What is the difference between conformity assessment and conformance testing?
Good question. These terms are often used interchangeably, although there are differences. Conformity assessment is the more general term. It includes all activities concerned with determining directly or indirectly that relevant requirements in standards or regulations are fulfilled, such as: sampling and testing; inspection; conformance testing; certification; management system assessment and registration; accreditation of the competence of those activities and recognition of an accreditation program’s capability. Conformance testing is conformity assessment by means of testing. It provides a way to determine whether or not an implementation (e.g., voting system) deviates from the specification (e.g., VVSG).
