Anyone can inspect their own work and call it passed. The entire value of third-party inspection is in the words "third party" — and ISO/IEC 17020 is the international standard that defines exactly how independent an inspection body really is.
Type A, B and C — the independence ladder
ISO/IEC 17020 recognises three types. Type C bodies may inspect work connected to their own organisation with only procedural separation. Type B bodies serve only their parent company. Type A — the classification GML holds — must be independent of the design, manufacture, supply, installation, purchase, ownership, use and maintenance of the items it inspects. No commercial pressure to pass what should fail.
What the certification audits
Our certificate is not a one-off purchase. It rests on an ongoing external audit of competence: documented inspector qualifications, calibrated and traceable equipment, validated inspection procedures, impartiality risk management, and records that reconstruct every inspection years later. GML holds an ISO/IEC 17020:2012 Type A certificate of conformity (no. 17281) from Global Compliance Service, issued under GCS’s own ISO 17020 accreditation and subject to unannounced verification audits. You can check it at verify.gcsregistrar.com/17281.
Where it matters to you
Lifting gear and CCUs: operators increasingly refuse in-house-certified equipment. Welds: MPI, LPI, UT and visual inspection reports carry the weight of impartiality in disputes. Coatings: warranty claims live or die on independent hold-point records. Regulatory and client audits: STOW-conscious energy clients ask who inspected — and who they answer to.
Independence you can verify
Our scope covers NDE (MPI, LPI, UT, visual), lifting equipment inspection and load-test witnessing across Trinidad & Tobago and the wider CARICOM region, 24/7 for shutdown windows. We would rather you verify our credentials than take our word — that is rather the point of the standard. Check our certificate online at verify.gcsregistrar.com/17281.