Competent people, supported by the management system, are what make a certification outcome worth trusting.
What applies today
Certification that deserves trust depends on people who know their work, backed by the body's management system. The annex does not add a separate competence test. It states the principle that the normative requirements in clause 6 put into practice.
Why it matters
The principle is short because the detail belongs in clause 6. Its value is in the link between individual competence and the system: a brilliant assessor working inside a weak system can still produce an unreliable certificate, and a strong system cannot compensate for an assessor who does not understand the product. The transition to a new edition is a competence event as much as a documentation event.
The public FDIS contents lists Annex A and Annex B as informative annexes and does not number A.3 Competence separately. The FDIS wording is not held; the principle above is the 2012 text.
Where this clause lands in the revision
Annex A.3 is the competence 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 training and assessment record for the new edition. The party this touches first is The competence owner and the management system that supports it.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Competence link | Training and assessment record for the new edition |
| System support | Evidence that procedures and information reach the people who need them |
| Technical judgement | Sample decision that shows technical competence was applied |
| Gap plan | Competence gaps identified for the transition and how they will close |
One common question. ask an evaluator to explain a technical judgement in a recent file. A correct outcome with no reasoning is a competence question.
Common failures
- Training on the new edition is a slide deck with no assessment
- The competence matrix was not updated for the changed clause
- Specialist knowledge sits with one contractor
Prepare before publication
Build a short transition training session and assess the people who make decisions. Record the result.
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.3 has no separate date.
Cross-references
6.1.2 Management of competence for personnel · 6.1.3 Contract with the personnel · 8.2 General management system documentation
Source
Source for A.3: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Annex A.3, 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.