Appeals Procedure

Note 1: An independent person is someone who has had no direct involvement in the audit or certification of the relevant appellant in the calendar year preceding submission of the appeal, including the audit or certification that is the subject of the appeal.

Note 2: Investigations shall take into account results of similar appeals.

Appeals Procedure

The appellant submits a written appeal to the Accredited Certification Body setting out the background to and reasons for the appeal.

Note 3: Acknowledgement shall be made to the appellant.

All appeals are recorded in the NCR Log and assigned a unique identifier.

The Accredited Certification Body Technical Department will notify the appellant of the names of the individuals responsible for the investigation and an anticipated timeframe for completion. Interim updates will also be provided to the appellant, particularly if there are likely to be changes in the timeframe of investigation.

The outcome of the investigation and provisional decision shall be reviewed and approved by the Operations Director (or nominated deputy) prior to communication to the appellant. The Operations Director (or nominated deputy) shall be an independent person (as defined in Note 1 above) and shall have had no prior involvement in the investigation and provisional decision.

In order to ensure impartiality, and in addition to review by the Accredited Certification Body Operations Director (or nominated deputy), a member of the Accredited Certification Body Impartiality Committee shall also conduct a review prior to the outcome being communicated to the appellant.

Upon completion of the investigation and satisfactory impartiality review, the outcome shall be formally communicated to the appellant. The Accredited Certification Body Operations Director (or nominated deputy) shall be responsible for the initiation, monitoring and close-out of any corrective actions identified as being incumbent upon the Accredited Certification Body.

The decision of the Accredited Certification Body Operations Director is final and binding upon all parties.

Comprehensive records of the investigation and decision-making processes shall be retained.

Any corrective actions incumbent upon the Accredited Certification Body shall be presented to the Management Review Meeting.

Complaints

Any interested party has the right to make a complaint to SOCOTEC Certification Singapore in regards to its certification activities or its clients. We have a clearly defined process for dealing with complaints and we wish to resolve concerns as soon as possible. Submissions, investigations and decision making in handling and closing complaints shall not result in any discriminatory actions against the complainant.

The following guidance is designed to assist you in making a complaint and to ensure we follow the right steps.

The complaints process consists of three stages:

1. Notification

We will need full details of what the complaint is about in writing together with any relevant evidence to support the complaint, including your contact details. We will acknowledge receipt of the complaint and anticipated timeframe for completion, where this may be exceeded we will keep you updated with progress.

2. Investigation

We will carry out an investigation looking into the details of what happened and the proposed resolution to remedy the situation. Any complaint relating to a client shall be referred to the organisation for comment and, where necessary, corrective action.

3. Outcome

The outcome of the investigation and proposed resolution shall be reviewed and approved by the SOCOTEC Certification Singapore Operations Director prior to communication to the complainant.

Upon completion of the investigation and a complaint review, the outcome will be formally communicated to the complainant.