Regulations

The Regulations Relating to Registration define the contract between NQA and its clients outlining:

• key elements of the certification service
• payment terms and charges
• complaints and appeals process

The Regulations take account of specific criteria of NQA's accreditors including the provision of a complaints procedure and appeals process. 

CHANGES TO RULES RELATING TO REGISTRATION

NQA have recently updated the Rules Relating to Registration. The new rules will come into effect from the 22nd February 2016. There are two key updates which have been made:

Amendment to Cancellation of Audit Policy

The fee chargeable for cancellation will be on a sliding scale, based on a percentage of NQA’s current standard day rate fee per audit day. 
These are as follows:

• cancellation on the day = 100%; 
• cancellation within 5 working days = 90%; 
• cancellation within 6-20 days = 50%. 

Additional expenditure that has been incurred and is not reclaimable (such as flights or hotels) will also be re-charged.

Amendment to Short Notice Audits

NQA may undertake unannounced audits in situations where initial evidence or a serious complaint has indicated concern over the validity of the certificate. The costs for such audits will not be charged to the client in the event that the outcome of the audit indicates that there are no fundamental failings the integrity of the clients’ management system.        

The new version of the Rules Relating to Registration is available below.

Download important documents

• Regulations Relating to Registration: this document explains the terms and conditions applicable to our management systems certification service.

• Inspection Schemes Matrix for Regulations: this document should be read with the Regulations Relating to Registration - it explains the additional specific requirements for Inspection Schemes such as BS 8555 (Acorn Scheme).

• Complaints Procedure: this document explains how we manage customer complaints

• Appeals Process: this document explains how we manage appeals against certification decisions.

• Payment Terms: your payment options explained

• Direct Debit Mandate: use this form to set up regular payments

CHANGES TO ISO 17021

ISO/IEC 17021 is the standard assessed by accreditation bodies to assure the competence and rigour of accredited certification bodies like NQA. A new revision of the standard was published in June 2015 and the main changes are explained here.

Certificate Information

NQA maintains and makes publically accessible a directory of valid certifications. Please contact us to make an enquiry about specific certifications including validity, suspension or withdrawal.

Need help?

If you have any questions about the Regulations, Payment Terms of rules please contact us.