Template for Comments Closing Date: February 26, 

2018 Document: Draft SP2000-01: ABC’s of Conformity Assessment

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Comment Comment (Justification for Change) by the MB Proposed Change by the MB Convener Observations

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TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Lines 152-153 ed Suggested change for clarification Change “including product, management system, and 

personnel” to “including certification of products, 

management systems, and personnel”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Lines 153-154 te CABs are accredited based on their competence. Change “includes accreditation of the competence of 

those activities by a third party” to “includes third 

party accreditation of the conformity assessment 

bodies (CABs) performing those activities, based on 

review of their competence”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 155 ed Incorrect subject-verb agreement Change “operate” to “operates”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 165 ge The use of the term “purchaser” seems outdated. Also, differing terms are used 

throughout the document including “buyer”, “purchaser”, “manufacturer”, 

“regulator”, “Certification Body”, “Registrar” and “Conformity Assessment Body”. 

Suggest consistency in the use of the terms, along 

with definitions.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 172 ed Improve readability by adding missing “the”. Change “and/or performance” to “and/or the

performance”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 189 te State correct full name of TBT Agreement. Change “Agreement of” to “Agreement on”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 193 ed Grammar error Change “Federal Agency’s” to “Federal Agencies”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 194 te The TBT Agreement is incorrectly quoted. Change “be” to “not be”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 196-200 te The TBT Agreement does not appear to be quoted just as it appears at 

https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tbt_e/tbtagr_e.htm: a number of words and 

phrases appear to have been changed.

Consider quoting TBT Agreement exactly; or else 

remove quotation marks if it is to be paraphrased.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum

Line 228 ed “cover” doesn’t seem like the correct word Change “cover” to “have a bearing on”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 244 ed In this sense, the word is usually spelled “gauge”. Change “gage” to “gauge”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 245 ed Typo Change “as” to “a”.

TIA/QuEST Line 250 ed One normally says “confidence in”. Change “of” to “in”.
Template for Comments Closing Date: February 26, 

2018 Document: Draft SP2000-01: ABC’s of Conformity Assessment

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Forum

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 263 te Clarify the sense. Change “conformity” to “confidence in the 

conformity”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 264 te Clarify the meaning. Change “surveillance” to “surveillance activities”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 265 te Clarify the meaning. Change “organizations” to “bodies”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 265 ed Missing period Add a period at the end of the sentence.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 271 te Conformity assessment activities may be based on other sets of requirements 

besides international standards (e.g., national standards, regulatory 

requirements, customer standards et al.).

Change “are based” to “are often based”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 275 ed “SDoc” is spelled “SDOC” everywhere else in the document: this table should 

follow suit for consistency.

Change “SDoC” to “SDOC” (and consider providing 

the definition since this is the term’s first occurrence 

in the document).

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 275, 446 te The term “registrar” is being superseded by “certification body”. Change “Registrars” to “Certification Bodies” 

(optionally followed by “(Registrars)” if you feel it is 

necessary) at l. 274; change “Registrars” to “a 

Certification Body (or Registrar)” at l. 446.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 280 ed Missing apostrophe Change “Suppliers” to “Supplier’s”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Lines 283, 316 ed Typos (one too many zeroes) Change “170000” to “17000”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 290, 396, 404, 

456, 492, 585

te The terms “compliance” and “noncompliance” are normally used only in a 

specifically legal context, which is not the intent here.

Change “noncompliance” to “nonconformity” (l. 290), 

“compliance” to “conformity” (ll. 396, 404, 456, 492, 

585).

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 291 & 292 ed “nonconformant” is not the usual term Replace “nonconformant” with “nonconforming”

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 295, 394, 

396-7

ed “first/second/third party”, when used as a noun phrase, is not normally 

hyphenated in this document: be consistent here.

Change “first-party” to “first party” (l. 295), “thirdparty” to “third party” (ll. 394, 396-7).
Template for Comments Closing Date: February 26, 

2018 Document: Draft SP2000-01: ABC’s of Conformity Assessment

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TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 325-326 ed Missing articles Change “presence of inspector” to “the presence of 

an inspector”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 330-1, 492-4 ge The importance of any conformity assessment body’s competence has been 

stated at lines 181-182. Obviously, it applies across the board. Why call it out 

with specific reference to inspection bodies at l. 331 and of accreditation bodies 

at l. 493?

Delete the sentences at ll. 330-1 & 492-4.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 347 ed Missing comma Insert comma following “2017”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 364 ed One normally conducts tests on something, not to it. Change “to” to “on”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 371 ed Missing article Insert the word “a” before “supplier’s”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 373 ed Correct noun-verb agreement; don’t use specifically legal term. Change “complies with” to “conform to”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 375 te Objects don’t have results; assessments do. Delete “object under”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 378, 400, 405 te The term “comply” is normally used only in a specifically legal context, which is 

not the intent here.

Change “comply with” to “conform to” (l. 378), 

“complies” to “conforms” (l. 400), “complies with” to 

“conforms to” (l. 405).

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 381 ed Correct noun-verb agreement; and change verb since requirements don’t “utilize” 

testing. Change “utilizes” to “call for”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 395 ed Missing apostrophe; inconsistent hyphenation. Change “assessments non-conformity” to 

“assessment’s nonconformity”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 406 ed Inconsistent hyphenation. Change “non-conformities” to “nonconformities”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 411-413 ge

The meaning of this sentence is unclear – especially the significance of the 

phrase “considering the quality management system”. Rewrite the sentence to make its meaning clear.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 421-422 ed Clumsily written Change “There are many different organizations that 

operate third-party certification programs. The 

following provide examples of different types of 
Template for Comments Closing Date: February 26, 

2018 Document: Draft SP2000-01: ABC’s of Conformity Assessment

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organizations, including” to “There are many different 

types of organizations that operate third-party 

certification programs, including”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 444 te This is not true: registration is not a synonym for certification. Delete the sentence.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 446 te Not all mgmt. system standards utilize surveillance assessments (e.g., ANSI 

ESD S20.20). Change “surveillance” to “surveillance and/or 

recertification”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 447-448 te Clarify the meaning while stating more correctly. Change “are generally used in compliance with” to “is 

generally performed against”; change “and 

environmental” to “environmental and other”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 459 te Certification Bodies are no longer required to “publish lists of organizations and 

their scope of certification”, as ISO 17021-1:2015 now requires that this 

information be provided “upon request”

Revise to state “provide the name and scope of 

certified organizations”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 475-476 ed What is the distinction between “facilities” and “plants”? The word “packaging” 

does not belong in a list of types of building. Delete “plants, packaging”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 485 ed Incorrect noun-verb agreement. Change “is” to “they are”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 485 ed Incorrect noun-verb agreement. Change “is” to “they are”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 488-490 ed This list of “tasks” includes a series of items that aren’t tasks (“management 

systems” through “services”). Correct the sentence to say clearly what it means.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 498 te CABs don’t monitor only “manufacturers”. Change “manufacturers” to “objects of assessment”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 500 te Correct errors and omissions in the graphic. Add “17021-1” to the list of standards in the 2nd block. 

Delete “Requirements/” from the 3rd block and 

change “Object” to “Objects”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 502 ed “in” makes more sense than “among” here Change “among” to “in”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 511 ed Things are normally sold in, not to, countries. Change “to” to “in”.
Template for Comments Closing Date: February 26, 

2018 Document: Draft SP2000-01: ABC’s of Conformity Assessment

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TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 521 ed Missing word Insert “as” before the word “the”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 532 te Surely, per its title, ISO/IEC 17067 deals only with schemes for product 

certification. Delete “, processes, or services”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Lines 537, 608 ed Missing apostrophes Append an apostrophe to “agencies” in line 537 and 

to “members” in 608.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 617 te Incorrect word (one does not “meet” “results”) Change “results” to “requirements”.

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 628 ed Clarify the meaning Change “another” to “another’s”.

TIA/QUEST 

Forum Line 639 te Some of the references listed are not current. For example ISO 17021 now has 

multiple parts as in -1, -2, -3... with different issue dates

Update line 646 to show ISO 17011:2017

Update line 652

TIA/QuEST 

Forum Line 674-675 te Incorrect revision year stated Change 2 occurrences of “2005” to “2015”.

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