A substantiated nonconformity must lead to a considered action, and a suspension or withdrawal must remove every public sign that the product is still certified.
What applies today
Once a failure against the certification requirements is established, whether from surveillance or another source, the body must consider and decide on the appropriate action. The options include continuing certification under conditions such as increased surveillance, reducing the scope to remove nonconforming variants, suspending certification while the client takes remedial action, or withdrawing certification. Where the action involves evaluation, review or a decision, those requirements apply. If certification is terminated at the client's request, suspended or withdrawn, the body must take the actions the scheme specifies and make every necessary change to certificates, public information and mark authorisations so that nothing suggests the product is still certified. If the scope is reduced, the reduced scope must be clearly communicated and stated in the documents and public information. For a suspension, the body must assign competent people to tell the client what is needed to end it, and any evaluation, review or decision needed to resolve it must follow the process. If certification is reinstated, the body must restore the correct indications, and any reduced scope must be stated clearly.
Why it matters
The clause is the enforcement ladder. Its weakness in practice is not the decision but the cleanup: a suspended client keeps a logo on a website, or the directory still shows the certificate. The body is responsible for the public signal, not only the private letter. The reduction route is often overlooked when only part of a product range fails. Reinstatement is treated as a decision in its own right, not a return to the status quo by default.
The public FDIS contents lists clause 7.11 as Termination, reduction, suspension or withdrawal of certification. This site uses the shorter label Termination, reduction, suspension or withdrawal 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 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 substantiated nonconformity, options considered and action chosen. The party this touches first is The certification manager, the decision maker and the communications team.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Decision | Substantiated nonconformity, options considered and action chosen |
| Client notice | Letter stating the action and what is needed |
| Public cleanup | Checklist covering certificate, directory, mark and client publicity |
| Scope reduction | Revised documents and public information showing the reduced scope |
| Reinstatement | Decision to reinstate and evidence that public information was corrected |
One common question. pick a suspension and check the client's website and the directory. A live mark after suspension is one of the most damaging findings a body can receive.
Common failures
- The suspension letter is sent but the directory is not updated
- The client's website still shows the mark months later
- A scope reduction is agreed in a meeting and never reflected in the certificate
Prepare before publication
Take every suspension and withdrawal from the last two years and test the public signal today. Fix anything still live.
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 7.11 has no separate date.
Cross-references
7.7 Certification documentation · 7.8 Directory of certified products · 7.9 Surveillance · 4.1.3 Use of licence, certificates and marks of conformity · 7.13 Complaints and appeals
Source
Source for 7.11: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Clause 7.11, 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.