A third-party inspection agency (TPIA or TPI) is a business organization, complying with the

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

standards Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

. Third-party inspection or "Category A" is the most stringent of the 3 categories of

inspection An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. ...

organizations that the standard specifies. Such organizations are third-party inspection agencies that must not be involved in any activities other than inspection and testing. Based on this requirement, the third-party inspection agency must not be involved in design, procurement, fabrication, construction, or installation. All companies and parties such as buyers, sellers, engineering companies, plant owners must have access to these agencies and use their services. Confidentiality, independence, impartiality, and integrity are important conditions for being a third-party inspection agency.

References

Quality control {{business-stub