[ Conformance / Compliance ]

I’m working with a group of engineers who are trying to define when a Standards requirement has been met.

The first debate is whether it is “conformance” or “compliance”.  That question, to me, is fairly straightforward: we conform to the Standard; comply with legislation.  If the Standard is named in the legislation, we comply with the legislation when we conform to the Standard.  Clear as mud.

The next debate is trickier:  how to demonstrate that compliance/conformance.  We’ve established four methods so far: spreadsheets, judgement, validation/verification, or utilisation of an internal technical authority.

Expectations differ, and, there are many solutions available.