Certification of management systems

Certification body QSCert® provides:

CERTIFICATION OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS:

In a case of your interest for certification of your management system, the procedure is very simple:

Fill in “Request for Offer”
Following the filled “Request for Offer” we shall prepare the proposal of application for certification (“Offer”)
After accepting (signing) the “Offer” by you we shall prepare proposal of “Certification Agreement”
After “Certification Agreement” signing by both contractual parties, contract becomes valid and binding – “Certification Agreement” is signed for the period of 3 years (validity of Certificate is also 3 years)
During 3 years of “Certification Agreement” validity we shall perform 1 certifiaction audit and 2 surveillance audits (see below)

From the certification body point of view the management systems certification process has following stages:

Preparation stage
Certification audit – 1. stage
Certification audit – 2. stage
Award of the certificate

Preparation stage
Preparation stage is the stage comprising the audit preparation. Certification body shall delegate the audit team. Audit team is responsible for superior audit execution.

Certification audit – 1. stage
Certification audit – 1. stage is performed to obtain sufficient information and verification that the basic requirements for the proper function of management system were applied. Lead auditor verifies the competency of documentation concerning the requirements of relevant standards and regulations.

Certification audit – 2. stage
2.stage certification audit shall take place at the site of the client and individual workstations, which are audit subjects according to the clients requirements specified in the contract. Process of audit performance contains of these stages:

preparation (programme) – lead auditor shall elaborate the programme with the time schedule and requirements for the participation of individual competent people
realization – the process of audit performance
closing – at the closing meeting with the certification organization management representatives audit team shall evaluate the audit process and shall determine the dates for nonconformities elimination.
evaluation – output document from the certification audit is certification audit report. Report is elaborated by lead auditor, who is responsible also for its completness and precision. Lead auditor is obligatory to incorporate all comments from auditors and technical experts, who participated at the audit, to the report, after the personal consulting.

Award of the certificate

If the Director of Certification Body does not discover any serious facts which would contradict lead auditor findings stated in the certification audit report and proposal of lead auditor for certificate awarding, Director shall issue the consistent statement to the lead auditor´s statement and shall award the certificate.

Rules for usag of the QSCERT certification mark and some establishments about usage of a management system certificate

Surveillance audits

Certification body QSCert performs surveillance audits once per year during the issued certificate validity. Surveillance audits are performed and documented analogical way like certification audit. Lead auditor shall elaborate the surveillance audit report.

Transfer of accredited certification

Transfer of accredited certification means appreciation of existing and valid management system certificate awarded by other accredited certification body for the purposes of certificate award by QSCert.

Suspension and withdrawal of the certificate

Reasons for suspension of certificate validity

The certificate of the management system may be suspended for the certified organization based on the following facts:

result of control/extraordinary control audit
non-removal of serious non-conformities detected during the control/extraordinary control audit within the agreed period
not allowing the performance of the control audit within the deadline according to the contract for certification,
not allowing the performance of an extraordinary control audit
violation of information obligation – failure to notify changes that have a fundamental impact on the functioning of the management system
misuse of the QSCert certificate or certification mark
non-fulfillment, even within 30 days after the due date, of any obligation towards the certification body

Certificate suspension procedure

The director of the certification body decides on the suspension of the validity of the certificate by issuing a “Decision on the suspension of the validity of the certificate”, where he also states the conditions that must be met for the renewal of the certificate. The decision is delivered to the certified organization and this fact is published on the QSCert website. During the suspension period of the certificate, the certified organization is not authorized to use the certificate or the QSCert certification mark, nor to refer to the certification.

If the reason for suspending the validity of the certificate continues even after the suspension period has expired, the certification body is obliged to withdraw the certificate with final validity.

Procedure for renewing the validity of a suspended certificate

If the conditions specified in the Decision on the suspension of the validity of the certificate have been met within the specified period, the director of the certification body will issue a “Decision on the renewal of the validity of the certificate”. The decision is delivered to the certified organization and this fact is published on the QSCert website.

Reasons for withdrawing the certificate

The certificate of the management system can be withdrawn from the certified organization based on the following facts:

the reason on the basis of which the certificate was suspended was not removed within the specified period
ascertaining the fact that the certified organization uses or refers to the certificate during the period of suspension of its validity
the client’s assets are declared bankrupt or bankruptcy proceedings are rejected or stopped due to lack of assets, or if bankruptcy was not declared because the assets are insufficient to cover the costs of the provisional administrator
request of a certified organization

Certificate withdrawal procedure

Based on the confirmed findings, the director of the certification body will issue a “Decision on withdrawal of the certificate”. The decision is delivered to the certified organization and this fact is published on the QSCert website.

Procedure for submitting a complaint

Complaints against the activities of the certification body must be submitted in writing to the e-mail address qscert@qscert.sk or to the address of the certification body.

Based on the examination of the complaint, QSCert will inform the complainant about the method of resolving the complaint or about the steps that will be taken to investigate the complaint and their time horizons.

Appeal against the action of the QSCert certification body

In the event that the QSCert certification body does not issue a certificate to the client or withdraws the certificate, the client is entitled within 30 days from the date of delivery of the notice of such action to file an appeal against this action to the commission for the protection of the impartiality of the QSCert certification body. The appeal is submitted in writing. The exact procedure for filing an appeal is specified in the Certification Agreement.