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EA-0/02 Procedure for document controlEA-0/02: 2012PublicationReferenceProcedure forDocument controlPURPOSEThe purpose of this document is to describe the Secretariat’s internal process for control of EAdocuments, i.e. EA publications, the whole range of EA committee-related documents such asworking or discussion papers, and the Secretariat-owned documents. The control documentconsists in the management of all types of EA documents from their elaboration and adoption oridentification to their archiving through their revision or withdrawal.September 2012 rev00Page 1 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document controlAuthorshipThis document has been prepared by the EA Secretariat.Official languageThe text may be translated into other languages as required. The English language versionremains the definitive version.CopyrightThe copyright of this text is held by EA. The text may not be copied for resale.Further informationFor further information about this publication, contact the EA secretariat at:secretariat@european-accreditation.orgPlease check our website for up-to-date information at etariat Management System and Related DocumentsDate of approval:6 September 2012 by the Executive CommitteeDate of implementation:ImmediateTransitional period:According to implementation planSeptember 2012 rev00Page 2 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document controlCONTENTS1.INTRODUCTION . 42.RESPONSIBILITY . 43.EA-CONTROLLED DOCUMENTS . 44.COPYRIGHT POLICY . 45.DOCUMENT FORMAT. 56.DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION . 67.DOCUMENT TRACEABILITY . 118.PUBLICATION PREPARATION, APPROVAL PROCESS AND RULES FOR VOTING149.DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY AND ARCHIVING . 14ANNEX 1Management rules for EA committee-owned operational documents .18ANNEX 2Management rules for EA operational lists 19September 2012 rev00Page 3 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document control1.INTRODUCTIONThis document sets out the procedure for document control. It is to be used inconjunction with EA-INF/01: List of EA Publications and International Documents, EA0/06: Format and Layout of EA Documents, EA-1/19: Rules for Use of the EA Logo andEA-1/14: Procedure for Development and Approval of EA Documents and the Adoption ofILAC/IAF Documents.2.RESPONSIBILITYThe EA Secretariat, including the MAC Secretariat, is responsible for ensuring that theprocedure detailed hereafter is applied properly in the process for document control.3. EA-CONTROLLED DOCUMENTSAn EA-controlled document is a document that:- is identified as an EA document;- has been given a specific reference number (see Section 6);- is owned by an EA body or person, responsible for its management (review, revision,publication, withdrawal) according to the applicable rules.The EA-controlled documents consist of:-the EA publications classified in EA-1/14: Procedure for Development and Approvalof EA Documents and the Adoption of ILAC/IAF Documents, and published on thepublic part of the EA website. A separate list of EA Publications, EA-INF/01, ispublished for use by the EA member bodies and CABs;-the EA committee-owned documents, including constitutive documents, operationallists and documents, as well as the so-called “meeting papers” that are working ordiscussion documents distributed to EA committee members before the EA meetingsthrough the EA intranet;-the EA Secretariat-related documents, such as templates, lists or forms andcorrespondence, that are owned, managed and centralized by the EA Secretariat.EA publications and correspondence shall have the EA logo, according to the rulesdetailed in EA-1/19.The committee-related documents should normally bear the EA logo when they areelaborated by an EA body or person; external papers may have stakeholderorganizations’ logos.4. COPYRIGHT POLICYOnly EA publications are subject to the EA copyright policy.EA publications’ copyright is held by EA unless otherwise stated in the copyright note ineach EA publication. An EA publication may be used as a reference document in anotherSeptember 2012 rev00Page 4 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document controldocument by member bodies, or other organisations, upon permission by EA, providedthat an explicit mention of EA as the source of the document is formally made.5. DOCUMENT FORMAT8 5.1 Publication formatEA publications’ format is set out in EA-0/06: Format and Layout of EA Documents. AllEA publications shall comply with the rules defined in EA-0/06.In particular at the final stage of voting on an EA publication, the document shall bepresented according to these rules.9 5.2 Format of committee-related documentsThe working and discussion documents distributed in the EA Advisory Board (EAAB)shall have a dedicated frame on top of them in the right corner with, notably, thereference and purpose of the document i.e. document for information, discussion ordecision.XAgenda ItemDocument’s titleDocument’s referenceFor information, no discussionFor information and discussion at thenext meetingFor written comments before themeeting and discussion at themeetingFor approval at the meetingFor preparation of a formalstatement/positionX refers to the selected purpose of the documentThe EAAB papers shall also have a cover page that indicates:- the objective of the document;- the expected outcome of the discussions at the Board meeting (if document fordiscussion);- the background, recapitulating the rationale of the document/issue;- the circulation of the document;- the author of the document and the date of its drafting.Indeed this basic frame shall finally be used and completed for traceability purposes byall EA Committees/Council– see Section 7.2.2 below.When the frame cannot be put on the document, for instance when the document is aPDF file, then, as far as possible, the name of the file shall give an indication of how it isintended to use the document.September 2012 rev00Page 5 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document control6. DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION10 6.1 Categorization and referencing of EA publicationsDocuments published by EA are divided into the six categories below set out in EA-1/14:Procedure for Development and Approval of EA Documents and the Adoption ofILAC/IAF Documents:-EA Governance and Policy documents;Peer Evaluation Process documents, including policies and procedures;Members’ Procedural documents;Application documents and Technical/Advisory documents for conformity assessmentbodies (CABs);Secretariat Management System and related Documents;Information and Promotional documents.Furthermore, EA publications are given a reference number based on the category theybelong to.The table below gives a summary of the rules applicable for categorisation, identificationand referencing of EA publications.September 2012 rev00Page 6 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document controlCategoriesStatusReference NumberSecretariat Management Systemand related DocumentsNot ApplicableEA-0/dnNot ApplicableEA-INF/dnInformation and PromotionaldocumentsEA Governance and PolicydocumentsNot ApplicablePeer Evaluation Processdocuments, including policiesand proceduresNot Applicable Mandatory Guidance /INFormative documents MandatoryorMembers’ Procedural documentsorEA-2/02EA-2/dn M and EA-3/dn MorEA-2/dn G and EA-3/dn GEA-2/dn INF and EA-3/dn INFEA-4/dn M and EA-5/dn MEA-6/dn M and EA-7/dn Mor Application documents andTechnical/Advisory forConformity Assessment BodiesA: documents relevant for EA asan Association :EA-1/dn AAB: documents relevant forMembers: EA-1/dn ABGuidanceEA-4/dn G and EA-5/dn GEA-6/dn G and EA-7/dn Gor INFormativeEA-4/dn INF and EA-5/dn INFEA-6/dn INF and EA-7/dn INFor Technical / AdvisorydocumentsEA-4/dn TA and EA-5/dn TAEA-6/dn TA and EA-7/dn TAand other organisations.In the table, dn refers to the document number which is the order number.Supplements to existing documents may be published.They are identified with an “S” added to the reference of their “father” document. Forinstance, the document “Criteria for membership” is a supplement to the EA Rules ofprocedure. It is identified as EA-1/17 S1.6.2 Initial referencing of committee-owned documentsAll EA committee-related documents shall be given a reference number according to thedifferent document-specific patterns below, based on the following codes:XX identifies the EA committee/body responsible for the document.XX shall be replaced by:EX for the EA Executive CommitteeGA for the EA General AssemblyEAAB for the EA Advisory BoardMAC for the EA MLA CouncilSeptember 2012 rev00Page 7 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document controlHHC for the EA Horizontal Harmonization CommitteeCPC for the EA Communications & Publications CommitteeCC for the EA Certification CommitteeIC for the EA Inspection CommitteeLC for the EA Laboratory CommitteeRev00 indicates that it is the very first, initial version of the document.YY or YYYY identifies the year when the final draft of the committee document isfinalised.The Month of the document finalisation should be abbreviated with its first 3 letters.mn: meeting number order numberdn: document number order numberrn: resolution number order number6.2.1 Committee constitutive documentsThe documents inherent to the existence of an EA committee/body shall be referencedon the following patterns according to their nature:Terms of Reference:Membership List:WG and TFG XX-WGs&TFGs-Rev00-MonthYY6.2.2 Committee operational listsThe operational lists owned by an EA Committee and maintained by the EA Secretariatshall be referenced on the following pattern:EAXX-L-List’s name -Rev00-MonthYYFor example (the list below is not exhaustive)EX List of Liaison Persons:EX List of TFGs for Complaint -ComplaintTFGs-Rev00-MonthYYEX List of EA Recognised Stakeholders:EAEX-L-RS-Rev00-MonthYYHHC List of EA-Endorsed Sector Schemes:HHC List of EA Directive N-Rev00-MonthYYCPC Keyword List for the EA Search Facility: EACPC-L-SFKeywords-Rev00-MonthYYList of LC WG ILCs and PTs:List of LC Technical onthYYFor information on the management rules for EA committee-owned operational lists,please see Annex 2 of this document.6.2.3 Committee operational documentsSeptember 2012 rev00Page 8 of 19

EA-0/02 Procedure for document controlThe documents inherent to the operations of an EA committee/body shall be referencedon the following patterns according to their nature:Work Programme:EAXX-WPYYYY-Rev00Meeting Agendas:Meeting Minutes:Decision Lists:Action -Rev00-MonthYYEAGA Resolutions:EA Resolution YYYY (mn) rnFor information on the management rules for EA committee-owned operationaldocuments, please see Annex 1 of this document.6.2.4 Committee discussion documentsThe meeting papers deemed to be published on the EA intranet (see Section 9.2), mostoften in relation with the committees meetings, shall be referenced on the followingpattern:EAXX(YY)dnDocument numbering shall be restarted with “01” at the beginning of each year.The Secretariat uses a dedicated Excel file including committee-specific sheets toallocate initial reference numbers to each discussion/working document and registerthem. The same Excel master file enables the Secretariat to keep track of the varioussteps of a meeting paper’s life or development (see Section 7.2.2).6.3 Initial referencing of Secretariat-owned documentsAll EA Secretariat-related and -managed documents shall be given a reference numberaccording to the two generic patterns below, based on the following codes:XX identifies the EA committee/body responsible for the document.XX shall be replaced by:EX for the EA Executive CommitteeGA for the EA General AssemblyEAAB for the EA Advisory BoardMAC for the EA MLA CouncilHHC for the EA Horizontal Harmonization CommitteeCPC for the EA Communications & Publications CommitteeCC for the EA Certification CommitteeIC for the EA Inspection CommitteeLC for the EA Laboratory CommitteeCH for the EA ChairmanVCH for the EA Vice-ChairmanSEC for the EA SecretariatSeptember 2012 rev00Page 9 of 19