ASTM_D_7495_-_12.pdf

Designation:D749512Standard Specification forMinimum Requirements for Accreditation Bodies thatAccredit Agencies Testing and Inspecting Road and PavingMaterials1This standard is issued under the fixed designation D7495;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This document contains minimum requirements forestablishing and implementing an Accreditation Program foragencies testing and inspecting road and paving materials.1.2 The criteria in this document are applicable to Accredi-tation Programs which accredit agencies testing and inspectingroad and paving materials.1.3 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2D3666 Specification for Minimum Requirements for Agen-cies Testing and Inspecting Road and Paving Materials2.2 ANSI/ISO/IEC Standards:ANSI/ISO/IEC 17011 General Requirements for Accredita-tion Bodies Accrediting Conformity Assessment BodiesANSI/ISO/IEC 17025 General Requirements for the Com-petence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories3.Terminology3.1 Accreditation BodyAuthoritative body that managesan accreditation program.3.2 Accreditation Program for Agencies Testing and In-specting Road and Paving Materialsa program administeredby an independent authority to fairly and equitably recognizean agency for conformance to defined quality criteria.3.3 Testing Agency Quality Systemthe organizationalstructure,staff responsibilities,policies,standard operatingprocedures,and processes which,when implemented,assist thetesting agency in achieving its quality objectives.3.4 Evaluation Authorityan independent entity,apart fromthe testing laboratory being evaluated,that has the capability toprovide an unbiased evaluation of the professional and testingactivities of testing laboratories.3.5 Agencythe organization engaged to test or inspect,orboth,road and paving materials as required by a specificationor contract.4.Significance and Use4.1 This document supplements ANSI/ISO/IEC 17011 andtogether these two documents provide the minimum require-ments for an accreditation body which accredits agenciestesting and inspecting road and paving materials.4.2 The user is cautioned that accreditation granted by anaccreditation body can only serve a useful purpose if theprocedures followed to obtain the accreditation are practicedon a daily basis by the testing agency.It is not the existence ofthe system but the routine implementation of the proceduresand policies of the quality system that is important.5.Accreditation Body5.1 The accreditation body in developing and implementingits accreditation program shall meet the requirements inANSI/ISO/IEC 17011 and the requirements of this standard.6.Personnel6.1 The accreditation body shall document the duties,re-sponsibilities and authorities of top management who couldaffect the quality of the accreditation process.6.2 The accreditation body shall ensure that personnel havethe necessary and proper education,experience,training,andtechnical knowledge.6.3 The accreditation body shall describe the requiredqualifications,education,and experience for each positionwithin their organization.1This specification is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee D04 on Roadand Paving Materials and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee D04.95 onQuality Control,Inspection and Testing Agencies.Current edition approved June 1,2012.Published November 2012.DOI:10.1520/D7495122For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 6.4 The accreditation body shall ensure that the assessorsthey employ are familiar with the accreditation process andaccreditation criteria.6.5 The assessors shall be trained through a formal assessortraining program that verifies an assessors technical qualifi-cations.The assessors shall be trained in the use of the methodsand documents used for assessments.Training records shall bemaintained by the accreditation body.6.6 The assessors shall be thoroughly trained in the qualitymanagement system requirements and have a thorough knowl-edge of the test methods which they are assessing.Trainingrecords shall be maintained by the accrediting body.6.7 The assessors shall not perform any assessment if aconflict of interest exists between the assessor and the labora