A body must be impartial and be seen to be impartial, and the annex names the six sources of bias it must watch.
What applies today
Certification bodies and their people must act without bias and must be seen to do so, so that their work and outcomes inspire confidence. Risks to impartiality include self-interest, such as dependence on a contract or a fee, or fear of losing a client or a job; self-review, such as evaluating the results of other services the body provided; advocacy, such as supporting or opposing a company that is also a client; over-familiarity, where the body or its people become too trusting and stop seeking evidence, a risk that is harder to manage where specialist expertise is scarce; intimidation, where a client or another party deters impartial action; and competition, for example when a client and a contractor are rivals.
Why it matters
The six categories are more useful than a generic conflict of interest declaration because they tell a body what to look for. Self-review and over-familiarity are the ones that grow quietly in a successful certification body. Intimidation is rarely a direct threat; it can be the knowledge that a large client will move its work. The perception test is separate from the fact: a body can be impartial and still lose confidence if the relationship looks too close.
The public FDIS contents lists Annex A and Annex B as informative annexes and does not number A.2 Impartiality separately. The FDIS wording is not held; the principle above is the 2012 text.
Where this clause lands in the revision
Annex A.2 is the impartiality principle. The FDIS keeps Annex A, and this principle still explains how the normative clauses are read. It creates no new obligation and carries no separate FDIS date. A first artefact an assessor commonly asks for here is register structured by the six sources of bias. The party this touches first is The impartiality committee and every person who can influence a certification outcome.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Risk register | Register structured by the six sources of bias |
| Revenue concentration | Analysis of dependence on the largest clients |
| Familiarity control | Rotation or review rule for long-running assignments |
| Perception | Evidence that relationships are disclosed and managed visibly |
One common question. ask which of the six risks the body has found hardest and what it did. A register with no self-review or familiarity entry looks incomplete.
Common failures
- The register covers only financial interests
- The same assessor visits the same client for years with no review
- Revenue concentration is never discussed at board level
Prepare before publication
Add a line for each of the six categories to the risk register. Put a named owner and a review date against each.
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 A.2 has no separate date.
Cross-references
4.2 Management of impartiality · 5.2 Mechanism for safeguarding impartiality · 6.1.3 Contract with the personnel · 7.5 Review
Source
Source for A.2: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Annex A.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.