TERMS & CONDITIONS

This document applies to all clients involved in the following standards: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, EN 1090 and all other non-accredited certifications to British and International Standards. These terms & conditions form an agreement between Certa Qualitas Certification Limited and it’s Client Organisations.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd undertakes independent audits and certification of documented management systems against Internationally Recognised Standards. Customers certified by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd are required to comply with the specifications of these terms and conditions for the duration of their certification.

The certification service is available without discrimination to all applicants regardless of the size, location and membership of their group or association.

Applicants are required to notify Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd of any conflicts of interest they identify e.g., the allocated assessor has carried out consultancy for the customer within the last two years or has any sort of existing or previous personal or professional relationship with any member of the organisation.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will give due notices to all certified customers of any changes to our requirements for certification. Where applicable a reasonable period of adjustment will be defined.

Certification provides no guarantee that products, services, or operating activities meet specified requirements, nor does certification imply a view on the specification of a product or a service, or compliance with any legal requirement, code of practice, regulation, or environmental performance consideration. Certification by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd therefore cannot and does not guarantee a good product or service provided by the certified customer or any operating compliance.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will provide an object and fair audit and certification process. Impartiality is at the core of our business ethos. Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd has put in place procedures, practices, and policies to safeguard the impartiality of its activities. We strive to deliver audit certification services which provide the marketplace with confidence, while maintaining the professionalism and credibility of not only our own audit and certification processes but those of any accreditation body we work under.

Our full impartiality policy will be available in full on our website https://cqcertification.co.uk. If you are unable to access this for any reason, a copy can be requested from our head office.

A conflict of interest is any circumstance where the interest of Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd differs from those of an individual acting on behalf. This may be in the form of an associate performing audit activity for an entity they have a close business or personal relationship with. This kind of scenario must be eradicated to avoid any influence of the assessor’s judgement and lack of impartiality. We recognise the following scenarios as a conflict of interest:

1. An individual auditing a system they have implemented or provided consultancy support to in any respect.

2. Auditing the system of a family member or friend.

3. Accepting, directly or indirectly, any kind of personal advantage offered by the organisation or individual to be audited.

All customers are responsible and must inform Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd head office immediately should any threat or potential threat to impartiality or a conflict of interest be identified.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will abide by the requirements of the General Data Protection Act and will be registered with the Information Commissioners Office. Certa Qualitas will also adhere to all legislative and regulatory requirements for data protection.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will treat all aspects of the audit as ‘commercial in confidence’ and any information/evidence outside of the public domain that is gained during the audit will be used for the audit only. The assessor, or any observer present, agrees to treat as secret and confidential and not at any time, for any reason, to disclose or permit to be disclosed any information reviewed or seen during the audit, other than for internal verification purposes in the process of granting, extending, or withdrawing certification.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will provide suitably qualified personnel for audit work. Sub-contracted assessors will be selected and monitored in line with our competence criteria, which conforms with relevant international standards such as ISO/IEC 17021-1, ISO/IEC 17021-2 and ISO/IEC 17021-3.

All sub-contract assessors are required to sign contracts and a code of practice, which contain confidentiality agreements, requiring them to strictly treat all information outside the public domain as ‘commercial in confidence’ (as above).

Neither Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd, nor its agents and/or subcontractors will use and/or disclose any confidential information to a third party without the written consent of the client or individual(s) concerned, including the receipt of information from other sources, save for fulfilling its obligations under the contract(s) or in circumstances where:

1. It is required to do so by any governmental, local government or regulatory authority or by law (but only to the extent it is strictly required to do so)

2. It is necessary for obtaining professional advice in relation to the contract(s).

3. It was already known to the client or individual prior to the time of disclosure by the client or individual (where Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd can prove the same with documentary evidence); or

4. It is information which subsequently becomes public knowledge other than by breach of the contract(s) by the recipient.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will inform clients if we are required by law to release confidential information.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd and/or any accreditation body we work under, may be required to accompany assessors on audits to evaluate consistency and quality of practice within the audit team. Trainee assessors may also periodically shadow/observe the lead assessor for training and quality purposes, as part of their professional development. The customer will be informed in writing prior to the audit that the assessor will be accompanied by any of the above. Any personnel in attendance will be subject to confidentiality agreements and their presence will have no impact on the duration, cost, or outcome of your audit.

Clients will be notified in advance of the audit of the details of the audit team attending via a reminder letter sent ahead of the visit by the head office team. The applicant has the right to request additional information on the attending audit team and can request a change of the assessor(s) allocated to conduct the audit(s).

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd reserve the right to approach certified organisations about other services that they or associated companies provide, certification via Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will assume consent has been provided.

Should an organisation wish to provide an auditor with information by sending or providing devices such as laptops or memory sticks or any other hardware device, the organisation remains responsible for the device and the information contained on the device. Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd and their auditors will not accept any liability should the device be lost, stolen, or broken. The auditor will agree to treat the device with a level of care that can be deemed as reasonable and will not knowingly damage the organisations property in any way.

Information regarding customers registered with Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will be made publicly available on our website.

Information displayed:

• company name (legal entity)

• certification number

• scope of certification

• location(s)

On receiving an initial enquiry and completed application, Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will review the information provided and issue a quotation detailing audit costs and durations as applicable. This will be followed by a telephone call to answer any questions and confirm the customer’s intention to proceed. Customers will be required to submit a signed application form when proceeding with their application for audit.

The audit-days allocated to the audit will be based on the information submitted on the application/quotation form. Failure by the applicant to provide accurate details of employees’ subcontractor, seasonal workers, sites, and their locations may lead to the delay to the certification process and additional costs. The application must be fully completed and signed by authorised personnel before any audit activity can take place.

Transferring of certification is free of charge. If your current certification provider is not a UKAS Accredited certification body, the audit will be treated as an initial audit and the date on the certificate issued to you by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will not precede the date the certification decision was made from Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd.

The customer will be required to inform their current certification provider of the transfer prior to making the transfer arrangements with Qualitas Certification Ltd.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd require a copy of your latest certificate and a copy of your last report and all relevant supporting documentation to process and approve your transfer.

If there are any outstanding non-conformities an audit of these will need to take place and may require a visit to the customer’s premises or sites before the transfer of a certificate can be completed. The costs of this will be agreed in advance.

In order to be audited, customers must have a documented system, which conforms to the applicable standard being assessed and other relevant normative documents. The system must have been tested and be operational against the requirements of the applied for standard(s) and scope before any decision-making audit can be undertaken. E.g you must have undertaken internal audits and a full management review of your entire system prior to the stage 2 certification audit.

Upon receiving the signed quotation acceptance documentation, Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will allocate a competent assessor to conduct the audit. Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will then arrange the date(s) for the audit(s) to take place.

All clients certified to a standard are required to keep a record of complaints made known to them relating to compliance with certification requirements and make these records available to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd on request, as well as to take appropriate action with respect to such complaints, and document the actions taken.

Certified clients are required to formally advise Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd, without delay, of any  serious incident or breach of regulation necessitating the involvement of the competent regulatory authority or other government or national legal authority.

If clients provide copies of certification documents to external parties, the documents shall be reproduced in their entirety this includes certificates and audit reports.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd must be informed, at the time of the change, without delay and in writing, of any relevant significant changes, of matters that may affect the capability of the management system to continue to fulfil the requirements of the standard used for certification which may affect certification and the duration of any planned activity.

Changes include, for example, changes relating but not limited to:

1. the legal, commercial, organisational status or ownership.

2. organisation and management (e.g., key managerial, decision-making, or technical staff).

3. contact address and sites.

4. scope of operations under the certified management system.

5. major changes to the management system and processes.

6. product materials,

7. production and processes

8. new or essential facilities

9. new or essential equipment

Should there be significant changes to an organisation management system, or the context in which the management system is operating (e.g., changes in legislation) a stage 1 audit may need to be conducted at a recertification audit

The customer should write to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd. to apply for an extension or amendment to their approved scope of registration. Adequate time will be allowed prior to re-audit or surveillance to enable Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd. properly to plan and resource the audit.

Audit to verify that the Standard is still met will be carried in those areas not previously audited, normally requiring a site visit. Any charges to this will be discussed and agreed in advance with the customer. A small charge may also be made for the amendment and re-issue of certificate(s).

Extension to scope will not be granted if a communication has not been sent to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd. If you require the extension to scope to take place during your next onsite visit you must notify Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd a minimum of one month prior to your onsite date. Please Note: Our assessors are unable to progress extensions to scope without authorisation from head office.

The Certificate may be withdrawn or suspended for any of the following reasons:

1. Suspension due to:

   1. Breach of any of these Terms & Conditions of Registration.

   2. Serious incident or breach of relevant regulatory requirements where it can be demonstrated the management system seriously failed to meet certification requirements.

   3. Failure to apply corrective action because of non-conformities found at audit or surveillance visits.

   4. Continued logo misuse.

   5. Failure of the customer to settle any outstanding Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd invoice within the required invoicing terms.

2. Withdrawal due to:

   1. Failure to respond to reasonable requests made by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd following suspension of certification.

   2. Failure of the customer to settle any outstanding Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd invoice within the required invoicing terms.

   3. Failure to provide copies of documentation required by the assessor(s) to undertake re-certification or surveillance audit.

3. In the event of withdrawal or suspension of certification the customer shall discontinue the use of all certification logos on any marketing collateral (digital & print) that contain reference to certification. The customer shall return all certification documentation to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd offices. Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will make public to all interested parties the status of the certification. Once evidence has been reviewed of any correction of any of the above breach’s certification may be restored. Once certification is suspended, a reinstatement charge of £350 will be payable in addition to any outstanding charges.

Additional visits may be required for the following reasons:

1. Changes to scope of registration

2. Major non-conformances being discovered during an audit that require evidence of closure

3. Significant changes in numbers of staff / operations or activities

4. A complaint received relating to the certified client

5. Changes in the location(s) of site(s) or additional sites

A fee which is proportionate to the additional work required should be agreed by both parties in advance. (An additional visit may be required when a site visit identifies either a major issue to be addressed, or information, which differs from that contained in the initial application.

The customer must only use the Certification Marks as appropriate to their assessed scope of registration.

1. Customers registered by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will not use its certification in any manner or make any statement as to bring the standard or Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd into disrepute.

2. Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd will take all reasonable precautions to ensure that there is no misuse of their certificate in customer advertising, etc, this will include reviews of use on customer websites, vehicles and marketing materials both digital and print.

3. Logos must be used in line with Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd. Brand Guidance document, which is available on our website and on request. Certification/Registration Marks may be subject to change. If this occurs, a reasonable transition period will be allowed during which the superseded Mark may be phased out and replaces as appropriate.

4. Once a Certificate has been issued, customers have the right to publicise their certification. Appropriate logos may be used on stationery and in marketing or promotional material. Any reference to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd or your certification must be approved by the Certification Manager.

5. The text must not contain any claims that are misleading outside the scope of certification or could convey that the certification relates to the product or service quality of your customer.

6. Where the certification scope has been amended or reduced, any statements or public information must be amended to reflect the current scope of the certification.

If for any reason the customer does not agree with the lead auditor’s findings or recommendation (e.g., suspension/withdrawal of a certificate) after an audit, surveillance, or re-certification, they may appeal by contacting the Certification Manager of Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd. All appeals will be presented to the Impartiality Committee of Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd. The Committee will examine evidence from the customer representative and the lead assessor involved. The case decision will be made and formally communicated by the Chairman of the Impartiality Committee or by the Certification Manager on their behalf. This decision is final and should be accepted by all parties involved.

If a customer has a complaint about the service or an individual auditor it should be reported via email to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd.

Where the complaint involves the Certification Manager, it should be addressed to the Impartiality Committee of Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd (details of which can be obtained directly from Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd upon request).

The complaint will then be reviewed and investigated by the Impartiality Committee. They will examine evidence from the customer. Any decision made, or action taken, will be formally communicated by the Chairman of the Impartiality Committee. A decision made by the certification manager, or the impartiality committee is final and should be accepted by all parties involved.

The assessor(s) will complete electronic reports on site and send a copy via email, internet access may be required.  

All audit personnel are required to keep their personal IT system virus free, but should a problem arise, Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd cannot accept responsibility for any corruption of the customer’s IT systems. The customer has the right to refuse access to their IT Systems.

Fees for audit and surveillance work should be agreed in advance between Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd and the customer.

Prior to any surveillance and re-certification audit visits customers will receive in writing from Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd the cost of the audit. Any issues or queries with the cost must be raised prior to any audit/audit activity taking place and at least 2 months prior to any dates agreed with your assessor or detailed on your last report. Once the visit has taken place costs cannot be amended and you will be expected to pay the invoice amount in full.

Prices may be increased periodically in line with price reviews and Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd. will always confirm in writing prior to services being delivered.

Initial quotations costs for surveillance visits and future visits are estimates only and are not confirmed costs for future visits. Please note daily rates or days required that are estimated in your original quotation are subject to change in line with changes in daily rates, regulatory requirements, or mandatory guidance.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd may carry out credit checks from time to time. Should an organisation credit limit fall below the cost of the audit activity, that organisation will be required to pay for their audit before any activity can take place.

Charges will be made for duplicate copies of audit reports and certificates.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd reserves the right to request payment in full prior to audits taking place, should previous years invoices not have been paid within 28 days of the invoice date.

Travel & expenses will be applicable for all onsite elements of audit.

1. Where practical / possible all expenses to be incurred will be agreed between Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd and the customer in advance of the audit. Where possible expenses will be invoiced in advance those that have not been paid for in advance, will be invoiced separately and require payment before a certificate can be issued.

2. Mileage will be calculated by using the HMRC mileage rules currently at £0.45 per mile, other travel such as flights, trains taxis and any overnight expenses along with all other expenses will be charged at cost.

3. Where possible an assessor based within a 2hr commute will be allocated however if this is not possible and travel is required, this will be charged at 50% of the audit day rate

Payment of Invoices for audit and certification services is strictly within 28 days. Late payment of invoices will automatically be referred to our legal department for perusal and may result in certification being removed.

All outstanding Invoices must be paid prior to certificates being issued by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd

If any audit activity of any type that is planned to be conducted remotely or at the clients or the client’s customer premises, to include but not limited to initial, surveillance, recertification visits, contract review, audit pre or follow up meetings, training or pre audits is cancelled by the customer within 30 days of the agreed date(s)

1. All cancellations must be made in writing to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd head office. The following scales of charges (to cover administration & planning costs) will apply at all times for cancellation:

   1. Up to 90 days – no fee (all marketing materials must have the certification logo removed)

   2. Up to 60 days – 25%

   3. Up to 30 days 50%

   4. Less than 30 days 100% of the visit fee (based on 1 day audit rate)

   5. Within 72 hours (100% of the total audit charge (all days scheduled will be charged)

2. All cancellation fees must be paid in full before any further audit work can take place

3. A cancellation is classed as any type of audit activity where dates offered have been accepted by the client that are subsequently cancelled, delayed, postponed, rescheduled or similar.

All quotes and estimated costs for all services will be plus VAT. Customers who are VAT registered outside of the UK but within the EU must provide their VAT registration number to Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd before any work takes place. If this is not received, then VAT will be added to their invoice.

Audits undertaken on behalf of Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd address only a sample of the customer’s management system. Findings reported do not imply that the non-conformities raised are the only ones which exist. Any action taken by the customer because of audit work undertaken on behalf of Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd remains the responsibility of the customer.

The customer will indemnify Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd against any claims or losses suffered by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd because of misuse by the customer of certification given by Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd.

These terms and conditions form a legally binding contract. Any validity and performance of the contract shall be governed in all respects by English Law; regarding any disputes between the parties relating to or connected with the audit contract; both parties shall agree irrevocably to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England.

Certa Qualitas Certification Ltd reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions. Due notice will be given for any changes to certification requirements.