Rules for Achieving and Maintaining IATF Recognition 4th Edition

Sanctioned Interpretations

The Rules for achieving and maintaining IATF Recognition 4th Edition for ISO/TS 16949 (“Rules 4th Edition”) was
published in October 2013 and is effective since 1 April 2014. The following Sanctioned Interpretations were
determined and approved by the IATF. Unless otherwise indicated, Sanctioned Interpretations are applicable upon
publication.
Revised text is shown in blue.
A Sanctioned Interpretation changes the interpretation of a rule or a requirement which itself then becomes the
basis for a nonconformity.
SI 1-8 issued April 2014, SI 4 (revised) October 2014, SI 9 issued October 2014, SI 1 (revised) and new SI 10
issued April 2015

Number Rules reference Sanctioned Interpretation

ISO/TS 16949 is applicable to all sites of a client where customer-specified production parts and/or
Eligibility for service parts are manufactured.
Certification to
1.
ISO/TS 16949 “Customer-specified production parts” shall be understood as parts that are an integral part of a
1.0 vehicle. The only customer-specified parts that do not meet this requirement but are to be included
are the following: fire extinguisher, car jacks, floor mats, and owner’s manual and Warning Triangles
Eligibility for
Certification to At the request of the client to the CB, the client may exclude a site meeting the eligibility
2.
ISO/TS 16949 requirements of ISO/TS 16949 and who supplies customer-specified production parts to automotive
1.0 customers not requiring 3rd party certification to ISO/TS 16949.

Audit report The draft audit report shall include a description of all nonconformities, opportunities for improvement
3. (see section 5.9), and the audit team recommendation to the certification body decision function. In
5.10
situations where major nonconformities are issued, the audit team shall inform the client of the

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required next steps and timings of the certificate decertification process as applicable.
In exceptional case(s) where the implementation of corrective actions cannot be completed within a
maximum of ninety (90) calendar days from the closing meeting of the site audit, the certification
Nonconformity body shall consider the nonconformity open, but 100% resolved when the following conditions have
management been met:
5.11
5.11.2 c)
scheduled onsite follow-up special audit based on the accepted action plan and prior to the next
audit (see section 7.2),
5.11.3 Onsite Verification
A major nonconformity shall require onsite verification of the corrective action. The onsite
4. verification shall be considered a special audit (see section 7.2) and shall be completed within a
maximum of ninety (90) calendar days from the closing meeting of the site audit.
7.2 Special Audits
Nonconformity
management It may become necessary for the certification body to conduct audits of certified clients to
5.11 investigate performance complaints (see section 8.1 a/b), in response to changes to the client’s
quality management system (see section 3.2), significant changes at the client’s site, as a result of
a suspended certificate (see section 8.3), to verify the effective implementation of identified
corrective actions for major nonconformities (see section 5.11.3), or to verify the effective
implementation of identified corrective actions for nonconformities considered open, but 100%
resolved (see section 5.11.2 c). A special audit of the site and the reason for the special audit shall
be entered into the IATF database within twenty (20) calendar days from the closing meeting of the
audit. A special audit of a remote supporting function shall not be entered into the IATF database.
If a portion of the site is dedicated to automotive, then the headcount from that portion can be used to
determine audit time when the following conditions are met:
Audit days Current wording of 4th bullet:
5.
5.2 h) - all support activity personnel are included in the headcount,
Revised wording of 4th bullet:
- the same ratio should be applied to the support activity headcount,

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Eligible for Certification

Current wording:
Letter of For this audit cycle, a different audit team shall be assigned from the team that performed the initial
6. Conformance audit for the letter of conformance (see section 5.6)
5.14.4
Revised wording:
For this audit cycle, a member of the audit team that performed the initial audit for the letter of
conformance should be assigned.
Audit plan
7. The audit team leader shall ensure that the audit plan meets the requirements of section 5.7.2.
5.7.2
6.8 Recertification Audit
Current wording:
Misalignments The audit team leader shall establish an audit plan as defined in section 5.7.

Revised wording:
A member of the audit team shall establish an audit plan as defined in section 5.7.
6.8.2 Information for granting recertification
8.
Current wording:
The certification body shall upload the certificate in the IATF database within twenty (20) calendar
days of the certification decision.
Misalignments
Revised wording:
The certification body shall upload the certificate in the IATF database within twenty (20) calendar
days of entering the certification information.

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3.2 g)
Current wording:
Misalignments IATF subscribing OEM customer special status (see section 8.0).

Revised wording:
IATF OEM customer special status (see section 8.0).
8.1 b)
Current wording:
Misalignments The client advises the certification body of a special status condition from an IATF subscribing OEM.

Revised wording:
The client advises the certification body of a special status condition from an IATF OEM.

Management of The certification body, its auditors (full time or contractors), and any part of the same legal entity shall
9. Impartiality not offer or provide management system consultancy, site-specific auditor training, or internal audits
2.2 to its certified clients or have provided it to new client within two years prior to contracting as their
certification body.
The auditor shall successfully complete an internal certification body witness audit to ISO/TS 16949
(see section 4.4) before functioning as the audit team leader. For this internal certification body
Initial qualification witness audit the witnessed auditor shall be assigned as the audit team leader.
10. process Rationale:
4.3.1 The certification body shall ensure that as many activities the audit team leader is responsible for are
being observed during an internal witness audit. Therefore it is important that the witnessed auditor is
being assigned as an audit team leader.

Note: NA means the SI is self-explained or there no needs to explain the SI

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