HomePROCESSClient Terms and Conditions

Client Terms and Conditions

  1. Introduction

These Terms and Conditions have been written in accordance with the requirements of the accreditation bodies, under whose approval Peer Quality Assurance Ltd currently operate.  Peer Quality Assurance Ltd complies with all Terms and Conditions applicable to the Accreditation Bodies requirements and the standards for which it offers certification.

  1. Scope

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd provides independent audit and registration of management systems operated by companies against the requirements of all Certification Standards that Peer Quality Assurance offer.

  1. Confidentiality

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd is responsible for ensuring that secrecy is maintained by its employees and its agents, concerning all confidential information with which they may be acquainted as a result of their contacts with the organization.

Where information is required to be disclosed to a third party, either by law or in the maintenance of certification (e.g. Accreditation Bodies), the organization shall be informed of the information provided as permitted by the law.

  1. Organization

A copy of the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s Organisation Chart, showing the reporting structure of the organization, is available upon request.

  1. General Conditions

The basic conditions for acquiring and retaining certification with Peer Quality Assurance Ltd are that the applicant organization agrees to, and complies with, the following procedures and rules:

  • All information deemed necessary by Peer Quality Assurance Ltd., in order to complete the relevant audit program, shall be made available by the applicant organization;
  • Peer Quality Assurance Ltd., if not satisfied that all the requirements for certification are being met, shall inform the applicant organization of those aspects in which the applicant has failed to satisfy the requirements;
  • When the applicant organization can show that corrective action has been taken, within a specified time limit, to meet all the requirements, Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will arrange to repeat only the necessary parts of the audit that cannot be verified by submission of documentary evidence;
  • If the applicant organization fails to take corrective action within the specified time limit, it may be necessary for Peer Quality Assurance Ltd., at extra cost to the applicant organization, to repeat the audit in full;
  • Identification of conformity shall refer only to the site or sites audited and shall apply to the worded scope appearing on the certificate;
  • Fees must be paid within the timescales stated on the proposal. Registration certificates will not be issued, following initial and re-audits, until fees have been paid in full. Additionally, Registration may be suspended or withdrawn if Surveillance fees are not paid in full;
  • In order for the registered organization to demonstrate effective management reviews and internal audits, these activities shall be carried at least once per year by the registered organization.
  • Failure to return original registration certificates and schedules as described within these Terms and Conditions may result in legal action being taken against the organization.
  • The applicant must allow Peer Quality Assurance Ltd to conduct on-going surveillance audits in line with the planned arrangements stated in the proposal;
  • Certified organizations must only use the Certification Marks in accordance with the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s use of Accreditation and Certification Marks.

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s Accredited Offices are responsible for and will retain authority for, decisions relating to accredited certification, including the granting, maintaining, renewing, extending, reducing, suspending and withdrawing of certification.

  1. Application for Certification

Upon receipt of the completed questionnaire from the applicant organization, a proposal outlining the Scope of Audit and costs will be submitted to the applicant organization, together with an Application form.  Should the potential organization, on receipt of the proposal, request, in writing, a breakdown of the costs involved, this may be provided by the certification manager in summarised form.  Once the application form, signed by the relevant senior management representative of the applicant organization, and accompanied by the necessary fee payment and associated documentation, has been received by Peer Quality Assurance Ltd., the project will be allocated to a senior member of the audit staff.  This person will be responsible for ensuring that the audit is carried out in accordance with Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s procedures.

  1. Audit

Quality, Environmental, Health, and Safety Management Systems

All audits are based on sampling within a Management System and are therefore not a guarantee of 100% conformity with standard requirements.

  • The audit of the applicant organization’s management system shall be carried out in two stages: Stage 1 (on-site, where applicable) – this is an audit to determine the state of readiness of the applicant’s management system against the criteria of the nominated International Standard and includes a review of the document management system;
  • Stage 2 (on-site) audit of the applicant organization’s management system to ensure the practical system in operation complies with the documented system and with all elements of the nominated standard(s).

All records produced for the implementation and operation of the appropriate management system shall be readily available for inspection by the auditor(s).

The applicant organization shall ensure that Peer Quality Assurance Ltd is advised of the name of the Management Representative who has authority and responsibility for maintaining the QMS, EMS, FSMS, OHSAS (as appropriate).  This individual shall be required to maintain contact with Peer Quality Assurance Ltd Any change to this designated person must be confirmed to Peer Quality Assurance Ltd in writing.

  • It may be necessary for Peer Quality Assurance Ltd to conduct audits of our clients at short notice or unannounced to investigate complaints, or in response to changes, or as follow up on suspended clients.
  1. Certification and Surveillance

When the responsible manager of Peer Quality Assurance Ltd is confident that the organization meets all the requirements for certification, following a thorough review of the audit reports, the applicant shall be informed, and a Registration Certificate and Schedule issued.  The Registration Certificate and Schedule shall remain the property Peer Quality Assurance Ltd and shall not be copied or reproduced in colour, without the prior approval of a manager of Peer Quality Assurance Ltd Permission is granted to produce mono/greyscale photocopies for the purpose of providing organizations with evidence of registration.

Regardless of the frequency of the Surveillance routine, certification cycles are for a three-year period and a full re-audit will be required prior to the expiry date of the Registration Certificate and Schedule, in accordance with Accreditation Body requirements.  Failure to submit for audit prior to the expiry date will result in a period during which the organization’s registration will deem to have expired.

Normally the man-day allocations for a three-year re-audit will be slightly less than for the original registration audit.

Periodic surveillance visits shall be carried out following notification of the intended visit and will cover aspects of the relevant management system at the discretion of the nominated auditor.  The certificate holder shall allow Peer Quality Assurance Ltd the right to access for surveillance purposes whenever deemed necessary.

Surveillance visits must be conducted no later than 12 months after the previous audit.  Any deviation to this must be requested, in writing to the certification manager.  Surveillance that are 3-months or longer overdue may result in the Certificate of Registration is suspended.

The certificate holder shall maintain a register recording all customer complaints relating to the activities covered by the worded scope of operations on the certificate and make this available to Peer Quality Assurance Ltd upon request.

  1. Renewal of Registration

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd registered organizations will be subject to re-audit at the end of every three-year cycle.  Three-months prior to the re-audit date a new proposal of costs will be raised covering the new three-year cycle.

If the Certification Decision Date made by the Accredited Office is after the expiry of the existing Certificate the validity will last for the same 3 years from the previous expiry.  Re-Audits performed more than 6-months from the expiry date of the previous certificate will require a Stage 1 and Stage 2 Audit process to be applied.

  1. Extension/Reduction of Certificate Scope

If you require an extension to the Scope of Registration, to cover new products/processes/locations, you are required to complete and return a new questionnaire.  This will allow Peer Quality Assurance Ltd to determine whether additional audit time is required to cover the changes required.  The application procedure outlined in clause 6 of these Terms and Conditions will be followed and an audit will be carried out on the areas not previously covered.  The costs of extending the scope of the certificate will be based on the nature and programming of the audit required.

If you require a reduction of your Scope of Registration, it is mandatory that Peer Quality Assurance Ltd is advised immediately of changes in organization or products i.e. closure of sites or removal of product previously supplied under original scope on a certificate.  Upon review and acceptance of the information, Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will notify if an additional audit, and also a change in the worded scope, is required.  The cost of this reduction in scope of the certificate will be based on the nature and programming of the audit if required or administration costs for a new certificate.

In both cases, an amended certificate detailing those aspects of the organization activities covered by the extension will be issued following a successful audit (where applicable).  The original certificate issued to the organization will be returned to Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.

  1. Modification

The organization shall inform Peer Quality Assurance Ltd in writing and without delay of any intended changes relating to the following:

  • the legal, commercial, organizational status or ownership
  • organization and management
  • contact address and sites
  • the scope of operations under the certified management system
  • major changes to the management system and processes

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will determine whether the notified changes require any additional audit activity.  Failure to notify Peer Quality Assurance Ltd may result in certificate suspension.

  1. Publicity by Certificate Holders

A certificate holder has the right to publicize the fact that the management system which it utilizes has been certified and can apply the relevant marks to stationery and promotional material relating to the scope of certification as detailed on the certificate.  The organization may not apply the marks to their products or packaging.  The regulations are shown on the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd “Procedure 05 Branding and certification mark use” must be adhered to.

In every case, the organization shall ensure that no confusion arises between certified and non-certified products/processes and activities in its publications and advertising.  The organization shall not make any claim that could mislead purchasers to believe that a product/process or activity is covered by certification when, in fact, it is not.

In addition, the certificate issued does not imply that the governing board or relevant government ministers of the country of accreditation has approved the related product, processes or services.  The organization shall ensure that this is not implied in any advertising.

  1. Misuse of Certificates

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will take all reasonable precautions to control the use of the certificates issued.  Incorrect references to the scope of certificates or incorrect use of the certificate marks found in advertising, catalogs etc shall be dealt with by suitable actions, which could include suspension or withdrawal of certificates, legal action and/or publication of the transgression.

  1. Suspension of Certificate

A certificate may be suspended for a limited time in cases where:

  • Evidence of widespread failure to implement the Management System requirements for a period of time not less than 3 months.
  • Failure to permit re-certification or surveillance audits to be conducted at the required frequencies.
  • Falsification and/or fabrication of records of implementation.
  • Failure to respond to Corrective Action Requests.
  • Non-payment of certification fees owed to Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.
  • Complaints having not been addressed in an appropriate manner.
  • Expiry of a certificate after the 3 year registration period has elapsed.
  • Request from the organization for voluntary suspension.

The organization shall immediately cease to identify the coverage of any certificate under suspension.  Peer Quality Assurance Ltd shall notify in writing an official suspension of a certificate to the organization, this notification will indicate the conditions that will allow removal of the suspension.  At the end of the suspension period, an investigation will be undertaken to determine whether the required conditions for removal of suspension have been followed.  If the conditions have been satisfied the certificate will be reinstated, if the conditions have not been satisfied the certificate shall be withdrawn.

All costs associated with suspension and subsequent reinstatement of the certificate will be charged to the certificate-holding organization.

  1. Withdrawal of Certificate

A certificate may be withdrawn in cases such as:

  • if the organization does not meet the required conditions raised on the suspension of the certificate within the timescales defined.

The withdrawal of a certificate will be notified to the organization in writing.  Organizations have the right to appeal against this decision. Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will not be liable for reimbursement of any audit fees paid and Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will publish details of the withdrawal of the certificate.

Reinstatement of ‘withdrawn’ certificates may require a full re-audit to be conducted and where appropriate, fees to be paid in advance.

Withdrawal of the certificate will require that all promotional materials endorsed with the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd certification logos must be withdrawn from use immediately and any use of accreditation marks on organization publicity and stationery material will be in error and in contravention of the intellectual property rights of the owners of the marks.

  1. Cancellation of Certificate

A certificate may be canceled in cases such as:

  • if the organization does not wish to renew the certificate
  • if the organization goes out of business

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will not be liable to reimbursement of any audit fees paid and Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will publish notification of the cancellation of the certificate. Cancellation of the certificate will require that all promotional materials endorsed with the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd certification logos must be withdrawn from use immediately and any use of accreditation marks on organization publicity and stationary material will be in error and in contravention of the intellectual property rights of the owners of the marks.

  1. Fees

Fees will be detailed in the proposal submitted to the applicant organization. All costs are based on the charge rate applicable at the time of proposal and Peer Quality Assurance Ltd reserve the right to increase charges during the certification period.  Such increases will be notified to the organization in writing.

Once an application is made, the organization is liable for the first-year fees, regardless of whether the organization progresses to registration, as costs will already have been incurred.

For subsequent three-year registration cycles, a new proposal of costs shall be prepared three months prior to the three-year re-audit due date.

Once the application is made, the organization is then committed to the payment of the first-year fees of the subsequent three-year cycle.

Additional fees will be charged for additional work not included in the scope of the original proposal and for any extra, unscheduled, surveillance visits required due to non-compliances being identified in the continuing adequacy and/or implementation of the relevant management system.

All fees quoted shall exclude travel and accommodation expenses associated with the audit/surveillance activities (unless otherwise specified in the proposal of cost) and this will be charged extra, at cost.

All fees are subject to local taxes in the country concerned at the appropriate rates.

  1. Appeals and Disputes

In the event of certificate withdrawal or the failure to recommend and approve an organization for registration, the organization has the right to appeal on this decision. if the organization indicates their lack of acceptance of the audit team findings, then they should request a copy of Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s Complaints, Appeals and Disputes Procedure.

Peer Quality Assurance must receive notification of the intent to appeal within seven days of the organization’s receipt of the withdrawal notice from Peer Quality Assurance Ltd., or the failure to recommend for registration.  The organization must submit a formal, documented, substantiation for the appeal, together with any supporting documentation/ information, to Peer Quality Assurance Ltd within fourteen days of the receipt of the withdrawal notice or the failure to recommend for registration.

All organization appeals will be initially reviewed by Certification Personnel and the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd audit staff responsible for the recommendation to withdraw the certificate or decision not to recommend for registration – who must provide evidence to support their recommendation.

The appealing organization will be advised of the names of the governing council appeals committee that will review their appeal and the organization has the right to dispute the members of the appeals committee by formal notification of their dispute.  This dispute will be reviewed by the chairman of the council or, if the chairman is a member of the appeals committee, by the vice-chairman.  The result of the governing council appeals committee review will be notified by the organization.

The decision of the governing council appeals committee is final and shall be binding on both parties. Once the decision on the appeal has been made no counterclaim by either party can be made to amend or change the decision.

In instances where the organization organization’s appeal has been successful, and the certificate is re-issued (in the case of withdrawal) or the recommendation for registration goes forward, no claim can be made against Peer Quality Assurance Ltd for reimbursement of costs or any other losses incurred as a result of the initial withdrawal or failure to recommend.

Submission, investigation, and decision on appeals shall not result in any discriminatory actions against the appellant

  1. Complaints

Registered companies are required to keep a record of all complaints from organizations, users of their products or the public, including subsequent remedial actions to their management system.  Peer Quality Assurance Ltd will review these records during surveillance visits.

Should an organization have any reason to complain regarding the conduct of Peer Quality Assurance Ltd employees, then the complaint should be made in writing to the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd Complaints may also be directed to the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd Accredited Office; the address can be obtained from local office staff.

Complainants will receive an acknowledgment of receipt immediately and the complaint will be investigated and decided upon within a maximum of 30 days from initial receipt.

Should Peer Quality Assurance Ltd receive a complaint, indicating that a certified organization no longer complies with Peer Quality Assurance Ltd requirements, then it may be necessary to either initiate withdrawal of certification or conduct a full re-audit of the organization, at extra cost to the organization.

All certified organizations shall make available, when requested, records of all complaints and corrective actions taken, in accordance with the management system standards or other normative documents.

  1. Directory of Certified Companies

A directory of all companies certified by Peer Quality Assurance Ltd is maintained within the Accredited Offices.  This is published and made available upon request to both certified and non-certified companies and members of the public.

  1. Accreditation Body Visits

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd shall, where the accreditation body so nominates a need to, accept the presence of officers of the Accreditation Body attending an audit to be conducted by Peer Quality Assurance Ltd., in order to allow those officers, the ability to review the activities and conduct of Peer Quality Assurance Ltd personnel. Attendance by accreditation officers shall in no way affect the certification decision making process of the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd Lead Auditor.  This requirement to allow access is to be applied to all new and existing organisations.

  1. Liability

PQAL audits are performed to ensure compliance with the International Standards, which is confirmed from a sample of objective evidence as presented by yourselves, during or prior to the audit and as such the validity of this evidence is only current during the audit process.  PQAL is not a regulatory authority and the Certification Audit will not include a legal/regulatory compliance review or declaration of legal or regulatory compliance made by PQAL.  The identification of Opportunities for Improvement (Observations) do not constitute consultancy and PQAL do not require you to address these mandatorily.

  1. Authority of each party

Neither party has any authority to enter into any agreement with, or commitment to, others on behalf of the other party or in its name.

  1. Extent of Liability

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as restricting or excluding the liability of either party for death or personal injury resulting from its negligence or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

Subject to the immediately preceding paragraph, Peer Quality Assurance Ltd shall be liable to the organisation under this Agreement in respect of all direct loss or damage caused by its acts or omissions, other than Excluded Loss (whether or not the possibility of such loss arising on a particular breach of contract or duty has been brought to our attention at the time of making this Agreement).  In this clause the expression “Excluded Loss” means all special loss and all third-party claims, lost management time, economic loss or other loss of business, production, revenue, profit, goodwill or anticipated savings, anticipated tax mitigation, loss of data, others whether arising in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise.

Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s liability to the organisation under this Agreement, whether in respect of breach of contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise, shall in no event exceed £100,000.

For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall either party be liable to the other for any indirect or consequential loss of any nature and howsoever so caused.

  1. Termination

Either party shall be entitled to terminate this Agreement immediately by written notice to the other if the other commits any material breach of this Agreement and, in the case of a breach capable of remedy, fails to remedy it, within 21 days after receipt of a written notice giving full details of the breach and requiring it to be remedied.

Either party can also terminate this Agreement if the other is the subject of a bankruptcy order (or the equivalent in any other jurisdiction) or the other becomes insolvent or make any arrangement or composition with, or an assignment for the benefit of, its creditors or if any of its assets are the subject of any form of seizure.  If either party is a company, the other can terminate this contract forthwith if the first party goes into liquidation, either voluntary or compulsory, or if a receiver or administrative receiver or administrator is appointed.

  1. Confidentiality

Each party shall keep secret and treat as confidential all information obtained from the other which is either stated to be confidential or could reasonably be regarded as confidential and shall not disclose such information to any person other than its employees, agents or sub-contractors where such disclosure is required for the performance of the party’s obligations under this Agreement.  This clause shall not extend to information which was already in the lawful possession of a party before this Agreement or which is already in the lawful possession of a party before this Agreement or which is already public knowledge or becomes so subsequently (other than as a result of a breach of this clause) or which is trivial or obvious.  The obligations of confidentiality under this clause shall continue after the end of this Agreement.

  1. Privacy

The Certification process from Application to Registration and on-going Surveillance activity requires Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s to obtain information necessary to satisfy the International Accreditation Requirements, please refer to Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s Privacy Notice posted on the Peer Quality Assurance Ltd.’s website www.pqal.co.UK for details of the type of information required, how this is used and how you can access this.

  1. General

The terms of this Agreement represent the entire agreement between the parties and supersede any previous agreement whether recorded in writing or otherwise.

Any notice required or permitted to be given by either party to the other under this Agreement shall be in writing addressed to that other party at its registered office or principal place of business or such other address as may have been notified to the party giving the notice.

Nothing in this Agreement shall constitute a partnership between the parties.

This Agreement is personal to the parties neither of whom may assign any of their rights or obligations under this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other party.

Neither party shall be liable for any breach of this Agreement caused by matters beyond its reasonable control, including, but not limited to, Acts of God, fire, lightning, explosion, war, disorder, flood, industrial disputes (whether or not involving a party’s employees), failures or interruptions of electricity supplies, weather of exceptional severity or acts of local or central government or other authorities.

No waiver or any amendment to these terms shall be effective unless in writing and signed by both parties.

A person who is not a party to these terms may not enforce any of them under this Agreements (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

If any dispute arises out of these terms each party will both attempt to settle it by mediation in accordance with the Centre for Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Model Mediation Procedure.  If the matter is not resolved by negotiation, the parties will refer it to mediation in accordance with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (“CEDR”) Model Mediation Procedure.  (See www.cedr.co.UK).  Unless otherwise agreed, the mediator shall be appointed by CEDR.  If the parties fail to agree to terms of settlement within 42 days of the start of the first meeting held under such procedure, the dispute may be referred to litigation by either party.

This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of England and both parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.