A Deep Dive Into Eligibility Criteria in IATF Rule 6th Edition

The 6th Edition of the IATF Rules came into effect on March 1st, 2024, for Certification Bodies (CBs) and January 1st, 2025, for suppliers, introducing several new or updated requirements. This article takes a deep dive into the updates in Part 1 on eligibility criteria.

The 6th Edition redefines “automotive vehicles” within the certification scope as “homologated vehicles certified to meet safety, environmental, and technical standards set by the relevant authorities. Essentially, any vehicle with a license plate now falls under the certification scope.

The 6th Edition maintains the three categories of parts but introduces a key change in one of them. Production and accessory parts remain unchanged:

• Production parts (e.g., brakes, engine blocks, valves) and materials (e.g., grease, engine oil, brake fluid, sealants) are manufactured to OEM specifications and integrated into the vehicle.
• Accessory parts (e.g., mud flaps, exterior lighting, decorative trim, EV charging cords) are also manufactured to OEM specifications but added after the vehicle’s manufacture.

The biggest change concerns service parts. In the 5th Edition, these were considered synonymous with replacement parts and were eligible for IATF certification only if manufactured to OEM specifications and procured or released by the OEM. Aftermarket parts, which may or may not meet OEM specifications and are not procured or released by the OEM, were excluded.

The 6th Edition incorporates previous Sanctioned Interpretations and renames this category “Replacement Parts and Materials”, which is now divided into service parts and aftermarket & remanufactured parts, both of which are now within the certification scope.

When one or more support functions (e.g., product design, sales, HR) are provided by a separate location, the site is classified as:

• Remote Support Location (RSL) if it is inside a remote manufacturing location.
• Standalone Remote Support Location (SA-RSL) if it is not inside a manufacturing location.

Under previous rules, if an RSL or SA-RSL supported multiple manufacturing sites, any CB auditing one of those sites could audit the support functions. This could result in multiple CBs auditing the same RSL.

The 6th Edition changes this: an RSL can now be audited by only one of the CBs overseeing the manufacturing sites it supports.

For example, consider an SA-RSL in the United States providing support to four manufacturing sites: two in Korea, one in Mexico, and one in Germany. If the SA-RSL is audited by the CB of the Korean sites, it will not be audited by the CBs of the Mexican and/or German sites too. However, the CB auditing the SA-RSL must share the reports with the other CBs.

Rule 6th Edition introduces “Indirect support locations” (also called “remote of a remote”). These sites provide support to other RSLs—for example, an indirect support location might handle product design for a SA-RSL responsible for process design—but have no direct interaction with the main manufacturing site.

While Indirect Support Locations are part of the audit planned for the SA-RSL it provides support to, they are not listed on the manufacturing site’s certificate.

Another important change concerns Extended Manufacturing Sites (EMSs), which fall under the same certification as the main site.

As in the 5th Edition, an EMS must function as an extension of the main site. The EMS must operate under the main site’s QMS, following directives from its top management, and remaining dependent on its production value stream.

Rule 6^th Edition adds a critical requirement: an EMS must be within 10 miles (16 kilometers), AND no more than 60 minutes driving distance from the main manufacturing site.

EMS that do not meet this requirement can no longer be certified under the main site. They will have to develop their own QMS and obtain a separate certification.

A corporate scheme is a type of certification where multiple manufacturing sites are audited collectively under a common corporate structure. These sites share common support locations and Quality Management Systems, though with localization at each site. Each manufacturing site maintains autonomous decision-making but with corporate oversight.

Rules 6^th Edition introduces two new requirements for a corporate scheme:

1. Central Location: A corporate scheme shall have an identified central location responsible for defining, structuring and controlling the common Quality Management System. The central location does not need to be the organization’s headquarters.
2. Two sites minimum: A corporate scheme shall consist of at least two manufacturing sites—with or without an extended manufacturing site—all of them operating under a common Quality Management System.