Appeals

If you wish to to make an appeal against our decision not to award certification to your company or to withdraw certification from your company, this is your right as a client of SOCOTEC Certification International and is in fact your duty if you feel you have been treated unfairly. The Appeal procedure is the mechanism to get the decision in question reviewed by an Appeals Board which act independently of the management of SOCOTEC Certification International.

The following guide is designed to assist you in making an Appeal and to ensure you follow the right steps.

The Appeals Procedure consists of four main stages:

1. Notification

Although SOCOTEC Certification International may be aware that you wish to make an appeal, we recommend that you submit a letter to us (if not already done), formally reporting your concerns about the decision in question and notifying SOCOTEC Certification International that you wish to make an appeal.

2. Evidence

Your next task is to provide information on the decision and the reason(s) that you believe the decision to be unfair. For this purpose, we would send you an Appeals Form to complete. You are advised to provide as much factual information as you can about the decision. Where possible, avoid stating personal reasons why you feel the decision is unfair. (See following Section “Will the Appeal Succeed”?) If you require more space than that provided, feel free to attach further pages and reference them from the form.

This information should be returned to SOCOTEC Certification International as soon as you are happy that it is complete.

3. Hearing

Once the evidence has been received, the Chairman of the Governing Board will review the information provided and determine
the formation of the Appeals Board, if you (the client) should be invited to make your case in person to the Appeals Board.
Your evidence will then be put to the Appeals Board along with SOCOTEC Certification International’s evidence on the matter. The Appeals Board will consider the evidence and reach a conclusion.

4. Outcome

The Appeals Board makes recommendations that are implemented by SOCOTEC Certification International. The recommendations will address the certification decision itself and may also highlight potential preventive action to avoid a re-occurrence.

You will be notified of the outcome within 10 working days from conclusion of the Appeals Board

Will the Appeal succeed?

Appeals are dealt with on an individual basis and the outcome is dependent on the circumstances of that case. However, there are some broad guidelines:

An Appeal is likely to succeed if:

there is evidence that the auditor did not take full account of the evidence presented to him/her,
the audit(s) covered areas outside of the scope of registration
the severity of a nonconformity was misinterpreted and a minor nonconformity was categorised as major.

An Appeal is likely to fail if:

the reason for the Appeal is commercial (e.g. we needed certification to get a specific contract),
the reason for the Appeal is personal (e.g. we did not like the auditor),
nonconformity reports or warnings about possible withdrawal of certification had been ignored.

And After?

The fact that you are making an Appeal will not influence SOCOTEC Certification International’s future relationship with you, nor will the outcome of any such Appeal.