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Compliance

Short Description​

Compliance is the state of realization of a set of conformance criteria or normative framework of a party, where

  • a 'normative framework' is a set of related requirements that need to be complemented with a set of conformance criteria in order to be actually testable;
  • a 'conformance criteria' is an (actually testable) requirement or condition that must be satisfied to claim conformance (compliance), and

Since parties are autonomous in deciding what normative frameworks and/or conformance criteria they want to comply with, we postulate that they owns compliance objectives, i.e. objectives that aim to realize compliance with a selected set of conformance criteria and/or normative frameworks.

Parties can state their compliance objectives in various ways, e.g. by stating that

  • the products it manufactures or uses must comply with their specifications, EU safety regulations, etc.
  • the processes that it runs must comply with standards such as ISO 9001 or ISO 27001
  • the laws and regulations of the country in which the party is established must be complied with.

We use the term compliance management to refer to the management process that a party runs for the purpose of realizing its compliance objectives - in other words: to become and remain compliant (with the conformance criteria and/or normative frameworks they selected).

Compliance with a set of conformance criteria or a normative framework is typically asserted by a party, and may be attested to by an (independent) auditor.

Purpose​

The purpose of compliance (being compliant, or in the process of becoming compliant) is that it may help to mitigate risks, e.g. of being fined for being non-compliant. Also, it may help to provide opportunities; for example, being compliant with the ISO 9001 management requirements is often required for organizations in order to qualify for becoming a supplier.