Impartiality
The rule, what is not accepted, and how commercial pressure is managed.
Read the rule
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- The rules a certification body has to publish.
The rules a certification body has to publish.
A certification body is required to make certain information publicly available. These are those documents, stated as rules rather than as marketing.
Published
Seven published rules.
Complaints
Who may complain, how, who examines it, and within what period.
Read the ruleAppeals
Who decides, and why it is never the person whose decision is challenged.
Read the ruleMark rules
Where the mark may be used, where it may not, and what happens on misuse.
Read the ruleSuspension and withdrawal
The causes, the duties that follow, and how the status is published.
Read the ruleCertification transfer
The conditions under which a transfer is accepted.
Read the rulePublic directory
What the register shows about a certified organisation.
Read the rule
Why this page exists
Publication is a requirement, not a courtesy.
ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 requires a certification body to make specified information publicly accessible, including information on the certification process, the rules for use of certificates and marks, and the means of handling complaints and appeals. Publishing it is part of being a certification body — a body that will not show you these documents is telling you something.
Two of them deserve particular attention before you appoint anyone. Suspension and withdrawal tells you whether a body shows real status in its register or quietly removes what it would rather not show. Impartiality tells you what the body refuses to do, which is more informative than what it offers.
The rest of the certification route
Describe the claim — not the service.
Tell us what must be relied on, who will rely on it and by what date. We will confirm the correct programme, evidence requirement and responsible entity — or tell you it is outside our scope.