Notified Bodies and their role in the verification and approval process

The design and construction of a new, renewed, or upgraded railway asset must be verified by a Notified Body (NoBo) as being compliant with the relevant standards. The asset may not then be placed in service unless and until it has been authorised by the Safety Authority.

A NoBo is an organisation that has been assessed by a Member State as meeting the criteria of competence, independence and integrity that are set out in the Regulations, and as such has been notified to the Commission as being appointed to assess and verify the compliance of a subsystem with the relevant TSIs and / or NNTRs. The Secretary of State appoints NoBos for the UK, on the advice of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) which also monitors the performance of NoBos. NoBo appointments are administered by Rail Standards and Safety Division of DfT - contact via interoperability@dft.gsi.gov.uk.

Guidance on how to apply for appointment as a NoBo is at:

• Guidelines for the assessment of bodies applying for Notified Body status in the UK

A list of Notified Bodies appointed by the UK is at:

• Notified Body Appointments made under the Railway (interoperability) Regulations (PDF, 72KB)

A list of all Notified Bodies is available on the website of the European Commission.

The NoBo Review

DfT has commissioned a study on the UK's Notified Body system for interoperability.  The review will consider how the performance of the Notified Body system can be optimised within the current UK interoperability framework.

The NoBo Review will consider:

• the extent to which the Notified Body process has improved or reduced railway efficiency
• the methods used by NoBos and the specific failings and successes of the Notified Body system
• the role and influence of UKAS within the Notified Body system
• whether the performance of the Notified Body system is project dependent or Notified Body dependent
• the application and interpretation of technical standards for interoperability
• other influences on the effectiveness of the Notified Body system

DfT's Rail Standards and Safety Division will use the information, with the support of the railway community, to inform policy on how to:

• deliver improvements to the current Notified Body system and the form of an improved framework
• integrate identified improvements to the Notified Body System and implement them within the current railway and interoperability framework

This 6 month research project is being conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton.