Section 3 Technology Qualification principles

3.1.1 The cost of assurance and qualifying technology can be a considerable part of technology development, largely through the collection of evidence (mainly testing); therefore resources should be focused on optimising the assurance processes and capturing the relevant data and information in support of the technology. The structured and systematic process of TQ should be able to help determine what evidence would add most confidence to the developer, thereby helping to enhance the development programme, and to identify the main factors contributing to the technology uncertainty thereby helping increase the confidence in the technology.

3.1.2 Expert opinion can contribute significantly to a technology development programme, particularly in the early stages of the development process. Through TQ, LR aims to add to the expert opinion available to the technology developer, carrying with it the credibility provided by LR’s experience and independence. The expert opinion provided by LR’s TQ should include identification of critical elements/components (critical technology elements) to be qualified, safety and reliability evidence required and interpretation of the evidence provided.

3.1.3 Technology development is itself an iterative process, and before deployment a technology concept may be reviewed and improved several times using design reviews, risk assessment, prototyping, observations, etc. The TQ process mirrors this in that the results at the execution stage of TQ can be used to complement the developer’s own process.

3.1.4 Traceability to demonstrate the link among identified technology elements/components, identified risks and collected evidence is therefore required throughout the TQ process for the whole development lifecycle of the technology.

3.2.1 The extent and limits of the technology to be qualified should be clearly defined and documented before the start of the TQ process, ideally with some form of identifier or other reference (that will be referred to in the LR TQ certificate at the end of the successful TQ process), so that the technology qualified, and covered by the certificate, is clear and not open to misinterpretation.

3.2.2 The application of TQ is not limited to physical products; it can also be applied to the software content of a technology or to novel services, focusing on the maturity of methods rather than on the hardware. Ch 1, 9 Technology qualification applied to services presents an approach for applying TQ to services.

3.3.1 Basic documentation should be provided as an input to the TQ process, to a sufficient level of detail to enable the TQ team to reach suitable conclusions as to the level of novelty of the technology, the technology uncertainties involved and to identify the most suitable means of treating these uncertainties (in the TQP).

3.3.3 If the client has an overall document register (e.g. master document register, or MDR) available, then this should be submitted to assist the identification of inputs to TQ.

3.3.4 Further documentation inputs are likely to be required during the TQ execution, as identified in the technology appraisal and the TQP.

3.4.1 It must be recognised that the intellectual property of the client or technology developer, particularly for novel concepts, may be especially sensitive and have significant potential commercial advantage associated with it.

3.4.2 Therefore for TQ confidentiality agreements should be established among involved parties where applicable. However, availability of the required documentation for TQ review should not be restrained by confidentiality agreements.

3.5.1 LR’s policy for conflict of interest, independence, impartiality and integrity shall be followed in the execution of TQ.

3.5.2 The policy requires that no member of the LR Group provides independent assurance on assets or systems for which any other member of the Group has provided consultancy services, without appropriate controls and authority having been applied.

3.5.3 Consultancy is defined as the provision of specific solutions to a client, or undertaking the design, manufacture/implementation or operation of an asset or system on behalf of a client.

3.5.4 For the purposes of applying this policy, stages 2 and 3 of the TQ process can generally be considered as providing independent assurance.

3.5.5 There is no conflict of interest if the LR TQ team engaged in stage 1 of the TQ process, i.e. participation in (or facilitation of) the technology appraisal process, is also engaged in developing or reviewing the TQP and reviewing the results of the TQP execution (and issue of the TQ certificate).

3.5.6 If LR is involved in preparing documentation (e.g. design reports) or other evidence that is subsequently assessed during review of the TQP execution (stage 3), appropriate organisational separation shall be ensured such that the respective service delivery teams work independently and with separate line management, in order to maintain objectivity in reviewing the results of the TQP execution (leading towards issuing a TQ certificate).

3.6.1 The TQ process aims to help clients manage the technology risks of their development, to confirm that the technology uncertainties identified through the TQ process have been addressed, such that the confidence in the technology has been increased to a level similar to that of a mature technology.

3.6.2 TQ does not consider parts of the client’s technology that are already considered to be mature – these are filtered out early in the TQ process.

3.6.3 It is possible, however, for LR to combine TQ with a design assessment of the mature aspects, so that an overall design certificate can be issued by LR. This is described in Ch 1, 8 Combining technology qualification with certification of mature technology.