One of the most common inspection activities is the conformity assessment of an item (products, processes, systems or services), according to specifications established by whoever is responsible for the inspection (usually the manufacturer, owner, purchaser or user of the inspected item).

These specifications are included in contractual documents (such as lists of conditions, framework contracts, performance programmes, specific orders, etc.) and, generally, describes the inspection process, the decision-making criteria or requirements to satisfy the operation body (for example, inspectors' qualification levels, inspection reports, deadlines or other content).

Examples of this type of inspection are:

• Product or facility inspection on behalf of the purchaser to check that supply conforms with contractual specifications, for example:
  • Inspections carried out during the manufacturing process ordered by the purchaser of the final product
  • Inspections carried out as part of a management project.
• Controls within the supply chain.
• Facility inspection for specifications set by the owner of the premises.
• Inspection of goods at origin and destination.

In this type of inspections, the bodies can continuously carry out inspection activities for a definite specification of a particular client or, more commonly, they may offer their services within a specific technical field (or for a specific item) but doing inspections for different specifications for different customers.

In order to respond to a detected need in the market that, increasingly, requires accredited inspection, ENAC has developed a new accreditation scheme (NT 71, already accessible on our website) applicable to inspection bodies working for a definite specification and for those doing a certain range or type of specifications. For further information about this new accreditation scheme, please email: lmrodriguez@enac.es.