The client is responsible for meeting the certification requirements; the body is responsible for obtaining enough objective evidence to decide.
What applies today
The duty to meet the certification requirements sits with the client, not the body. The body's duty is to gather enough objective evidence to support its decision. After reviewing the evidence, it decides to grant certification where there is sufficient evidence of conformity, to refuse where there is not, or not to maintain certification.
Why it matters
The split of responsibility is the answer to a common misunderstanding. A client sometimes treats a certificate as a guarantee from the body that the product is good. The body's promise is that it gathered enough objective evidence and decided on that basis. The principle also protects the body from taking over the client's duty: if the client fails to maintain conformity, the body's job is to detect it and act, not to make the product conform.
The public FDIS contents lists Annex A and Annex B as informative annexes and does not number A.6 Responsibility separately. The FDIS wording is not held; the principle above is the 2012 text.
Where this clause lands in the revision
Annex A.6 is the responsibility 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 explanation of the client's responsibility for conformity. The party this touches first is The client and the certification body, each with a distinct duty.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Client guide | Explanation of the client's responsibility for conformity |
| Agreement | Clause that places conformity with the client |
| Evidence file | Objective evidence behind a sample decision |
| Decision basis | Record showing sufficiency was assessed, including a refusal |
One common question. ask what evidence supported a grant and what would have led to a refusal. A file that only contains positive evidence is incomplete.
Common failures
- The client guide implies the certificate guarantees the product
- The body grants on the client's assurance when a test is missing
- Refusals are rare because the decision is deferred until evidence arrives
Prepare before publication
Read the client guide and the agreement for any sentence that shifts responsibility to the body. Correct it.
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.6 has no separate date.
Cross-references
4.1.2 Certification agreement · 7.4 Evaluation · 7.6 Certification decision · A.1 General principles
Source
Source for A.6: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Annex A.6, 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.