Trust
Appeals
Certification decisions can be reassessed. An appeal must be reviewed by a person who did not participate in the original certification decision.
An appeal must be reviewed by a person who did not participate in the original certification decision.
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Submitted
- 02
Independent reassessment
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Decision
How the appeal process works
Who can appeal
The applicant, or an authorised representative of the applicant, may appeal a decision concerning their own application or certificate.
What decisions can be appealed
Refusal of a certification, assignment to a different certification category than the one requested, suspension of a certificate and revocation of a certificate.
Deadline to submit an appeal
The deadline, any fee and any limit on the number of appeals per decision are not yet defined and are pending approval. Until they are published, appeals are accepted and assessed without a published deadline.
Additional evidence
An appeal may include additional evidence, clarifications or process documentation that was not available or not submitted during the original assessment.
Independent reassessment
The appeal is assigned to a reviewer who did not take part in the original decision. That reviewer reassesses the application against the version of the standard recorded for it.
Conflict of interest
A reviewer must not assess an appeal against a decision they participated in, and must declare any other relevant conflict of interest — personal, commercial or professional. Where a relevant conflict exists, the reviewer is removed from the case and it is reassigned.
Appeal decision
The outcome may uphold the original decision, replace it, assign a different certification category, or request further evidence before concluding. Reasons are recorded and communicated to the applicant.
Final decision
The appeal decision closes the reassessment of that decision. A new application may still be submitted if the work, the evidence or the circumstances change.
Record keeping
Appeals, the evidence considered, the assigned reviewer, the reasons and the outcome are recorded in the registry, together with any resulting change in certificate status.
Pending decisions
The following items are not yet defined and are shown here for transparency rather than stated as policy: appeal deadline, appeal fee, and maximum number of appeals per decision.