Scheme development

JASANZ works with scheme owners who want assistance with the design and development of schemes. We use our extensive experience to help organisations create schemes based international best practice to meet their stakeholder needs.

Examples of JASANZ-developed schemes

Asset Management System (AMS) Scheme

This Scheme was developed by JASANZ in consultation with the Asset Management Council.  The objective was to develop a scheme based on the international standards for asset management systems to establish criteria for bodies certifying to ISO 55001:2014 — Asset management — Management systems — Requirements.  There were existing ISO standards for the requirements for certification bodies offering such services (ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO/IEC 17021-5), however industry experts expected additional requirements to be added to reflect the actual competencies required to undertake such audits and to include additional controls around audit planning, including the inclusion of an audit duration calculator.  JASANZ worked with stakeholders through a scheme technical committee to develop these additional controls to harmonise audit activities.

Electrical Equipment Safety Certification (EESC) Scheme

JASANZ is currently developing a set of harmonised requirements for electrical equipment certification. The Electrical Equipment Safety Certification (EESC) Scheme is currently being developed by a Technical Committee representing Australian and New Zealand stakeholders in this sector. The new scheme is a type test scheme aimed at being a harmonised set of requirements to replace 10 existing schemes owned by certification bodies.

Benefits

A well-designed scheme supports improved market transactions and/or better delivery of public services.

In the case of the asset management systems scheme, there is an increasing need to ensure that critical infrastructure continues to operate, particularly with the increase in cybersecurity attacks.  Therefore, the development of this scheme has benefited consumers, organisations and governments across the globe, through supporting the management of assets necessary to support critical infrastructure.

In the case of the electrical safety, you can see how individual certification bodies may have a limited or vested view of their particular schemes. JASANZ has a unique perspective overseeing all of these schemes, and with its experience and expertise can often see the benefits to scheme owners, consumers and markets of harmonising schemes.

To find out more about scheme development, or to ask any questions, please contact the Technical Team at tsb@jasanz.org.

Step by step guide to developing a scheme with JASANZ

Step 1 – Preliminary review of proposed scheme objectives and business case

Before we progress with the development process, our staff sit down with the prospective scheme owner to determine the development needs.  The purpose is to test the need for the scheme, its intent and its likely impact.  The following are the key points of discussion at this stage:

The prospective scheme owner will need to describe the proposed scheme, including:

  • the purpose and objectives of the scheme.
  • the intended operation of the scheme.
  • the business case for the scheme.

JASANZ can provide a review of this information that involves:

  • examining the scheme proposal against known models and practices — considering any competing regulatory, government, industry or conformity assessment body schemes.
  • a joint risk assessment of the proposed scheme.
  • whether it’s appropriate for the scheme to proceed under the JASANZ banner.

Step 2 – Proposal development

If the prospective scheme owner wishes to progress, a formal proposal on the development process is provided by JASANZ staff so that the prospective scheme owner is fully aware of the activities required in the development process, and the associated timeframes and costs.  Once the proposal has been agreed, we commence the development process, using the following key steps.

Step 3 – Establish scheme technical committee

  • JASANZ utilises scheme technical committees to develop schemes.  The scheme technical committee members are selected to represent key stakeholders that will have an interest in the scheme once developed.  These stakeholders typically include:
    • JASANZ representative.
    • relevant government or regulatory representatives.
    • suppliers and industry representatives.
    • conformity assessment experts with a direct interest in the scheme.
    • end users and consumers.

    Each scheme technical committee has publish terms of reference, including key milestones and deliverables.

Step 4 – Set the development process and timeframes

The scheme technical committee operates based on consensus.  Drafts of the prospective scheme are developed by JASANZ staff, in consultation with the prospective scheme owner.  The draft is further developed by the scheme technical committee until the stakeholders are confident that the scheme has addressed significant issues related to compliance of systems, products or persons with the requirements of the specified standards.  The scheme technical committee also:

  • validates the suitability, reliability and efficacy of the scheme and
  • establishes timeframes for implementation.

Step 5 – Approval of scheme and decision to launch

The JASANZ Executive are responsible for the final decision as to whether to publish and launch the scheme for accreditation.

Step 6 – Publish scheme

Once approved by the JASANZ Executive, JASANZ publishes the schemes on our website.

Step 7 – Periodic reviews

From time to time (usually within a five year timeframe) the scheme requires review.  JASANZ may be contracted to undertake these reviews using the scheme technical committee.  These reviews are necessary to confirm whether the scheme remains fit for purpose, is being maintained effectively or whether there is no longer a need for the scheme.