Qualification of personnel involved in certification of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (Components, Types and Projects)
PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT
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The purpose of the document is to describe the process of qualifications of evaluators involved in certification schemes (type, components, projects) with reference to standard ISO 17065:2012.
ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS
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The following abbreviations are used in the present document.- Recognised Organisation (RO): Recognised Organisation (RO) S.A.- Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O: Recognised Organisation (RO) Marine and Offshore SAS- COFRAC: Comité Français d'Accréditation (French Accreditation Body)- IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission- IECRE: IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable Energy Transition.- ISO: International Organization for Standardization- OD: Operational Documents (IECRE)
REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
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- ISO 17065:2012: Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services. - Recognised Organisation (RO) Group QHSSE 013-PO: Qualification management - Recognised Organisation (RO) Group QHSSE 001-PO: Monitoring of technical staff - Recognised Organisation (RO) Group QHSSE 011-PO: External workers, vendors/suppliers, subcontractors, non-exclusive and temporary workers- the related certification procedure: General Procedure for Certification of Wind Offshore Turbines, Components and Projects.- the offshore wind certification quality manual: Marine & Offshore Quality Plan for Wind Offshore Projects and Product Certification - IEOF_001: Specific Instruction for Certification of Offshore Wind Turbines Types, Components and Projects- Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O MPG-0003: Personnel management - Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O MPG-0005: Appointment of non-exclusive surveyors- Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O the monitoring of quality of services procedure: Monitoring Of Quality Of Service- Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O the related procedure: Organisation and Responsibilities in Local Plan Approval Offices (LPO)- Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O the related procedure: Procedure For NC surveyor certification (NC Surveyor certification scheme)- Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O the related procedure: Qualification, accreditation and monitoring of MLC Inspectors and accreditation of CS Units for MLC services- Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O the network activities qualification procedure: Qualification of personnel involved in RO activities
QUALIFICATION PRINCIPLES
QUALIFICATION OF EXCLUSIVE EVALUATORS / INSPECTORS
With reference to ISO 17065 (§6), personnel involved on certification shall be competent, qualified and records shall be made available and maintained.Responsibilities of Quality Manager, Certification Manager (Technical VP acting during the absence of the Certification Manager), Evaluation Leader, Evaluation Manager, Evaluation Reviewers and Evaluators are detailed in the following document:- the offshore wind certification quality manual - Quality Plan for Wind Offshore Project and Product CertificationAll evaluators shall be qualified and shall fulfil the requirements described in APPENDIX 1.
QUALIFICATION OF NON EXCLUSIVES EVALUATORS / INSPECTORS
Non-exclusive evaluators may be self-employed or staff of company having a contract with Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O SAS. Non-exclusive evaluators shall be qualified and supervised under the relevant Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O SAS qualification system . As per ISO/IEC 17065 standard (§6.2.1), they are qualified and appointed as individuals by the Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O Certification Manager and operate following Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O SAS procedures and instructions. All contracts with "self-employed" or "under contract" evaluators shall clearly state that the evaluator(s) shall be individually qualified and appointed by Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O SAS, and shall operate under its relevant Quality System.
QUALIFICATION OF OTHER PERSONNEL INVOLVED IN THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS
- Certification Manager (Technical VP acting during the absence of the Certification Manager ):The Certification Manager is qualified as per the requirements set in APPENDIX 1.- Personnel preparing commercial offers: As indicated in the instruction IEOF_001:- for type and component certification, the offer shall be established by a qualified person- for project certification, the offer shall be coordinated by a person qualified as "Evaluation Leader".- Project management:For project certification, a project manager shall be appointed to manage the certification contract. This project manager shall be either the corresponding Evaluation Leader, a Business Unit Manager, or somebody with proven project management capabilities.Project Managers are not covered by a specific qualification profile, as they do not participate, as such, in the evaluation process. Project Manager are mainly in charge of interfacing with the Client, progress reporting, and financial follow-up of the certification contract.
MONITORING OF EVALUATORS / INSPECTORS PERFORMANCES
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The performance of evaluators is monitored to ensure the expected quality of their service . It is to be noted that in case an evaluator holds several qualifications, one monitoring will cover all qualifications.For evaluators and inspectors, an Activity Monitoring is organized: - It consists in an assessment of the performance of the evaluator/inspector. It is performed by qualified personnel in the field of activity being assessed. The activity monitoring will confirm the capability of the evaluator/inspector to perform satisfactorily the work assigned, will identify needs for continual improvement in the organization, and will identify needs for improvement (guidance, trainings, tools). - It is performed at least once every other calendar year (ie when last activity monitoring is carried out at any date in year N, next activity monitoring is to be carried out latest 31st December of the year N+2)
QUALIFICATION MANAGEMENT
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Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O personnel qualified as per M&O procedures and recorded in "Qualification and Supervision Management tool" (QUALIF) are qualified for Floating Wind Offshore Certification activities according to table of equivalence - APPENDIX 2.
INITIAL QUALIFICATION
- Evaluation and inspections activities: Evaluators including Evaluation Leader and Evaluation Reviewer involved in a type, component or project certification will follow a theoretical training on wind certification scheme focused on IEC 61400-22 (Document cancelled in Oct 2024, not superseded and applicable depending on agreement) & IECRE operating under standard IEC 17065.In addition, some specific technical trainings are organized and recorded in the "Qualification and supervision management tool" (QUALIF). Those trainings are linked to the field of activities requested by evaluator or inspector.After an initial period of work related to the field of activity and after the first activity monitoring performed, the initial qualification will be granted.
TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES MAINTENANCE
In addition to the technical works performed and their monitoring, the following periodical technical exchanges are organized:-One annual "Wind technical day" meeting for evaluators and inspectors, covering:- Latest return of experience from successful certification contracts- Difficulties encountered- Update on technology and best practicesTechnical alerts on an as required basis for all inspectors qualified, covering in particular information on critical technology developments that require adaptation of inspection scope, detail or level.The attendance to the wind technical day will be checked during the periodical Activity monitoring. In case of unavailability of an evaluator for at least one wind technical day during the period between two activities monitoring, proof of in-depth reading and understanding of the meeting support (i.e. through Sharepoint) shall be recorded.
SUSPENSION
If the performance of a qualified evaluator doesn't meet expectations, the Technical VP for design review activities or the Operations VP for inspections, of the certification body or its representative can suspend the concerned qualification.Reasons for suspending an evaluator are:- Activity Monitoring not completed on time (Justified exceptional cases will be assessed by Certification Manager). - Audit resulting with findings (major non conformity)- Feedback from client highlighting deficiencies - No attendance to the wind technical day.
QUALIFICATIONS AND SUPERVISION MANAGEMENT TOOL
Qualifications and supervisions are managed into the M&O digital tool "QUALIF". This dedicated tool is used as a source where trainings and qualifications of staff are recorded and kept up to date.All personnel (ie employees and contracted personnel) involved in a certification scheme driven by Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O are registered and maintained in the tool.Within Recognised Organisation (RO) M&O, an equivalence between qualifications of evaluators acting on floating wind offshore activities and personnel acting on classification activities is available in APPENDIX 2.