0000002465 00000 n Typically, a design conforms to requirements and work products conform to both design and requirements. Portability is the ability to move software programs or applications among different computer systems with minimal change. Depending on the nature of the electronic device being imported, you will either need to go through a more comprehensive FCC certification or can submit your own Suppliers Declaration of Conformity. Lets look at the difference between the two: For RF Devices with the greatest potential to cause harmful interference to radio services like smartphones, Bluetooth speakers, earbuds, etc, that emit radiation a self-declaration is not acceptable to comply with FCC regulations and they must be certified by an FCC-recognized Telecommunication Certification Body (TCB) based on an evaluation of the supporting documentation and test data submitted by the responsible party (e.g., the manufacturer or importer) to the TCB. The difference between the performance dimension and the conformance dimension is that the former is more forward-looking and the later backward-looking. Enter a Melbet promo code and get a generous bonus, An Insight into Coupons and a Secret Bonus, Organic Hacks to Tweak Audio Recording for Videos Production, Bring Back Life to Your Graphic Images- Used Best Graphic Design Software, New Google Update and Future of Interstitial Ads. Conformance quality is the production of products and delivery of services to specifications. FCC (47 CFR Section 2.906) again states that the SDoC is: a procedure that requires the party responsible for compliance ensure that the equipment complies with the appropriate technical standards. Nevertheless, the larger and more varied the set of inputs is, the more confidence can be placed in an implementation whose testing generates no errors. Do you have any other example on Conformance & Performance specifications? A good conformance clause is the ultimate goal of these guidelines, and is sanctioned by conformance to this specification. It is important to note that certification cannot exist without validation, but validation can exist without certification. It increases a buyer's confidence in a product and its ability to meet their needs. The Procurement cycle is covered extensively within the CIPS . Correct implementation and utilization of standards leads to portability and interoperability. (3) list reproducible test methods to be used in testing for Any other brands or models If the bid does not conform to the specification in all elements, it is not a bid at all; but a new proposition. Finally, the testing policy and procedure should identify and define the actions of the organization(s) responsible for conducting the tests, handling disputes, and issuing certificates (or brands) of validation. This reflects the thinking of the "IOR School" (Insti- tute for Operational Research). A specification becomes an essential contract management document which is used to ensure that the chosen supplier provides what is specified. By definition, a Moreover, each test should be written so as to explicitly state the behavior of a conforming implementation. A testing program cannot exist without a test tool or test suite, but a test tool/suite can exist without a testing program. Some clients have asked us what is a certificate of conformity over the years, and we wrote this article to answer that question. Other conformance related terms include validation and certification. Requirements Work that matches what was requested in requirements. It, in turn, refers to other parts of the standard. Bidders offering an equal The conformance clause of a standard specification is a high-level description of what is required of implementers and application developers. and more interested in what a product does. of Procurement has approved the use. An airline buys fan blades for their planes engines. a. Quality of conformance is the ability of a product, service, or process to meet its design specifications. The performance Typically, the decision to establish a testing program is based on weighing the benefits achieved by obtaining conformance versus the costs of creating and running a validation and certification program. As a procurement proffesional just think for a moment how many times has a fully agreed and signed of specification been put on your desk and requistioned without any prior input from your function? Conformance Test Suites for XML Technologies. The initial version of the test suite will not include the formatting objects part of XSL; however research is underway to determine how NIST can make a contribution to this part of the specification. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. This more common approach usually includes some additional, more specific, requirements in the conformance clause, along the lines of: One approach that has been used successfully is to have a register for extensions. Unfortunately, we have no experience in this topic, and the requirements vary from one country/area to the other, so we are unable to help. If you cant describe what your organization need on piece of paper then imagine how suppliers can understand your needs, then quote/propose the right solution for it. Procurements primary role of taking a business requirement (specification) finding a supplier/suppliers , negotiating a deal and then ordering the item is all hinged on that first step! quantity scheduled purchases. There must be sufficient basis to determine that these Validation is the process of testing software for compliance with applicable specifications or standards. When a requisition does not include an existing standard, specification or purchase description, which the contracting officer considers . A buyer would typically ask for a CoC on products/components that are critical or high risk. If such a list is provided, the starting point for the development of the test suite is the list of assertions for the standard. 9 What are the types of specifications when contracting? 2) Actions - related to things such as functions, processes,. Here is one example. and to invite maximum reasonable competition. determine equivalency. Performance purchasing is results orientated in terms met to be considered responsive. This nesting continues until level n, which consists of the entire specification. predicated on a written specification which includes certain Inspections will be conducted on the products at delivery:6.1.1 Any defect on the products.6.1.2 Conformance to specifications and functionality.. Conformance to specifications requires formal data specifications, which may address any or all of data . An official website of the United States government. It should be possible to know where the Specification originated. BRAND-NAME SPECIFICATIONS: The . 2) The car shall have a really kickin stereo system. What does it mean when software conforms to a standard or specification? specifications by bn reviewed by rh this procurement is being solicited as a small purchase request for quotation (rfq). 2 What are the types of specification in procurement? The validation process consists of the steps necessary to perform the conformance testing by using an official test suite in a prescribed manner. The Java test suite contains over 200 tests and covers the fundamental and extended interfaces of the DOM Level 1 Recommendation. As a user I may legitimately have an issue that while testing a prototype I discover that I cannot steer the car and it has no braking system. For example, Apple maintains a page about EU compliance, and here is one of their DoCs. ISO/IEC Guide 2 also mentions that "Typical examples of conformity assessment activities are sampling, testing and inspection; evaluation, verification and assurance of conformity (supplier's declaration, certification); registration, accreditation and approval as well as their combinations.". 1.1 This specification covers the fabrication and supply of bare overhead transmission line conductors. 0000069347 00000 n Chartered MCIPS. Quality standards are defined as documents that provide requirements, specifications, guidelines, or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose. My company Sofeast, can probably help you. Click here for Terms & Conditions. A specification details the requirements of the procurement. What is the definition of quality of conformance? is less interested in dimensions and materials and configurations SPP Regions Expert Workshop - Copenhagen June 15th 2016 Performance / Output Based Specifications (POBS) are the foundation for a purchasing approach commonly called Performance Based Contracting. What should a certificate of conformity include? However, the responsible party or any other party marketing the equipment must provide a test report and other information demonstrating compliance with the rules upon request by the Commission. Contracting officers must assess the adequacy and applicability of any standards, specifications, including client-developed specifications, or purchase descriptions included by a client in the requisition. Purchasing will assist and advise you in DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS: Design The test software, consisting of a set of test files (i.e., data, programs, or scripts) checks each requirement in the specification to determine whether the results produced by the implementation match the expected results, as defined by the specification. Certificate of Conformity, According to the FCC (47 CFR Section 2.906), Sofeast: Quality Assurance In China Or Vietnam For Beginners [eBook], Assembly Fixtures: A Valuable Productivity and Quality Tool, Process Engineering: Limitations of Most Chinese Suppliers, 6 Tips To Combat Common Recurring Quality Issues From Your Supplier, ISTA Testing: Do It And Stop Worrying About Product Damage In Transit, How USA & Canada SME Importers Feel about China in early 2023, Description of the product covered in the CoC, List of all safety regulations the product must pass, The CoC must clearly list each of the safety regulations the product must be tested for, refer to related tests reports or certificates, Importer or manufacturers identification, Provide the name, full mailing address, and telephone number of the importer or domestic manufacturer certifying the product. Lets take an example. Good thoughts Diaa..Performance specifications focuses on supplier partnership. 0000003290 00000 n a specification should be written to encourage, not discourage, eliminates, items that are outside the boundaries drawn. It assumes responsibility for insuring that the components of the program are in place and becomes the centralized source for information about the program. Procurement has final responsibility for the competitiveness and used to establish the QPL and indicate steps to be taken The conformance clause of a standard specification is a high-level description of what is required of implementers and application developers. This is called strict conformance. A conformance clause is a section of a specification that states all the requirements or criteria that must be satisfied to claim conformance to the specification. in-house terminology. These criteria and It is well recognized that conformance testing is a way to ensure that "standard-based" products are implemented. 0000066307 00000 n It will be super helpful to build on that. The rationale for this is to be able to acknowledge all the implementations tested, but "reward" those implementations that "get it 100% correct". Each test should lend itself to providing objective, reproducible, unambiguous, and accurate results. Well explain what a CoC is, what its used for, and what it includes. Sample 1 Sample 2 Any mention of commercial products or reference to commercial organizations is for information only; it does not imply recommendation or endorsement by NIST nor does it imply that the products mentioned are necessarily the best available for the purpose. Falsification testing can only demonstrate non-conformance. article. to a single product and is the most restrictive kind of sound evaluation criteria. product is to be put together. products, others may simply require that brands be tested under QUALIFIED PRODUCT LIST (QPL): A purpose intended. Interoperability is defined as the capability of two or more systems to exchange and use information. The test suites are available athttp://xw2k.nist.gov/xml/index.html. 0000009860 00000 n The suite may be a set of programs, a set of instructions for manual action, or another appropriate alternative. Marketing teams and customers view quality in terms of satisfying customer needs and meeting customer expectations. all necessary drawings, dimensions, terms, and Levels are nested subsets of the specifications. Alternatively, each profile could have its own set of levels. Another alternative is the requirement that service that ill satisfy a particular need at an economical cost The understanding is that an implementation that is determined to satisfy each assertion will be considered to be in conformance to the standard. How to Market Your Business with Webinars. The following discussion defines conformance and conformance testing as well as describes the components of a conformance testing program. The test suite should be platform independent, and should generate repeatable results. Specifications can be prepared in a Typically, the sponsor establishes and maintains the program. 3. This type of conformance testing makes use of publicly available test suites or tools and is not associated with any formal validation or certification program. 7 What is the definition of quality of conformance? Level 2 includes all of level 1 and also additional functionality. This is a document, parallel to but distinct from the official specifications, that contains a list of recognized extensions to the standard. Another issue it whether or not a certificate expires (e.g., good for 2 years or never expire). Its use is called for where a structure or Provide the date(s) and place when the product was tested for compliance with the consumer product safety rule(s) cited above: Provide the location(s) of the testing and the date(s) of the test(s) or test report(s) on which certification is being based. Greater share of specification risk is borne by the supplier. 9 0 obj As a procurement professional . Thus, quality of conformance equates to conformance to specifications within an acceptable tolerance range. Requisition 2 - A clear defined specification "I would like a knife and fork to eat my dinner with, They must be no more than 5 inches high and they must be made of metal. The procedures should also contain information on what must be done operationally when failures occur. The specification must: Be set out in the relevant Procurement Documents clearly describe what is required detail the characteristics required not refer to the following: brands or trade names However, this is generally impossible for implementations of nontrivial specifications that are written in a natural language. For ensure testability of a specification/standard, care should be taken in the wording of the specifications itself. Failure to pass a test implies failure to conform. There is sometimes confusion between the two terms, however, in most cases, these two terms mean exactly the same thing and often comes down to the personal preference of the company that needs the certificate. 5(1). When validation is coupled with certification, successful completion of conformance testing results in the issuance of a certificate (or brand) indicating that the implementation conforms to the appropriate specification. described fully to include thickness, size, color, etc. Here's why. The size of staff necessary to do This is the official blog of Sofeast.com. Determining whether a product faithfully implements a standard or specification is essential to creating robust, interoperable solutions. The buyer uses the results of the testing to verify that a seller provides a product that conforms to the specification and meet procurement requirements. This would include the documentation of how the testing is to be done and the directions for the tester to follow. Specifications often used to be one of the last items written before a package was issued for tender, but this has changed over time. 1. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Implementation dependent ranges, minimum or maximum allowed sizes, etc. items regularly available in the market place, as is BRAND-NAME-OR-EQUAL SPECIFICATIONS: A Once the item is delivered the specification can be used to compare the delivered item to what was ordered. Without a CoC, products may be impounded, confiscated, and in some case destroyed. Testing should be performed by an FCC-recognized accredited testing laboratory.. Conformance and Performance Specifications 1. by vendors to add products to the QPL. An XSL stylesheet is used to generate an XML Conformance Test Report, which includes background information on conformance testing for XML and information that is useful in determining that each test is traceable back to the Recommendation. This safe guard protects both the Buyer and the Customer (internal or external). Two sets of test suites were built, one for DOM with an ECMAScript binding and the other with a Java binding. The responsible party, who must be located in the United States, is not required to file an equipment authorization application with the Commission or a TCB. approval for the product offered before bid opening. substantially equivalent to those named are considered for award, Applications often do not require all the features within a standard. Its relatively easy, faster & straight forward to complete procurement process with conformance specs; however, it limits innovation as you dont really give chance to suppliers to suggest different solutions. CoC for importing consumer goods in the USA, Certification authorization vs. SDoC (Suppliers Declaration of Conformity) for electronics being imported into the USA, Certificate of Compliance vs. The decision to issue a certificate is based on the testing results and established criteria for issuing certificates. Official websites use .gov When you get into a Commercial agreement (contract), you are simply intending that the law enforce whatever it is that you as a party in that contract desire. The conformance testing policies and procedures should be spelled out before testing begins. Departments using design In this example, while the mattresses were not required to be tested by a third party laboratory, the mattress manufacturer voluntarily chose to do so and must provide the information about that laboratory. A good specification should do four things: (1) A standard may classify features as "mandatory" vs. "optional," and provide a table listing features so classified. This bulletin presents an overview of conformance and addresses conformance to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Recommendations for the Extensible Markup Language (XML) family of specifications. To illustrate the characteristic of Completeness in Specifications consider my proposed user requirements for a new car. Conformance tests should be used by implementers early-on in the development process, to improve the quality of their implementations and by industry associations wishing to administer a testing and certification program. Reference method tests and PEMS drift tests are conducted to determine conformance of the PEMS with the specification. Examples of certifying organizations include consortia, trade associations, standards groups, or government agencies. Or even types of specifications when contracting, Specifications are statements of requirements to be satisfied in the supply of a product or service. Ideally, it would be nice to prove beyond any doubt that an implementation is correct, consistent, and complete. However, this is generally impossible for implementations of nontrivial specifications. The best position is to list What is specification? XML Test Suite is available from the NIST web site, http://xw2k.nist.gov/xml/index.html. "Design" in performance specifications afford the manufacturer or bidder There are many organizations, including private sector companies, standards group, consortia, and government agencies that develop conformance tests and/or tools. This button displays the currently selected search type. A defect can lead to a failure that might result in loss of life. If the criteria or requirements for conformance are not specified, there can be no conformance testing. At last the month and year should be shown and the city, state, and country needs to be shown. In contrast to the design approach, % situations when the use of this specification is our only sizable latitude in how to accomplish the end purpose. 2. 0000006382 00000 n Although conformance testing is not a guarantee for interoperability, it is an essential step towards achieving interoperability. 1.2 Upon request by the Owner, the Manufacturer at its expense shall provide proof of conformance with any or all requirements of this specification. This makes the purchasing process inefficient. Generally, there are two main types of specification, conformance and performance Conformance specification; In this case the buyer details exactly what the product must have, as in what they want the product to be like!. A certificate of conformity, or CoC, is issued by an authorized party (sometimes the manufacturer, sometimes an independent laboratory) and states that the product meets the required standards or specification. There are additional advantages when a technical specifications document is drawn up and it forms an integral part of the procurement process and order placement. But what are specifications? 0000004999 00000 n qualified product list (QPL) is a specification based on In 1991, ISO/IEC DIS 10641 defined conformance testing as "test to evaluate the adherence or non-adherence of a candidate implementation to a standard." >> It is the most traditional kind of The level and formality of the conformance testing is determined by the buyer, an organization acting on behalf of a community of buyers, or by regulation (e.g., safety, health, national security concerns). This is usually in a conformance clause or conformance statement, but sometimes some of the criteria can be found in the body of the specification. Conformance testing (also called conformity assessment) is a way of verifying implementations of a specification to determine whether or not deviations from the specification exist. Specifications are statements of requirements to be satisfied in the supply of a product or service There are two main types of specification when contracting namely: With this type of specification the buyer says what they want and how they want it and the supplier has to meet this Examples of conformance specification are: What are the types of specification in procurement? performance, quality or essential characteristics must be Written by Lewis Hutson - Thank you for taking the time to read my first of hopefully (dependant on the first ones reception)many articles. Proprietary Specification. specifications must submit complete specifications with 5. Importers of some consumer electronic products that intentionally or non-intentionally emit radiation between 9kHz to 3,000 GHz radio frequency range including personal computers, fans, power stations for devices, LED lights, TV remotes, etc, into the USA must issue a Suppliers Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) which is supported by lab tests that may or may not be performed by an FCC-recognized and accredited lab as long as the testing is correct according to the standards (or may also choose to get the product certified as described above in some cases). Additionally, the documentation should be detailed enough so that testing of a given implementation can be repeated with no change in test results. For example, some testing programs may require a very formal testing and certification approach using an independent (i.e., third party), nationally accredited testing laboratory while other programs may be more appropriate for self declaration and demonstration testing. This type of testing is called conformance testing. 0000007908 00000 n The conformance clause is a part or collection of parts of a specification that defines the requirements, criteria, or conditions that shall be satisfied by an implementation in order to claim conformance. purpose intended. Lock In these cases, it may be desirable to partition the specifications into subsets of functionality. All the profiles would include level 1; this is basically a core + optional module approach. When all deviations and omissions are eliminated, the implementation conforms to the specification. Validation with certification is often used as a prerequisite for procurement. A conformance testing program usually includes: A specification/standard that includes a conformance clause and a test tools are essential to defining and measuring conformance. Values that may be different for different conforming implementations of the standard, The color model(s), if any, supported by the standard, Test tool (e.g., tool, suite, and/or reference implementation, Organization(s) to do testing, issue certificates of validation, and arbitrate disputes. Get in touch with me and I will give you a tailored recommendation or quotation. These requirements are specified in a standard or specification as either part of a conformance clause or in the body of the specification. Examples of conformance specification; What are the types of specification in procurement? ISO/IEC Guide 2[2] defines conformance (also referred to as conformity) as the fulfillment of a product, process, or service of specified requirements. AnEU declaration of conformity(DoC) is a mandatory document that you as a manufacturer or your authorised representative need to sign to declare that your products comply with the EU requirements. Supplier Resources. for different products. Such an implementation provides a proof of concept of the standard and also provides a tool for the developers of the conformance test suite (by generating expected values, testing the test suite, etc.) tested and are considered equal, state testing methods 0000005693 00000 n conformity assessment - any activity concerned with determining directly or indirectly that relevant requirements are fulfilled. specification is to provide a basis for obtaining a good or contracting for buildings, highways, and other public works, and 0000008579 00000 n definitions of non-standard terms. Deviation in delivery period shall be considered if such deviation is reasonable.6.1. 20899 USA, Email: lisa.carnahan [at] nist.gov Tel: (301) 975-3362 FAX: (301) 948-6213, Prepared by Robin Cover for the The SGML/XML Web Page archive. specification, having been used historically in public competitors that can supply the product, the department head has It should be possible to know by observation of the finished system/product that the requirement has been met. The tests are then executed and the results displayed. Falsification testing can only demonstrate non-conformance. A good specification should do four things: (1) Identify minimum requirements, (2) allow for a competitive bid, (3) list reproducible test methods to be used in testing for compliance with specifications, and (4) provide for an equitable award at the lowest possible cost. DEFINITIONS 2.1 Centroidal Area. Conformance to specification means to meet the regulatory requirements; Customer needs means to meet the customer reasonable specific requirements. establish a QPL must list the products that have been Conformance testing is NOT a way to judge if one product is better than another.