In order to combat and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, severe emergency measures have been adopted, through various provisions, most recently the Prime Minister’s Decree of 11 March 2020. At this difficult time, which requires maximum responsibility and collaboration of all the parties involved, it is appropriate to provide some initial recommendations to the holders of authorizations and/or certifications issued by the Central Technical Service (STC).
All holders of authorizations and certifications by this STC shall comply strictly with the provisions set out thus far, placing above all else the needs of public and individual health that motivate the aforementioned severe but necessary provisions.
In order to limit people-to-people contact and the consequent spread of the virus, the Prime Ministerial Decree of 11 March 2020 orders the suspension of retail commercial activities and restaurant and personal care services referred to under parts 1), 2) and 3) of Article 1 of the same Decree.
The productive and professional activities that continue operation are subject to the severe restrictions referred to in parts 7), 8), 9) and 10) of the same Article 1, recalled below:
“7 a) companies shall as far as possible use agile working methods for activities that can be carried out at home or remotely;
7.b) holidays and paid leave for employees as well as other instruments provided for in collective bargaining are encouraged;
7.c) the activities of company departments that are not essential to production shall be suspended;
7.d) companies shall adopt anti-contagion safety protocols and, where it is not possible to respect the social distance of one metre as the main safety measure, individual protection shall be used;
7.e) work place sanitation operations are encouraged, even using forms of social safety nets for the purpose;
7.8) for productive activities only, it is also recommended that movements within the sites be limited as far as possible and access to common areas be restricted;
7.9) in relation to the provisions of numbers 7 and 8, agreements between employer and trade union organizations are encouraged, limited to productive activities;
7.10) For all non-suspended activities, maximum use of agile working methods is recommended.” Therefore, all activities subject to authorization by this STC that are not suspended must be continued with strict application of that outlined above. According to the prescribed containment measures, opening or direct contact with the public should be suspended and, where necessary, telematic, telephone or digital measure of remote contact with users should be adopted and transfers and/or activities that cannot be deferred or performed otherwise should be avoided. The remaining activities, where they cannot be deferred or in any case reprogrammed, must be carried out by adopting specific procedures – where necessary exceptional – that expressly guarantee the conditions referred to in the Ministerial Decree of 11 March 2020, with particular reference to the anti-contagion safety protocols, referring both to personnel and to any person possibly involved in the activities. In this regard, reference can be made to the Guidelines IAF ID 3-2011 ‘IAF Informative Document For Management of Extraordinary Events or Circumstances Affecting ABs, CABs and Certified Organizations’. .
Any temporary suspensions of activities subject to authorization by the STC, deemed of public utility but in any case not essential, such as the activities of test laboratories referred to in Article 59 of Presidential Decree 380/01 or the bodies referred to in Ministerial Decree 17.01.18 or Reg. (EU) No 305/2011, however ordered or established, shall be communicated to the STC and to the other competent Administrations, as required by the specific sector regulations.
In considering the needs of public health as absolutely priority, any deferrals or delays with respect to the deadlines indicated by the sector regulations (such as, for example, the deadline of 45 days for the execution of the acceptance tests on concrete samples, as per §11.2.5.3 of Min. Decree 17.01.2018, or the frequency of site inspections) – where adequately justified in order to comply with the aforementioned priority health protection measures – must non affect the regularity of the related procedures (such as, with reference to the previous example, the acceptance of materials on site or the validity of the factory production control certifications issued).

Coordinator of the Central Technical Service: Mr Emanuele Renzi
PRESIDENT: Mr Massimo Sessa