ExVeritas Certification Policies
ExVeritasis a company limited by guarantee. ExVeritas operates internationally and provides certification of management systems, personnel and products. ExVeritasis accredited for these activities by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and is appointed as a ‘notified body’ by the UK Government under European Directives.
Quality Policy
The policy of ExVeritas is to provide, in the most cost effective manner, independent and impartial certification and inspection services which combine technical competence with objectivity and integrity. The Service is non-discriminatory in operation, with no undue financial or other conditions, and is available to all. It is the policy of the Service to achieve and maintain recognised accreditation for its activities in order to demonstrate its commitment to providing an efficient, commercially aware, competent service.
Audit and Certification Process
A description of our audit and certification process for granting, maintaining, extending, renewing, reducing, or withdrawing certification can be provided on request in “Regulations Applicable to Holders of ExVeritas Certificates” and supplementary regulations
Confidentiality
Activities carried out for clients shall be treated as confidential to that client unless otherwise agreed. Information supplied by clients, the results and documents generated by the certification service and its subcontractors, the contract records that are retained, and the existence of the contract itself (other than any certificates issued) are all treated as “commercial in confidence” and will not be communicated to any third party without written agreement, unless the information is already in the public domain. Where the law requires information to be disclosed to a third party, the client will be informed of the information disclosed.
Impartiality
ExVeritas follows the principles set out in ISO/IEC 17021: 2011 and has appointed independent impartiality committees whose primary role is to safeguard impartiality of the certification activities of EXVERITAS. The members of the Impartiality Committees are drawn from external organisations having a bona fide and continuing interest in the scope of the certification services provided by ExVeritas, on the basis of maintaining a balanced representation of interests in which no single interest predominates.
Certification status
ExVeritas makes publicly accessible information about the certification status of each of its clients through the Certificate Database which is available on request. This shows whether a certificate is current, suspended or has been withdrawn.
Certificate Withdrawal and Suspension Policy
Full or partial, temporary suspension or permanent withdrawal of certificates is undertaken in exceptional circumstances and on a case by case basis. Examples of circumstances that may lead to suspension are not limited to the following, – The client’s certified management system or product has persistently or seriously failed to meet certification requirements – The certificate holder does not allow surveillance or rectification audits to be conducted at the required facilities or – The certificate holder has voluntarily requested a suspension Failure to resolve issues that have resulted in the suspension in a time established by ExVeritasmay result in withdrawal or reduction in the scope of certification.
Appeals Process
ExVeritas has a procedure for the considering appeals against its decisions relative to certification. A customer wishing to appeal should submit the substance of their appeal in writing to the Managing Director who will ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to resolve the issue and will ensure that there are no relationships that may compromise the impartiality of the appeal. If, after implementation of what is considered to be all reasonable steps, the problem is not resolved, the Managing Director will forward the documentation to the Chairman of the Impartiality Committee for independent adjudication.
Complaints
ExVeritas takes complaints against itself and its clients seriously. Complaints about ExVeritas are normally submitted in writing. All complaints will be logged and given a unique reference number. The complainant shall always receive a written reply to any written complaint. Complaints about a registered client should also be submitted in writing. For this reasons shown below, these complaints may take longer to fully resolve. We will have to confirmed that the client is registered by ExVeritas, and ensure that they are taking appropriate action, and if required confirm compliance during a subsequent audit of the client For serious unresolved complaints, the complainant or ExVeritas can request an independent review of the complaint. This request must be made in writing, and will be considered by, the ExVeritas Managing Director, who will forward the documentation to the Chairman of the Impartiality Committee for independent adjudication.
Contact Us
For more information, please contact ExVeritas