SERMI acts as scheme owner to the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA).

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NEWS

The Security Process

Accreditation scheme

Freq. Asked Questions

Apply as IO

Frequently Asked Questions

Guidance:
In this page the questions are mapped so stakeholders can see if this question primarily relates to them.
The used abbreviations are explained underneath:
CAB: Conformity Assessment Body
NAB: National Accreditation Body
IO: Independent Operators
VM: Vehicle Manufacturer

The SERMI team has setup a guidance document for the on-site inspection. You can download this document via this link.

At this moment SERMI isn’t operational in every EU Member State. We have chosen for a staged implementation per EU Member State. For the introduction of SERMI in your country, please check the Apply as IO section page. If your country hasn't migrated yet, your current validation protocols to access Security related Repair and Maintenance Information stays valid and is being handled by each vehicle manufacturer themselves.

All brands (vehicle types M, N and/or O) that are sold in the EU are obliged to follow this EU Regulation (no EU-2018/858).

It’s an EU Regulation which means that all brands are legally obliged to comply with this Regulation in order to be able to sell vehicles in the EU. SERMI only covers access to Anti-theft RMI all other RMI data should be available without a specific certificate as described in the EU Regulation no EU-2018/858.

Please send your request to jwl@vehiclesermi.eu for the required SERMI integration documentation and to be integrated into the integration planning.

The information will be requested by the IO and IO employee and will only be shared with the CAB. will The CAB will perform the assessment and they are not allowed to share this information with any other organization (including the Trust Centre, SERMI association and the Vehicle Manufacturer).

The employee must be able to share a clean criminal record for requesting the certificate. The conditions are set by the individual Member State themselves (National legal system).

A CAB needs to have an accreditation by the NAB in an applicable country. If the CAB also wants to become active in another country, they will need to add the countries in which they want to become active in their application.

The validity of the certificate is 60 months and there must be one unannounced on-site inspection during this period and one approx. 6 months prior to the prolongation. The CAB should further follow the guidelines set in the ISO 17020:2012 – Type A.

I In order to keep the scheme as simple and efficient as possible the aim is to try and appoint just one single TC for the whole of Europe. If necessary or deemed beneficial SERMI may appoint more than one TC in the future.

No, there is no need for setting up a national SERMI organisation. According to the EU-Regulation (no EU-2018/858) there is only one SERMI organisation. What would be a possibility is to start a SERMI-communication program with different national stakeholders (NAB, CAB and IO) to inform them about the upcoming SERMI requirements. We could help you with providing you information regarding the SERMI scheme, timelines and latest information on SERMI-developments upon request.

The two major components are:
1. The work carried by the CAB relating to the accreditation of the IO and IO employee, including paper inspections, and on-site inspections.
2. The cost relating to the TC operations who are responsible for issuing the electronic certificate and the provision of the IT infrastructure
Note: Currently VMs do operate different certificate schemes for which they do charge a fee to the IOs. However, from August 2023 all of these different schemes will be replaced by the SERMI scheme.

There will be only one universal certificate for the IO that will be accepted by all brands. This universal certificate will allow the accredited IO employee to access the Security related Repair and Maintenance Information (RMI) in the portal of the vehicle manufacturer. Access to the RMI of the VM for non-Security related RMI will not change.

For the initial activation and use of your certificate, you will have to install an App on your mobile device.

In case of accreditation by the CAB, this is up to the CAB themselves, if all the requirements of SERMI are fulfilled this could be a possibility. Regarding the certificate, it’s not possible to use other/existing certificates for SERMI at this moment.

All parts that are linked to anti-theft are included e.g.: software updates (if it includes programming linked to keys/locks) and online ordering of anti-theft parts directly via the VM.

All VMs have to comply with the official statement from the Regulation:
“ ’Security-related repair and maintenance information' or 'security-related RMI’ shall mean the information, software, functions and services required to repair and maintain the features that are included in a vehicle by the manufacturer to prevent the vehicle from being stolen or driven away and to enable the vehicle to be tracked and recovered.”

(SERMI scheme, 3.1.7: “…They shall design these features in such a manner that it does not render ineffective the right of independent operators to access repair and maintenance information for features that are not security-related”).

There will be an explanatory notice available for most use cases. But not all anti-theft elements can be isolated from others e.g., combined ECUs in this case the VM will have to secure the complete ECU. The legislation does not explicitly require manufacturers to separate security related elements completely and systematically from other elements of the vehicle.

Yes, this is not a part related to Security related RMI.

© SERMI 2024 - Legal advice