Impartiality Statement

Certi-fi Schemes values its independence and impartiality. Our impartiality is reviewed through our Impartiality Committee and through our governance framework. We have strict confidentiality requirements, set out in our terms and conditions and as part of ISO IET 17065:2012 requirements for our accredited Certification Body partners.

Where our Schemes require our Members to have memberships, products or services from other organisations (such as, but not restricted to, Consumer Code memberships, Alternative Dispute Resolution services, or Insurance Backed Guarantee policies), there shall be no market restrictions to the choice of provider, save for the following:

Consumer Codes – shall be Certified Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) approved and cover the technologies applied for.

Insurance Backed Guarantees – so as to ensure minimum consumer protection shall meet the criteria published on the Flexi-Orb website, here.

Alternative Dispute Resolution – shall be CTSI approved and cover the technologies applied for.

We have put in place policies and procedures to manage impartiality and to ensure that the certification activities are undertaken impartially. Applications for certification made to our accredited Certification Bodies will not be restricted to applicants on the grounds of undue financial or other limiting conditions. Applications and procedures have been designed so as not to unfairly impede or inhibit access by applicants, candidates or clients. All our employees, contractors or committees will act impartially.

This page represents our Impartiality Statement that is publicly available without request. We do not allow commercial, financial or other pressures to compromise impartiality. In order to analyse, document and mitigate potential risks to impartiality and conflicts of interest, we have developed an Impartiality Risk Register. The Risk Register is an ongoing working document, used to continually assess threats to impartiality. It is used in conjunction with other documentation, such as Interview Assessment Records, CVs, Contracts, etc.

Our Impartiality Committee consists of the Managing Director of the Scheme and at least three independent members. The role of this Committee is to review our scheme activities and verify that they are performed impartially without undue influences that might affect the impartiality of services offered. 

The main responsibilities of the Impartiality Committee are: 

• To assist with the development of policies relating to the impartiality of our certification services
• To periodically review the impartiality of our application processes
• To advise on matters affecting confidence in certification, including openness and public perception
• To prevent commercial or other considerations from affecting the objective provision of certification services
• To ensure that the actions of the Committee itself do not present any risks to impartiality

The Impartiality Committee Terms of Reference document provides further detail on how the committee is managed and operated.

Our Employees will not be certified themselves under this Scheme. Our management, review and certification officers will not be involved in the activities of any legal entity that offers or produces the certified product, process or service.

We are not:

• the designer, manufacturer, installer, distributor or maintainer of the installed product
• the designer, implementer, provider or maintainer of the certified service
• offering or providing consultancy services to our clients, or to Scheme Applicants and Certified Installers
• offering or providing management system consultancy or internal auditing to our clients, or to Scheme Applicants and Certified Installers

We are not marketed or offered as linked with the activities of any organisation that provides consultancy, nor do we state or imply that the use of any particular consultancy organisation would make certification simpler, easier, faster or less expensive.

Access to our services is available to all applicants whose activities fall within scope of the Scheme. No application is conditional upon the size of the client or membership of any association or group, nor is certification conditional upon the number of certifications already issued.

Our employees, or other contractors or consultants, will not be involved in any operational capacity where they have worked for or provided consultancy to any applicant or certified installer for a period of at least two years prior to their activity with us.

We confine the Scheme requirements to those matters specifically related to the scope of certification, and application,  evaluation, review, decision and monitoring activities tour Certification Body partners – Conformity Assessment Bodies accredited to ISO IEC 17065:2012 by UKAS or a Body that is a signatory to the ILAC MRA – and not by Flexi-Orb.