Service Industry - Scope of the QMS & Scope of Certification

[MickPetzold]

Mike,

As well as this scope for certification:

“The management of inspection, test and maintenance activities on high-voltage electrical power equipment and systems to assess and ensure their suitability for initial and continued service, all of which is performed in our main office.”

I recommend a broader scope for your management system:

“The design, performance and management of inspection, test and maintenance services on high-voltage electrical power equipment and systems to assess and ensure their suitability for initial and continued service.”

That is you want your management system to help your organization to assure the quality of your services while continually improving your services.

Best wishes,

John

John, that was our original scope with the exception of design because we do not design and develop new services. (Our services are performed to contractual requirements, technical specifications, and/or industry standards established by our customers, regulatory bodies [e.g., OSHA], and organizations that administer applicable voluntary standards [e.g., NFPA, ANSI/NETA, IEEE, etc.])

The issue is, if our scope includes PERFORMANCE of services, our CB is obligated to audit that, and many of our customers will not let on site for safety and/or security reasons. Further, our CB will not audit our field service because of safety considerations. So, after posting here and the suggestion from AndyN, and confirmation from a large CB, excluding performance of service is a typical way to handle these situations. Let's hope ANAB agrees!

 

[John Broomfield]

Mick,

I doubt ANAB would choose to limit the effectiveness of your management system, even if it cannot be certified in its entirety.

In my experience, having two scope statements (one for the cert and the other for the QMS) is a viable way through this.

John

PS: Another way of looking at this is that you develop the management system to fulfill the needs of the business, then you decide on the scope of certification sought by your customer.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

ANAB, or any other AB, has ZERO control over an organization's QMS scope. John, as you pointed out, the scope of certification can be a subset of the scope of the QMS.

ANAB's role is oversight of the CB, which includes the need that verification of the scope of certification to be accurate and supported by the scope of the audits.

Scope of certification and scope of the management system are two different issues, as exemplified by this thread.

 

[MickPetzold]

John and Sidney,

I believe I've handled it correctly then, and we're on same page. Our QMS Manual reads as follows:

0.1.1 <Our Company> Scope of Work

<Our Company> performs inspections, tests and maintenance of high-voltage electrical power equipment and systems to assess and ensure their suitability for initial and continued service.
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.
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0.3 QMS Scope

0.3.1 <Our Company> QMS Scope

This <Our Company> Quality Management System (QMS) specifies the systems of <Our Company> which are aimed at meeting our Vision/Mission through maintaining of our values and achievement of the Four C’s:
Customer Success;
Connected Employees;
Consistent Processes;
Continual Improvement.

The requirements in this manual apply to all employees, regardless of the service provided, and are intended to be applicable to all services, processes and systems, within <Our Company>’ Scope of Work (paragraph 0.1.1). Because <Our Company> outsources responsibilities that could affect conformity, outsourced material or services are also included in the scope and shall be handled in accordance with this policy, as applicable. For example, suppliers and subcontractors <Our Company> outsources from shall be selected and evaluated in accordance with Section 2.3, Supplier Management to ensure conformity of their products and services.

The <Our Company> Quality Management System has been developed to meet or exceed all applicable requirements found in ISO 9001:2015 excluding Section 8.3 Design and Development because we do not design and develop new services. Our services are performed to contractual requirements, technical specifications, and/or industry standards established by our customers, regulatory bodies (e.g., OSHA) and organizations that administer applicable voluntary standards (e.g., NFPA, ANSI/NETA, IEEE, etc.)

0.3.2 ISO 9001:2015 Scope of Certification

For the purposes of ISO 9001:2015 certification our QMS Scope is further limited to:

“The management of inspection, test and maintenance activities on high-voltage electrical power equipment and systems to assess and ensure their suitability for initial and continued service.”​

This is to ensure the safety of our 3rd party auditors and protect our customers’ interests who generally do not allow 3rd party personnel on their sites due to safety, security and/or insurance concerns.