The body, its director and the staff responsible for carrying out verification operations may not be the designer, builder, supplier or manufacturer of safety components or installer of the lifts which they inspect, nor the authorized representative of any of these parties. Similarly, the body, its director and the staff responsible for supervising the quality assurance systems referred to in Article 8 of the Directive may not be the designer, builder, supplier or manufacturer of safety components or installer of the lifts which they inspect, nor the authorized representative of any of these parties. They may not become involved either directly or as authorized representatives in the design, construction, marketing or maintenance of the safety components or in the installation of lifts. This does not preclude the possibility of exchanges of technical information between the manufacturer of the safety components or the installer of the lift and the body.

The body and its staff must carry out the inspection or supervision operations with the highest degree of professional integrity and technical competence and must be free from all pressures and inducements, particularly financial, which might influence their judgment or the results of the inspection, especially from persons or groups of persons with an interest in the result of inspection or supervision.

The body must have at its disposal the necessary staff and possess the necessary facilities to enable it to perform properly the technical and administrative tasks connected with inspection or supervision; it must also have access to the equipment required for special verification.

The staff responsible for inspection must have:

• sound technical and professional training,

• satisfactory knowledge of the requirements for the tests they carry out and adequate experience of such tests,

• the ability to draw up the certificates, records and reports required to authenticate the performance of the tests.

The impartiality of the inspection staff must be guaranteed. Their remuneration must not depend on the number of tests carried out or on the results of such tests.

The body must take out liability insurance unless its liability is assumed by the State in accordance with national law, or the Member State itself is directly responsible for the tests.

The staff of the body must observe professional secrecy with regard to all information gained in carrying out its tasks (except vis-à-vis the competent administrative authorities of the State in which its activities are carried out) under this Directive or any provision of national law giving effect to it.