KUANTUM CERTIFICATION PROCESS
1. CONFIDENTIALITY
KUANTUM maintains confidentiality at all levels of its organization concerning information obtained in the course of its business. No information will be disclosed to any third party unless in response to a legal process or required by an accreditation body as part of the accreditation process. The Client’s name, location, scope of certification, and contact numbers may be entered into relevant directories. KUANTUM maintains its own directory of certified clients which is publicly available via the KUANTUM website. This will show the status of any suspended, canceled or withdrawn certificates
2. APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATION
On receipt of an Application form (provided by the KUANTUM upon request), a Proposal is sent to the Client outlining the scope and costs of the services together. Once the Application is returned, together with any due payments and controlled copies of relevant documentation and samples, the project will be allocated to an auditor who will be responsible for ensuring that the services are carried out in accordance with the procedures of the KUANTUM.
3. AUDIT PROCESS
a) Stage-1 Audit or documentation review
KUANTUM will undertake a Stage-1 Audit / documentation review, which is designed to ensure its Clients have addressed the key areas of the specifications against which they seek certification. This ensures that the certification audit will be of maximum value. KUANTUM will issue a report detailing the concerns of this review to the Client before the stage-2
b) Stage-2 (Certification) Audit
KUANTUM will provide an audit program prior to the commencement of the audit. The KUANTUM audit team will meet with the Client’s management to discuss the details of the audit process and consider possible issues relating to the performance of the audit. The KUANTUM audit team will prepare and present to the Clients’ management a report of the audit, which will include: the audit findings, the scope of certification and seek agreement where necessary, on the nature of any corrective actions to be taken. The KUANTUM audit team will discuss any observations, general remarks and non-conformities, if and when they identified during the audit.
4. GRANTING OF CERTIFICATION
KUANTUM will issue the Client’s certification and certificate(s) if and when all corrective actions agreed between the Client and the audit team have been completed.
The certificate will detail the specification(s) to which they have been found compliant at the time of audit and the scope of products/services they cover.
Accompanying the certificate(s) will be a policy document explaining how to display and use the KUANTUM and associated certification logos and/or marks.
The KUANTUM intellectual property rights titles and interests in all service mark, trademark or other name or logo remain the property of KUANTUM and cannot be sold; KUANTUM will audit the use of logo’s and/or marks at subsequent surveillance visits. *Clients shall confirm to KUANTUM prior to usage of these logos and marks
5. REFUSING FOR CERTIFICATION
KUANTUM can refuse to issue a certificate because the client is unable to complete the corrective actions within the specified time limit, or the client states that they do not wish to continue the certification process.
The consequence of this decision is that the client must repeat the audit process from the beginning and a new contract is issued for this client.
7. EXPANDING OR REDUCING THE SCOPE OF CERTIFICATION
KUANTUM, in response to an application for extension to the scope of a certification already granted, undertake a review of the application and determine any audit activities necessary to decide whether or not the extension may be granted. This may be conducted in conjunction with a surveillance audit or special audit
KUANTUM reduces the client’s scope of certification to exclude the parts not meeting the requirements, when the client has persistently or seriously failed to meet the certification requirements for those parts of the scope of certification. Any such reduction will be in line with the requirements of the standard used for certification.
6. MAINTAINING CERTIFICATION
The Client acknowledges that KUANTUM is required to perform
- Periodic visits (surveillance audits) of each certified Facility to ensure that the Client’s system(s)/program(s) continues to satisfy the requirements of the Standard(s) for which it is certified,
- Special visits to follow-up on issues identified during a previous visit, in response to changes identified by the Client or investigate any complaints KUANTUM may receive from any party indicating that the system(s)/program(s) may not conform to the requirements of the Standards for which it is certified, and
Special visits will be charged at agreed / current man-day rate. Surveillance audits shall take place at least once in a twelve-month period, or as agreed contractually.
The duration of these audits is dependent upon the system(s)/program(s) performance history and other factors and is subject to special provision if the Client makes major modifications to its system(s)/program(s) or if other changes take place which would affect the basis of the certificate
8. RENEWING CERTIFICATION
The Re-Certification audit will include an on-site audit that addresses the following:
- The effectiveness of the management system in its entirety in the light of internal and external changes and its continued relevance and applicability to the scope of certification;
- Demonstrated commitment to maintain the effectiveness and improvement of the management system in order to enhance overall performance;
- The effectiveness of the management system with regard to achieving the certified client’s objectives and the intended results of the respective management system (s)
The Re-certification audit shall take place during the third year of the certification period, approximately Three months before the expiry of the certification.
9. SUSPENDING OR RESTORING CERTIFICATION
KUANTUM will suspend certification in cases when, for example,
- the client’s certified management system has persistently or seriously failed to meet certification requirements, including requirements for the effectiveness of the management system,
- the certified client does not allow surveillance or recertification audits to be conducted at the required frequencies, or
- the certified client has voluntarily requested a suspensio
KUANTUM will restore the suspended certification if the issue that has resulted in the suspension has been resolved. Failure to resolve the issues that have resulted in the suspension in a time established by KUANTUM will result in withdrawal or reduction of the scope of certification. In most case, the suspension would not exceed 6 (six) month
10. WITHDRAWAL CERTIFICATION
A Certificate may be withdrawn if
- The Client takes inadequate measures in case of suspension;
- The certified client has voluntarily requested a withdrawal.
- Any public information about the client’s business status, that the company is in a merger or bankrupt status or a stop operation.
- The KUANTUM terminates its contract with the Client. In any of these cases, the KUANTUM has the right to withdraw the Certificate by informing the Client in writing.
In cases of withdrawal, no reimbursement of assessment fees shall be given and withdrawal of the Certificate shall be published by the KUANTUM and notified to the appropriate accreditation body, if any.
11. LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY
In the case of negligence, KUANTUM will be responsible for any loss or damage suffered by anyone due to any negligent act or error or howsoever caused during the implementation of the audit, certification or other services as mentioned above, and in addition to liability for death or personal injury, the limit of loss, damage or other things that are the responsibility of KUANTUM will be limited to a maximum of 80% of the contract price for the particular service that is the cause of the negligence.
KUANTUM will provide compensation for error claims such as:
– Administrative errors before the audit
– Auditor errors during the audit, including damage to client property or equipment
– Decision making after the audit
The Claim procedure is as follows
1. Send via email Indemnityclaim@kuantumcert.com, by including the subject, accompanied by proof of loss
2. KUANTUM Management will investigate the submitted claim within a maximum of 7 (seven) working days
3. KUANTUM Management will take action whether the claim is accepted or not, accompanied by reasons according to the results of the investigation
4. If the Claim is Approved, the Client will receive compensation of a maximum of 80% of the contract value and will be transferred directly to the client’s company account