To:

JIS Licensees

Date:

Month, Year

From:

Japan Quality Assurance Organization,JIS Certification Department

Re: Procedure for Periodic Certification Maintenance Surveillance
Japan Quality Assurance Organization (JQA) would like to thank you for your ongoing cooperation
concerning JIS certification work.
What follows is a guide to the procedure for Periodic Certification Maintenance Surveillance (“PeriodicSurveillance,” hereinafter) that JQA will be involving Licensees in henceforth. Please confirm the content andcontact us without hesitation if you have any questions.
Thank you.

Overview of the Implementation of Periodic Surveillance1)

How Periodic Surveillance Will Proceed

1. JQA notifies licensees
regarding periodic
surveillance* JQA will deliver Guide to the Implementation ofPeriodic Certification Maintenance Surveillance for JIS Mark
Scheme”, etc. to all targeted Licensees.

2. Licensees submit theApplication Form.

* Along with their responses for accepting surveillance, alltargeted Licensees will submit Application Form(s),Documentation on Quality Management Status, and 17025
Investigation materials (as necessary).

3. JQA sends out theSurveillance Plan.

* Upon receiving applications for periodic surveillance,JQA shall announce surveillance schedules and otherdetails and issue estimates.

4. 17025 Investigation isconducted.

* Based on the Surveillance Plan, 17025 Investigation will be
conducted in writing/on-site when Witness Testing is involved.

5. Factory Audit & ProductTesting are conducted.

* Based on the Surveillance Plan, the Certification
Maintenance Factory Audit and Certification Maintenance
Product Testing will be conducted.

6. Certifiers’ Meeting isheld.

7. Renewal of a Contract/Certificates are sent out.

* The decision on whether to continue JIS certification will
be made based on the information from surveillance
results.
* When the decision for continuation of certification has been
made, an upgraded agreement shall be concluded asnecessary and a revised Certificate shall be sent out.
Please send back the former Certificate.

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Form number: (E)8232-53D2) Periodic Surveillance1.

Notification /Application Form for Periodic Surveillance
JQA shall send out the Guide to the Implementation of Periodic Surveillance (Notification/Application Formfor Surveillance Maintain Certification) to the Licensees (or factories) subject to the first periodic surveillance;
Between six to nine months before three years have elapsed since the Certification Agreement contract date(i.e., after two years and three months to two years and six months have passed), andto the Licensees (or factories) subject to the second and later periodic surveillances;
Between three to six months before three years have elapsed since the date of Application of the last
Surveillance (i.e., after two years and six months to two years and nine months have passed)

2.

Submission of Application Form
Licensees will send back to JQA the Application Form specifying whether or not they would like tocontinue their JIS certification.
If the subject Licensees (or factories) have also acquired JIS certification of another Division ofCertification from JQA (i.e., one Licensee have acquired various Certification Numbers) and would also
like to undergo periodic surveillance for the other Division simultaneously, such Licensees (or factories)
should state this intention.
Please note, however, that for surveillance conducted on the same schedule for another Division ofCertification, the term of validity for said certifications shall be the same as that for the Division subject tocurrent surveillance (three years from the date of the Certification Agreement).
・ Materials to be submitted: Please refer to the attached Notification/ Application Form.
In the case that the subject Licensees require to add or change the range of Certification for theMaintenance Surveillance, please submit the documents along with the Application Form.

Please refer to“JISCertification”

MarkScheme

Proceduresfor

MakingChanges,etc.

afterAcquiring(http://www.jqa.jp/english/jis_a/brochure.html) for Documents to be submitted.

3.

Preparation and Sending Out of Surveillance Plans
The schedule for the Certification Maintenance Factory Audit and Certification Maintenance ProductTesting will be coordinated. When the schedule has been determined, the Surveillance Plan, which shall
include the schedule and the names of the Auditors in charge, shall be sent out to the Licensees. At thesame time, estimates will be issued based on the content of the surveillance that has been determined.

4.

17025 Investigation
If Witness Product Testing is to be implemented, a 17025 Investigation of the test site must be conducted.
Submission of materials with the same content as the investigation materials that were sent in at the time of
the Initial Conformity Assessment shall be requested. However, instrument calibration dates and the likeshould be updated.
Although the 17025 Investigation is basically a document review, in the event that changes have been madesince the Initial Conformity Assessment in product testing implementation methods, testing equipment or
the like, said changes must be clearly specified on the investigation materials. Depending on what specific

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Form number: (E)8232-53D

changes have been made, on-site investigation may become necessary.

5.

Periodic Certification Maintenance Factory Audit (“Periodic Factory Audit” hereinafter)
The Periodic Factory Audit shall follow the method by which the Initial Factory Audit was implemented (interms of how multiple Division of Certification or subcontracted factories and the like are handled). In
terms of the auditing of subcontracted factories, when it has been confirmed that subcontract management
is being conducted by the manufacturing factory and when deemed appropriate based on those results, theon-site auditing of subcontracted factories could be omitted.
・Main management items:(a) Confirmation of specifics in the event that quality control systems have been changed(b) Handling of customer complaints and in-house noncompliance (implementation of correctivemeasures)(c) Status of implementation of subcontract management(d) Confirmation of quality of targeted products and confirmation of record-keeping following theacquisition of certification [conformance with Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS)]-In the above confirmation, toward the targeted products sampled for Product Testing, processcontrol records between shipping inspection process and major materials process, and traceable
records to materials used for the products are included (lot tracking).
(e) Appropriateness of use of the JIS mark (approval for shipment)(f) Status of implementation of test and inspection (on-site)
・Intended period of quality records for the Periodic Factory Audit:
From the last factory audit (Initial Factory Audit or Periodic Factory Audit) to the current Periodic
Factory Audit

6. Periodic Certification Maintenance Product Testing（”Periodic Product Testing” hereinafter）Periodic
Product Testing shall be done at the same test site as Initial Product Testing. JQA can use your test data at
the discretion of JQA, such as for test item that takes long-term and well managed under the responsibilityof Licensee. However, items that failed the last Product Testing(Initial Product Testing or Periodic ProductTesting) or that have been retested shall be subjected to testing.
Samples shall be handled in the same way as for Initial Product Testing. However, samples may bechanged when such samples are no longer deemed suitable for representing production lines or theircomplexity.

7.

Decision for Continuation of Certification and Issuing of Certificates:
After Periodic Surveillance has been conducted, the report submitted by the Auditor shall be discussed at
the Department’s Certifiers’ Meeting and the appropriateness of the continuation of the certification will be
judged. When the decision to continue the certification has been made, Draft of a Contract document suchas “Certification Agreement” (only if revised edition has been made) and “Control Outline Concerning
Marking of Certification Mark, etc.” shall be sent out. Then Licensees will check it out and give a reply toJQA. After reaching consensus, JQA will mail Contract document in writing.

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Upon completion of theForm number: (E)8232-53D

renewal procedures, the Certificate shall be reissued.
When you have received the reissued Certificate, please return the former version of the Certificate to us.

4/4Form number: (E)8232-53D