ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 contains principles and requirements for the competence, consistency and impartiality of bodies providing audit and certification of all types of management systems.

Certification bodies operating to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 do not need to offer all types of management system certification.

Certification of management systems is a third-party conformity assessment activity and bodies performing this activity are therefore third-party conformity assessment bodies.