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Terms & Conditions

Last updated: 10th November 2023

Acceptance of Terms

  1. No assessment personnel or resources can be appointed to your account, nor dates confirmed with assessors, until the Proposal Acceptance Form has been duly signed and received by Certification Europe Ltd.
  2. Where a Purchase Order (PO) system is operated, you are required to furnish a PO number(s) with the signed acceptance form.
  3. Non-issuance of a PO will delay assessor appointment and hence your assessment process.

Payment terms:

  1. Commencement fees are non-refundable and are payable immediately.
  2. All fees for initial assessment are payable on receipt of the invoice.
  3. All subsequent invoices following certification are payable within 30 days of issue.
  4. It is Certification Europe Ltd.’s policy not to issue a Certificate of Certification to a client which has fees owing on its account. This policy takes precedence over the points above.
  5. Non-compliance with payment terms may lead to a default of certification status in line with our Suspension & Withdrawal Procedure.
  6. Fees are fixed for the first 12 months of the contract. Certification Europe may increase fees thereafter in line with prevailing market conditions. Any fee increase will be advised with at least 30 days’ notice of such change.

Cancellation:

  1. Any notifications of cancellation or postponement of an assessment from the customer must be received in writing and be received 28 days in advance of the scheduled assessment date.
  2. The below cancellation charges are applicable unless otherwise agreed with Certification Europe Ltd. Cancellation charges applicable based on calendar days’ notice before the scheduled assessment date:
    • Between 28 and 15 calendar days (inclusive) – 50% of the total assessment fee
    • 14 calendar days or less – 100% of the total assessment fee

Requirements on your pre-certification:

  1. In order to be certified you are required to have a management system designed to meet the requirements of the standards which you are certified to.
  2. Certification Europe Ltd. provides INAB and APMG certifications. UKAS certifications are provided by Certification Europe Ltd. on behalf of Amtivo Group Ltd (our parent company). Confirmation that your management systems meet the requirements of the standards will only be issued once Certification Europe Ltd. (in the case of INAB and APMG certifications) or Amtivo Group Limited (in the case of UKAS certifications) determine, at their sole discretion, that the requirements of the standard have been met.
  3. To support the assessment process, you are required to submit the management system for assessment, in a manner to be agreed with Certification Europe Ltd.
  4. The initial certification process contains a minimum of 2 stages:
  • The Stage 1 assessment will be conducted either remotely or on-site, depending on a number of factors. The objectives of this assessment are: (a) Review the client’s management system documented information; (b) Evaluate the client’s site-specific conditions and to undertake discussions with the client’s personnel to determine the preparedness for stage 2; (c) Review the client’s status and understanding regarding requirements of the standard, in particular with respect to the identification of key performance or significant aspects, processes, objectives and operation of the management system; (d)Obtain necessary information regarding the scope of the management system, including: The client’s site(s); Processes and equipment used; Levels of controls established (particularly in case of multisite clients); Applicable statutory and regulatory requirements; (e) Review the allocation of resources for stage 2 and agree the details of stage 2 with the client; (f) Provide a focus for planning stage 2 by gaining a sufficient understanding of the client’s management system and site operations in the context of the management system standard or other normative documents; (g) Evaluate if internal audits and management reviews are being planned and performed, and that the level of implementation of the management system substantiates that the client is ready for stage 2.
  • Stage 2: The purpose of stage 2 is to evaluate the implementation, including effectiveness, of the client’s management system. The Stage 2 assessment will take place either onsite, remotely or as a blended approach, depending on a number of factors. It shall include the assessment of at least the following: (a) Information and evidence about conformity to all requirements of the applicable management system standard or other normative documents; (b) Performance monitoring, measuring, reporting and reviewing against key performance objectives and targets (consistent with the expectations in the applicable management system standard or other normative document); (c) The client’s management system ability and its performance regarding meeting of applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements; (d) Operational control of the client’s processes; (e) Internal auditing and management review; (f) Management responsibility for the client’s policies

The assessment team shall analyse all information and assessment evidence gathered during Stage 1 and Stage 2 to review the assessment findings and agree on the assessment conclusions.

  1. If non-conformances between your management system and the requirements of the standard(s) are found that they will be noted, and appropriate action will be required.
  2. Non-conformities which have the potential to be identified as part of the assessment, which may require additional work/time by the Assessor to review, may incur an additional charge in order to close out and maintain certification.
  3. Assessment Reports will be generated and supplied for comment.
  4. The certification process is controlled by independent review to ensure integrity, impartiality and professionalism.
  5. You have the right to place a complaint for poor service and dispute any assessment findings – for further details please contact us at customerservices@certificationeurope.com or visit our website at https://www.certificationeurope.com .

Requirements on your post certification:

  1. You are required to submit your management system for assessment post-certification this will consist of Surveillance Assessments in the first and second years following the certification decision, and a Recertification Assessment in the third year at least 6 weeks prior to expiration of certification. The frequency of surveillance will be agreed between you and your assessor but will be conducted annually, with the first visit taking place within 6 months of the Stage 2 certification assessment. The following factors may change the frequency and duration of your surveillance program:
    • A requested change in your scope of certification.
    • Identification of major non-conformances within your system.
    • Change in process/product that may impact upon your certification.
    • Expansion/reduction in your business.
    • Ongoing failures to redress non-conformances in agreed timelines.
  2. Certificates of registration remain the property of Certification Europe Ltd.

Notification of Special Assessments:

  1. Certification Europe Ltd. holds the right to complete special assessments at your expense in the following circumstances:
    • On receipt of complaints to Certification Europe Ltd. from your customers about activities within your scope of certification.
    • Major incidents at your premises that may cause concern as to the suitability of your management system.
    • Continued cancellation of planned surveillance visits.
  2. You are required to inform Certification Europe Ltd., without delay, if there are any serious incidents, accidents, breaches of regulation or fatalities which are directly related to your certification.
  3. Information on incidents such as a serious accident, or a serious breach of regulation necessitating the involvement of the competent regulatory authority, provided by you or directly evidenced by Certification Europe’s assessment team during the special assessment (Short-assessment), shall provide grounds for Certification Europe to decide on the actions to be taken, including a suspension or withdrawal of the certification, in cases where it can be demonstrated that the system seriously failed to meet the certification requirements.

Your obligations regarding your certification:

  1. In this clause, we set out what your obligations are regarding your certification. Since the certification is a representation to the rest of the world, we require strict compliance with these obligations. We may withdraw your certification immediately if you do not comply with these obligations. We will not need to inform you of the withdrawal beforehand. In addition, we may rely on any other contractual remedies that we may have for breach of contract. Certification Europe shall, through legally enforceable arrangements, require that the certified client: (a)Conforms to the requirements of Certification Europe when making reference to its certification status in communication media such as the internet, brochures or advertising, or other documents; (b)Does not make or permit any misleading statement regarding its certification; (c)Does not use or permit the use of a certification document or any part thereof in a misleading manner; (d)Upon withdrawal of its certification, discontinues its use of all advertising material that contains a reference to certification, as directed by Certification Europe; (e)Amends all advertising material when the scope of certification has been reduced; (f)Does not allow reference to its management system certification to be used in such a way as to imply that Certification Europe certifies a product (including service) or process; (g)Does not imply that the certification applies to activities and sites that are outside the scope of certification; (h)Does not use its certification in such a manner that would bring Certification Europe and/or certification system into disrepute and lose public trust.

Notice of Changes by a Certified Client:

  1. Duty to inform us of changes in circumstances – you must inform us immediately in writing of any changes that may occur to your circumstances that are reasonably likely to affect the compliance of your management system to the standard used for your certification to include but not limited to:
    • The legal, commercial, organisational status or ownership;
    • Organisation and management (e.g. key managerial, decision-making or technical staff);
    • Contact address and sites;
    • Scope of operations under the certified management system;
    • Major changes to the management system and processes;
    • No misleading statements – you may not make any misleading statement concerning your application or certification to anyone. This will include the statements that you make in your own advertising brochures (whether used for internal or external use);

If you wish to reduce or extend the scope of certification, please contact your Assessor, our Customer Services Team or visit our website to complete the Certification Amendment Form by clicking here.

  1. You are required to make all necessary arrangements for the conduct of the assessments, including provision for examining documentation and the access to all processes and areas, records and personnel for the purpose of initial certification, surveillance, recertification and resolution of complaints.
  2. You are required to make provisions, where applicable, to accommodate the presence of observers (e.g. accreditation assessors, trainee assessors, technical experts and other key personnel as deemed appropriate). Certification Europe will give advance notice to the client as to all personnel who may be required to attend an assessment.

Complaints and Appeals:

  1. If you wish to appeal against the outcome of an assessment, or on any other matter that affects your certification, Certification Europe has an appeals process that you must follow. In order to help you, information is available on our website at https://www.certificationeurope.com/contact/complaints-and-appeals/or you can email customerservices@cerficationeurope.com. Any appeals process will not bias any dealing you currently have or will have in the future working relationship with Certification Europe Ltd.

Suspension and Withdrawal:

  1. Certification Europe shall suspend certification in cases when, for example:
    • The client’s certified management system has persistently or seriously failed to meet certification requirements, including requirements for the effectiveness of the management system;
    • The certified client does not allow a Surveillance or Recertification Assessment to be conducted at the required frequencies;
    • The certified client has voluntarily requested a suspension.

Under suspension, the client’s management system certification is temporarily invalid for a maximum period of six months. The Certification Body shall restore the suspended certification if the issue that has resulted in the suspension has been resolved. Failure to resolve the issues that have resulted in the suspension in a time established by the Certification Body shall result in withdrawal or reduction of the scope of certification.

Change of details on a Certificate:

If you wish to change any details on a Certificate, you must notify Certification Europe of the required changes.

Any changes to existing certificates that require the issuing of a new certificate will incur an administration cost of €50 per certificate (excluding VAT) from the 1st of January 2019.

This includes but is not limited to:

  • Changes to Company Name or Address
  • Changes to the Scope of Certification

These charges are applicable, unless otherwise agreed with Certification Europe Ltd.