Certification Scheme Conditions
Your Cooperation during the Certification Process
In order for us to complete our work effectively:
you will need to supply the necessary information about your business upon request, such as your organisational structure and scope of your management system;
we require close cooperation with you and your team to enable our auditor to meet the requirements of Certification; and
you will allow access to an accreditation body’s representative/s, upon request, to witness how we perform the Certification assessment
Certification Outputs and Limitations
You will receive a Certification Audit Report and a recommendation by the auditor on whether Certification should be granted or maintained. A Certificate for each ISO Standard audited will be issued once all nonconformances are rectified by you and accepted by Certification Oceania.
The Audit Report content and any information provided by us is based on the best efforts, experience and knowledge of our auditor/s.
The deliverables and advice provided by us is not a legal opinion. We don’t employ lawyers and will not provide a legal opinion or anything that should be considered as a legal opinion.
Use of Certification Marks and Accreditation Symbols
Certification Oceania’s Certification marks must only be used in a way that accurately reflects the Scope of Certification, such as sites and locations covered by the Certification and management systems Certified. You must not use our Certification mark or an accreditation symbol in a way that could be misinterpreted as endorsing a product (such as inferring a product Certification), or validating laboratory tests, calibration or inspection reports, or in any other way that suggests a JAS-ANZ or government authorisation or endorsement. Also, accreditation symbols must not be used in the absence of our Certification Oceania Certification logo and yours, or in any other misleading or ambiguous way.
Certification Status and Mis-use of Marks and Symbols
You agree:
to not make any misleading or ambiguous statements with regard to your Certification status, nor imply that your management system Certification endorses or certifies a product or service, through any medium such as communications, advertising or marketing;
to amend, or withdraw advertising, or marketing material as required, if your Certification scope is reduced, or your Certificate is withdrawn, or suspended; and
not to use your Certification in such a manner that would bring Certification Oceania and/or the Certification system into disrepute and lose public trust.
Changes to Certification Scheme Requirements
We agree to give no less than 90 days’ notice of changes to our requirements for Certification that affect you, including changes to these Certification Oceania ISO Management System Scheme Requirements.
You agree to comply with Certification Oceania’s ISO Management System Scheme Requirement, including changes to Certification requirements and to allow Certification Oceania access to verify your compliance.
Confidentiality
All information accessed during a project will remain confidential and only be disclosed to authorised parties with your approval.
All Certification outputs will remain confidential and will only be disclosed to authorised parties with your approval, except where accreditation obligations require information to be shared with JAS-ANZ or made publicly available as required by law.
We expect you to afford us the same confidentiality, particularly with respect to Certification methodology and other trade secrets.
Intellectual Property
All information, documentation, methodology and other resources used in the Certification process shall remain our property and cannot be used by any party other than you as our client. Intellectual property cannot be resold, traded or passed on by you to any other party without our written consent.
Changes to Client Sites and Offices
Certification Oceania will maintain a record of your Certified sites and offices. You must inform us of any site or office closures or changes that are within the scope of your Certification as soon as is practicable. Failure to do so is considered a misuse of Certification and may result in suspension or withdrawal of your Certification.
The Certification agreement extends to all sites and subsidiaries included within the Scope of your Certification and all sites and subsidiaries that apply for Certification.
Notification of Significant Events
You must inform Certification Oceania without delay of any significant events. This includes, but is not limited to:
changes to legal, commercial or ownership status of your business,
change of address for any site,
change of Scope of operations under management system Certified, and
major changes to the management system or to managerial roles.
For ISO 45001 Safety Certification this extends to:
fatal incidents,
serious injuries,
occupational disease, or
legal action by a regulatory authority.
In addition to this, you must inform us of any Health and Safety related findings by third parties before your next audit.
Certification Oceania may conduct an additional audit at your expense or take any other action it deems necessary in such a case, including suspension or cancellation of a Certificate.
Postponement or Cancellation of Audit
All postponements must be agreed by both parties. Any postponement occurring within ten (10) working days of a scheduled audit date will incur a cost of up to 50% of the total audit cost. Any non-refundable or transferrable travel and accommodation costs will be payable by you, in full.
Termination of Certification Agreement
Written notice is required for either party to terminate this agreement. In addition, should the termination occur within ten (10) working days of a scheduled audit, the cancellation of audit provisions of shall apply.
Suspension or Withdrawal
Certification Oceania holds the Certification process in the highest regard, but with the privilege of awarding Certification comes the responsibility of suspending and/or withdrawing it when the required Certification standards and conditions are not complied with. Decisions to do so are not taken lightly and we have provided the following information to clearly explain the processes and procedures involved.
Why could my Certification be Suspended?
Under accreditation rules, there are various circumstances that could lead to the suspension of your Certification, such as the following:
your management system has persistently, or seriously failed to meet the requirements of the standard and/or Certification Oceania scheme requirements; or
you commit a serious breach of the Certification Oceania’s Certification conditions and/or scheme requirements, that is not remedied in a timely manner.
you do not allow audits to be conducted at the required frequencies; or
you request a voluntarily suspension of your Certification; or
a major nonconformance is raised.
If a major nonconformance is raised, you have a 30-day window to address the nonconformance and have the corrective actions verified and closed out. Until the nonconformance is closed, the status of the Certification will remain as ‘Suspended’ (assuming the nonconformance has resulted in temporary suspension of the Certification in the first place). Please note that a major nonconformance may be raised if Certification Oceania receives external evidence that a major failure in compliance has occurred. This may occur at any time, not just during a scheduled audit.
Failure to correct the cause of suspension within 6 months shall result in Certification Oceania withdrawing or reducing the Scope of your Certification or taking any further action it deems necessary.
How can my Certification be Reinstated?
In the case of a major nonconformance, when we are satisfied that a major nonconformance has been addressed, the major nonconformance can be closed or downgraded. When this happens, the status of the Certification immediately goes back to normal, meaning any temporary suspension is removed (assuming the nonconformance resulted in temporary suspension of the Certification in the first place).
Why could my Certification be Withdrawn?
As a Certified organisation, you may withdraw or have your Certification withdrawn, in these two circumstances:
Voluntary withdrawal – you may decide that your organisation no longer requires Certification, in which case you can make a formal request for withdrawal of the Certification.
Withdrawal by the Certification body – Certification Oceania withdraws your Certification for justifiable reasons such as:
failure to arrange an audit in the appropriate timeframe; or
non-payment of invoices; or
failure to address major nonconformances in a timely manner.
Certification Scheme Conditions - Period of Validity
These Certification guidelines are subject to change with 90 days’ notice by Certification Oceania.
Our Insurances
Certification Oceania Pty Limited maintains both Public Liability Insurance and Professional Indemnity Insurance policies, for which copies of certificates of currency can be provided to you upon request.
Our Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law our liability, in aggregate, any claims made against Certification Oceania Pty Limited will be limited to the fees payable within the quotation/proposal/agreement.
We will not be liable for consequential losses.
If we are not able to limit our liability to the fees payable within the quotation/proposal/agreement, our liability to you will be limited to re-supply of services.
You will release us, our employees, agents, auditors and servants, from all liability to you one year after the cessation of any Certification made to you by Certification Oceania.
You will indemnify us from any claim by, or liability to, a third party associated with the delivery of Certification services, including the costs of defending or settling such a claim.
Legal Jurisdiction
This Agreement shall be assessed and interpreted under the laws of Queensland, Australia. Both parties submit entirely to the jurisdiction of the Queensland courts of law and non-exclusive jurisdiction.
Version: 19-03-2022