ISO standards that define requirements for certain types of conformity assessment bodies, i.e ISO 17020, ISO 17021-1 and ISO 17065 generally state that "reviews shall be conducted at least once a year".
Some people consider that this "once a year" frequency requirement means once in a calendar year, especially those people involved in the area of management system certification bodies. On the other hand, others interpret this requirement as it is not allowed to pass more than 12 months between two management reviews, not even a single day, since in ISO 17020 and ISO 17065 there is also another sentence "Alternatively, a complete review broken up into segments shall be completed within a 12-month time frame".
Is there any (official) interpretation of the meaning of the phrase "once a year"?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Some people consider that this "once a year" frequency requirement means once in a calendar year, especially those people involved in the area of management system certification bodies. On the other hand, others interpret this requirement as it is not allowed to pass more than 12 months between two management reviews, not even a single day, since in ISO 17020 and ISO 17065 there is also another sentence "Alternatively, a complete review broken up into segments shall be completed within a 12-month time frame".
Is there any (official) interpretation of the meaning of the phrase "once a year"?
Thanks in advance for any help!