Appeals & Complaint Handling

1.Introduction
1.1 Complaints is defied as “A documented complaint received against either Royal Stancert Certification or a Royal Stancert Certification Certified Organisation within the scope of certified Quality or environmental Management system

1.2 Appeal is defined as an “Appeal against a Certificate Decision made by Royal Stancert Certification or Decision made by Royal Stancert Certification on the validity of a complaint against either Royal Stancert Certification or a Royal Stancert Certification Certified Organisation.

2.Policy
It is the policy of Royal Stancert Certification Netherlands to treat all the customer and stake holder complaints with utmost seriousness as they are the reason for our being in the business of conformity assessment.

3.Complaints
3.1 Any Client, Supplier or other parties wishing to raise a complaint against the services provided by Royal Stancert Certification or its certified clients should, in the first instance, indicate their intention in writing to the concerned Area Manager located in major metropolitan cities in Netherlands the details of which are available on website. Such a complaint or dispute shall be supported by all available written evidence. If the complaint relates to a certified client, the complainant shall provide evidence that they had previously attempted to resolve the matter directly with certified client and is not satisfied with the actions taken / decision provided by the certified client. The Certification Head shall gather all necessary evidence. The concerned Area office will provide a written acknowledgement of the complaint received and seek additional information if required in order to analyse the complaint.

3.2. All complaints will be recorded by the Certification Head of the receiving Royal Stancert Certification Centre. Where required, the Certification Head shall liase with Technical Manager of the Royal Stancert Certification and or client in order to try to solve the complaint.

3.3 During the process of investigation of complaint, the persons involved in the investigation shall be independent of the subject of the complaint. The Certification Head shall also provide complainant with progress reports and outcome.

3.4 The result of the complaint handling process shall be communicated to the complainant. The Technical Manager shall ensure that that the investigation and decisions shall not result in any discriminatory actions against the Complainant.

3.5 The Technical Manager, together with the client and the complainant, shall determine whether and to what extent, the subject of the complaint and its resolution shall be made public. The complaint handling process shall be subject to the provisions of confidentiality as per the agreement with the certified client.

4. Appeals
4.1 Upon receipt of the appeal, the Technical Manager, shall determine if he has been involved in the original process:· If yes, prepare a report and send the documentation along with the report to chairman of the Certification Committee and Other members independent of Royal Stancert Certification for a decision by electronic mail or in the next available meeting if scheduled in less than three months. If NO, the Technical Manager shall carry out the investigation and forward the report to Certification Committee

4.2 At appropriate stage, the Technical Manager shall refer the appeal to the Global Technical Manager or client for justification and / or necessary actions.

4.3 The Technical Manager shall follow up the appeal with Certification Committee for a decision . . It should be noted that this decision is absolute and final. This will be accompanied by a formal notice to the appellant of the end of the appeals / complaint handling process .The Technical Manager shall determine any necessary corrections and corrective actions.

4.4 The actions undertaken in response to complaint and appeals shall also be recorded by Quality Manager appointed by Royal Stancert Certification.