How to choose an Assessor

The 1'st and 2'nd part in a railway contract can hire an assessor:

- The 1'st part will typically be a supplier, who wants to develop a railway system (a train, a level crossing, an LED lamp etc.) and
- The 2'nd part will typically be an Operator or Infrastructure owner, who wants to buy a railway system.

It is recommendable to choose an assessor in corporation with the Safety authority.

Interpretation

The assessor should have the capacity to perform the required assessor tasks.

The assessor should have the needed independency.

The assessor should have the needed competence.

There can be many candidates.

Please note an approval of a product can be parted into Generic Product (GP), Generic Application (GA) and Specific Application (SA).

Each approval step can have different assessors.

Add 1) For the GP it might be beneficial to use internal assessors as far as possible. If this is not accepted by the relevant safety authority, an external assessor can be hired to ensure the independency.

Add 2) For the GA and SA it might be beneficial to choose a local assessor or someone who is accepted by the local Safety Authority.

Add 3) For the SA it might only be necessary with an assessor for the first installed site.

Focus on the sources (EN 50129:2003)

See "Focus on the sources" in the referenced links.