches a client, the body must make sure every affected client hears about it. It must verify that clients have implemented the changes and take the actions the scheme requires. It must also consider other changes that affect certification, including changes the client starts, and decide what action is appropriate. The action can include evaluation, review, a decision, revised certification documentation to extend or reduce scope, or revised surveillance documentation. Those actions must follow the relevant parts of the process, and the records must include the reason for leaving any of them out, for example where a changed requirement is not a product requirement and no evaluation, review or decision is needed.
Why it matters
This clause is directly relevant to a new edition. A scheme or standard change is not implemented by publishing a newsletter. The body has to reach every affected client, check that the change actually happened and record the decision. The clause also covers changes the client causes: a new site, a new material, a new owner. The record of why an activity was omitted is what distinguishes a reasoned decision from a shortcut.
The public FDIS contents lists clause 7.10 as Changes affecting certification. 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 process clause. The public record confirms the number and title, and the process as described today is what an assessment uses until publication. A first artefact an assessor commonly asks for here is change, source, affected clients and status. The party this touches first is The scheme change owner and the client manager who must reach every affected client.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Change register | Change, source, affected clients and status |
| Communication | Notice to every affected client with the date |
| Verification | Evidence that the client implemented the change |
| Decision | Evaluation, review, decision or documented omission with the reason |
| Revised documents | Updated certificate or surveillance document where scope changed |
One common question. take a recent scheme change and ask which clients were affected and how implementation was verified. A newsletter with no verification is only the first step.
Common failures
- Changes are announced on the website and no client list is kept
- The body assumes implementation because no client objected
- A scope change is made in the directory without a new decision
Prepare before publication
Take the last three changes and build the affected-client list. Record the verification for each client, including the ones that needed no action.
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 7.10 has no separate date.
Cross-references
4.1.2 Certification agreement · 7.7 Certification documentation · 7.9 Surveillance · 7.11 Termination, reduction, suspension or withdrawal
Source
Source for 7.10: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Clause 7.10, 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.