4. Surveillance under the responsibility of the notified body
4.1. The purpose of surveillance is to make sure that the manufacturer duly fulfils the obligations arising out of the approved quality system.
4.2. The manufacturer must allow the notified body access for inspection purposes to the locations of manufacture, inspection, testing and storage and provide it with all necessary information, in particular:
the quality system documentation,
the quality records, such as inspection reports and test data, calibration data, reports concerning the qualifications of the personnel concerned, etc.
4.3. The notified body must carry out periodic audits to make sure that the manufacturer maintains and applies the quality system and provide the manufacturer with an audit report. The frequency of periodic audits must be such that a full reassessment is carried out every three years.
4.4. In addition the notified body may pay unexpected visits to the manufacturer. The need for such additional visits, and the frequency thereof, will be determined on the basis of a visit control system operated by the notified body. In particular, the following factors must be considered in the visit control system:
the category of the equipment,
the results of previous surveillance visits,
the need to follow up corrective action,
special conditions linked to the approval of the system, where applicable,
significant changes in manufacturing organisation, policy or techniques.
During such visits the notified body may, if necessary, carry out or have carried out tests to verify that the quality system is functioning correctly. The notified body must provide the manufacturer with a visit report and, if a test has taken place, with a test report.