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CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT POLICIES

Latest Revision Date: August 4, 2015
Effective Date: January 1, 2016

CONTENTS

CAP

Page Number

Use of ASME Mark during an Appeal ........................................................................... 3

Deleted

Definition of an ASME Designee ................................................................................... 3

Identity of Individuals in Certification Activities .............................................................. 3

Deleted

National Board Stamping and Registration of Data Reports ........................................ 3

Administration of Accreditation and Certification Program ........................................... 4

Deleted

Confidentiality Statement ............................................................................................... 4

10

Joint Ventures Applying for ASME Accreditation .......................................................... 4

11

Definition of Enforcement Authority ............................................................................... 4

12

Policies on Conflict of Interest, Code of Ethics and

Confidentiality for ASME Designees ............................................................................. 4

13

Establishment of Conformity Assessment Programs ................................................... 5

14

Access to Conformity Assessment Committee and Subcommittee

Meetings ......................................................................................................................... 5

15

Portions of Reports to be Left by Team at Accreditation and Product

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August 4, 2015

Page 2

Certification Activities .................................................................................................... 5

16

Scheduling of Reviews and Surveys ............................................................................. 5

17

Certificate Numbers ....................................................................................................... 6

18

Certified Individual (CI) .................................................................................................. 6

19

Manufacturers Authorized Representative ................................................................ 6

20

Representation of the Applicant/Certificate Holder by other Parties

at a Conformity Assessment Hearing ............................................................................ 6

21

Criteria for reapplication of an ASME Certification Mark .............................................. 6

22

Authorized Inspection Agency of Record ...................................................................... 7

Appendix

Summary of Changes .................................................................................................... 9

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August 4, 2015

CAP-1

Page 3

USE OF ASME MARK DURING AN APPEAL

The use of the ASME mark for certification may be allowed by the Society until a
decision is made on an appeal of an action of an ASME Subcommittee, Committee or
Board.

CAP-3

DEFINITION OF AN ASME DESIGNEE

An ASME Designee is an individual authorized by ASME to act on its behalf for the
purpose of performing reviews, surveys, audits, and examinations of organizations or
persons holding, or applying for, accreditation or certification in accordance with the
ASME Code or Standard.
(a) An ASME Designee can be any of the following:
(1) Any individual or an employee of a not-for-profit organization or government
agency and is not otherwise disqualified under (b) below;
(2) Any individual who is not employed by the organization being reviewed and
doesn't engage in work of a conflicting nature.
(b) An ASME Designee cannot be any of the following:
(1) An Employee of the Authorized Inspection Agency (AIA) performing "inhouse" inspection for the organization under review, (This provision is not
intended to disallow the present practice of individuals employed by the AIA
which may have an inspection agreement with the organization under review
from participating with the Team. Such individuals are not participating as
the ASME Designee).
(2) An employee of another organization applying for, or holding, ASME
accreditation in the program for which the individual is acting as a Designee.
This provision does not apply to Industry Representatives for certification
programs or ASME Designees assigned by The National Board of Boiler and
Pressure Vessel Inspectors for the Pressure Relief Device Laboratory
program.
(3) An ASME employee engaged in work related to that being reviewed or
audited.
(4) Members and alternates of the ASME Board on Hearings and Appeals
(BHA).
(5) An individual having a financial interest in the organization being reviewed.

CAP-4

IDENTITY OF INDIVIDUALS IN CERTIFICATION ACTIVITIES

In certification activities, the Certification Subcommittee shall not be advised of the
identity of an individual, unless it is required that the individual appear at a hearing, and
not be advised of the individual's employer unless it is relevant to the decision that
needs to be made.

CAP-6

NATIONAL BOARD STAMPING AND REGISTRATION OF DATA REPORTS

It is neither required nor prohibited to register Data Reports with the National Board
nor display the National Board registration stamp on products on which a
manufacturer applies the ASME Product Certification Mark.

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August 4, 2015

CAP-7

Page 4

ADMINISTRATION OF ACCREDITATION AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

ASME will administer all of its accreditation and certification programs and that this
directive be fully implemented by January 1, 1995.
As an example, administration includes but is not limited to ASME assignment of BPV
Review Team Leaders where:
(a) the Enforcement Authority has not designated an ASME Designee;
(b) there is no Enforcement Authority; or
(c) the Enforcement Authority serves as the Authorized Inspection Agency.
Such administration is in accordance with the words of the BPV Code.

CAP-9

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT
It is required that all Conformity Assessment Committees and BCA members and
alternates sign a confidentiality statement, when appointed to the Committee or Board.

CAP-10

JOINT VENTURES APPLYING FOR ASME ACCREDITATION

Joint Venture - Partnership
(a) ASME Certificates may be issued on individual project or job basis. Requests for
Certificates for a Joint Venture partnership which proposes to enter business on a
continuing basis, beyond an individual project, shall require further consideration by
the responsible Committee or Subcommittee.
(b) All partners in the Partnership must sign the application with the Partner having
overall responsibility identified in the form.
(c) All Codes or Standards requirements must be met by the Joint Venture.
Joint Venture - Incorporated. Treated as a separate corporation which must meet all
Codes or Standards requirements as an individual entity. Relationships between
founding organizations are not considered.

CAP-11

DEFINITION OF ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY

Enforcement Authority: A government entity that enforces regulations or laws and which
formally recognizes an ASME Code or Standard as a means of compliance with those
regulations or laws.

CAP-12

POLICIES ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST, CODE OF ETHICS AND

CONFIDENTIALITY FOR ASME DESIGNEES
All ASME Designees shall be required to agree to adhere to the Society's Policy on
Conflict of Interest, the Code of Ethics of Engineers and the Confidentiality Policy.
Alternative policies imposed by Enforcement Authorities on their employees satisfy this
requirement.

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August 4, 2015

CAP-13

Page 5

ESTABLISHMENT OF CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAMS

Any ASME conformity assessment program being established must be based on a
Code or Standard, in accordance with CSP-20, and not only on a Code Case.

CAP-14

ACCESS TO CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE AND SUBCOMMITTEE

MEETINGS
General access to Conformity Assessment Committee or Subcommittee meetings is
limited to members and alternates of the Conformity Assessment Committee or
Subcommittee, the ASME staff, the ASME Senior Consultant(s), members of the ASME
Internal Audit Team and the Chair of BCA. Other specific individuals may be invited by
the Chair of the Committee or Subcommittee to attend to provide information to the
Committee or Subcommittee. Conformity Assessment Committees or Subcommittees
may permit general access to others for portions of meetings when nonconfidential
items are being discussed.

CAP-15

PORTIONS OF REPORTS TO BE LEFT BY TEAMS AT ACCREDITATION AND

PRODUCT CERTIFICATION ACTIVITIES
ASME Teams will leave a written copy of findings and deficiencies and their status with
the company for all accreditation and product certification activities.
Full reports will be made available to the company following review by staff.

CAP-16

SCHEDULING OF REVIEWS AND SURVEYS

All ASME reviews and surveys for accreditation and product certification activities shall
be scheduled to assure the assigned Team has adequate time to perform a professional
review or survey in accordance with current policies, procedures and practices.
Each review and survey shall be scheduled based on:
(a) scope and type of accreditation or product certification activity;
(b) complexity and size of the Applicants program;
(c) performing a complete review or survey in an efficient and effective manner;
(d) minimal impact on the Applicant; and
(e) an allowance for unexpected delays or problems which may require additional time.
Note: Reviews and surveys should not be scheduled causing the Team undue
pressure to complete a review or survey in order to attend the next scheduled
review or survey.

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August 4, 2015

CAP-17

Page 6

CERTIFICATE NUMBERS
It is the ASME policy to assign a new Certificate number when a Certificate expires,
and a new Certificate is subsequently issued to the same company. However,
exceptions to this policy may be made by ASME Conformity Assessment staff.
There shall be no exceptions to the policy when there is a lapse in accreditation or
certification for more than six months, except when a review/survey has been
scheduled within three months after the expiration date of the Certificate and the
Certificate and the recommendation to issue has not been processed.

CAP-18

CERTIFIED INDIVIDUAL (CI)

The Certified Individual authorized to provide designated oversight as defined in
CSP-53 may also serve as the Certificate Holders authorized representative
responsible for signing data reports or certificates of conformance.

CAP-19

MANUFACTURERS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE

The manufacturers Authorized Representative for the signing and certification of data
reports or certificates of conformance may be any individual so designated by the
Certificate Holders quality system program.

CAP-20

REPRESENTATION OF THE APPLICANT/CERTIFICATE HOLDER BY OTHER

PARTIES AT A CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT HEARING
The designated party should evaluate whether or not it has a conflict of interest situation
and should accept or decline to represent the Applicant/Certificate Holder.
Prior to the hearing, the Applicant/Certificate Holder must provide in writing to the
Committee or Subcommittee the name of the individual(s) and/or designated
organization to represent them and a description of the responsibility and authority
granted to said designated party to act on its behalf.
If the designated party has a representative on the Conformity Assessment Committee
or Subcommittee, the member shall not vote on the outcome of the hearing because of
potential conflict of interest.

CAP-21

CRITERIA FOR REAPPLICATION OF AN ASME CERTIFICATION MARK

1

After an item has been certified under an ASME standard, if the ASME
certification mark (e.g. Code Symbol Stamp) becomes indistinct or the nameplate
is illegible or lost, but traceability to the original certification can be established,
the certification mark may be reapplied to the item.

Reapplication of certification marks shall only be permitted under the following

conditions:
2.1 The owner has requested the reapplication.

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August 4, 2015

Page 7

2.2 Where applicable, the Jurisdiction has granted the request for reapplication.
2.3 The reapplication shall be performed by the original manufacturer of the
Code item. Where responsibility to the original Code certification has been
maintained, reapplication by a successor organization to the original
manufacturer is permitted.
2.4 The reapplication shall be authorized and witnessed by an Inspector from an
ASME accredited Authorized Inspection Agency, or by an authorized
representative of the Qualified Inspection Organization or a Certified
Individual, as applicable under the associated certification program.
2.5 The reapplication of the mark shall be documented on a data report form
which is retained as required for the original data report.
3

CAP-22

Reapplication of the certification mark shall only be provided to restore evidence

of original compliance with the standard. Reapplication of the mark shall not be
applied for certification of the current condition of the item or for certification to
different requirements than originally constructed.

AUTHORIZED INSPECTION AGENCY OF RECORD

As a condition of obtaining and maintaining certain types of ASME Certificates of
Authorization (Section I, III, IV, VIII, X and XII) the Manufacturer must have in force at
all times an inspection contract or agreement with an accredited Authorization
Inspection Agency (AIA). This AIA (herein identified as the Authorized Inspection
Agency of Record) shall be identified on their application for a new issuance or
renewal of Certificates of Authorization.
The Authorized Inspection Agency of Record shall perform all required inspections at
the shop location identified in the Certificate of Authorization and for the type of work
listed in the scope of the ASME Certificate of Authorization.
The Authorized Inspection Agency of Record shall perform all inspections at field site
locations as authorized in the scope of the ASME Certificate of Authorization except
when the AIA of Record cannot provide coverage for inspections at a specific field
site.
The Certificate Holders Quality Control Program shall include the following provisions
whenever an AIA other than the AIA of Record performs inspections as outlined
above.
(a) How different AIAs will perform activities under the certificate of Authorization
Holders program.
(b) The AIA performing the field/shop activities has a contract or agreement
with the Certificate Holder
(c) Evidence that this program has been accepted by the AIA of record.

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Page 8

The provisions for the use of an AIA other than the AIA of record are not permitted for
shops operating under the mass production provisions of the Code.
This policy only applies to Certificates for which the Code requires an Authorized
Inspection Agency.

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Page 9

APPENDIX
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
Policy No.

BCA Action No.

Change

CAP-1

88-06.2

Added

CAP-2

91-23

Added

Ballot 10-13

Deleted

91-23

Added

96-126

Revised

Ballot 01-29

Revised

CAP-4

92-27.2

Added

CAP-5

93-42-14

Added

Ballot 10-13

Deleted

94-9

Added

12-16

Revised

94-10

Added

96-125

Revised

94-20

Added

Ballot 10-13

Deleted

94-130

Added

Ballot 01-30

Revised

Ballot 10-13

Revised

CAP-10

95-26

Added

CAP-11

95-30

Added

CAP-12

96-127

Added

CAP-13

97-58

Added

Ballot 10-13

Revised

97-72

Added

Ballot 10-13

Revised

97-73

Added

Ballot 10-13

Revised

1237

Revised

CAP-3

CAP-6
CAP-7
CAP-8
CAP-9

CAP-14
CAP-15

Conformity Assessment Policies

August 4, 2015

CAP-16

Page 10

98-22

Added

98-65

Revised

Ballot 10-13

Revised

99-23

Added

15-588

Revised

BCA 8/4/15 Minutes

Revised

CAP-18

03-07

Added

CAP-19

03-07

Added

CAP-20

Ballot 03-30

Added

Ballot 10-13

Revised

Ballot 07-01

Added

CAP-17

CAP-21
CAP-22

Ballot 07-07
Ballot 15-1694

Added
Revised