When the certificate covers a process, read product as process, production as operation, produced as operated and producing as operating.
What applies today
When the standard is applied to the certification of processes, the word product is replaced by process, production by operation, produced by operated and producing by operating. The remaining clauses apply as written.
Why it matters
The substitution looks mechanical, but it changes what evidence means. A process certificate is about how work is carried out, not about a physical item that can be sampled and stored. The evaluation may rely more on observation, records and interviews and less on a laboratory sample. The body must ensure its scheme, its competence and its surveillance are built for that difference.
The public FDIS contents lists Annex A and Annex B as informative annexes and does not number B.1 Applying the standard to processes separately. The FDIS wording is not held; the principle above is the 2012 text.
Where this clause lands in the revision
Annex B is informative and its title changes from this International Standard to this document. The substitution still applies to a process certificate, and the FDIS wording is not held. A first artefact an assessor commonly asks for here is procedure and form review for product, production, produced and producing. The party this touches first is A body that certifies processes, and the scheme owner that writes process rules.
What the assessor asks for
| Category | Artefact to have ready |
|---|---|
| Substitution check | Procedure and form review for product, production, produced and producing |
| Scheme | Process scheme that defines the process and its requirements |
| Competence | Evaluator competence for process observation and records |
| Surveillance | Process surveillance plan that reflects how the process changes |
One common question. read a process certificate and ask what was actually evaluated. A certificate that describes a product rather than a process is a scope and drafting defect.
Common failures
- The certificate uses product language for a process
- Evaluators are trained on product testing only
- Surveillance is a sample of output with no observation of the process
Prepare before publication
Take one process certificate and read every noun against the annex. Correct the template and the scheme wording.
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 B.1 has no separate date.
Cross-references
7.1 General process requirements · 7.4 Evaluation · 7.9 Surveillance · B.2 Applying the standard to services
Source
Source for B.1: ISO/IEC 17065:2012, Annex B.1, 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.