POLICY ON IMPARTIALITY

Conformity assessment activities will be undertaken impartially. BVQA will be responsible for the impartiality of our conformity assessment activities and will not allow commercial, financial or other pressures to compromise impartiality.

Top management of BVQA commit to impartiality in certification activities. BVQA has a policy that we understands the importance of impartiality in carrying out certification activities, manages conflict of interest and ensures the objectivity of our certification activities.

BVQA has a process to identify, analyse, evaluate, treat, monitor, and document the risks related to conflict of interests arising from provision of certification including any conflicts arising from our relationships on an ongoing basis. Where there are any threats to impartiality, BVQA will document and demonstrate how we eliminates or minimizes such threats and document any residual risk. The demonstration will cover all potential threats that are identified, whether they arise from within BVQA or from the activities of other persons, bodies or organizations. When a relationship poses an unacceptable threat to impartiality (such as a wholly owned subsidiary of BVQA requesting certification), then certification will not be provided.

Top management will review any residual risk to determine if it is within the level of acceptable risk. The risk assessment process will include identification of and consultation with appropriate interested parties to advise on matters affecting impartiality including openness and public perception. The consultation with appropriate interested parties will be balanced with no single interest predominating.

BVQA will not certify another certification body for its quality management system.

BVQA and any part of BVQA and any entity under the organizational control of BVQA will not offer or provide management system consultancy.

The carrying out of internal audits by BVQA and any part of the same legal entity to our certified clients is a significant threat to impartiality. Therefore, BVQA and any part of the same legal entity and any entity under the organizational control of BVQA will not offer or provide internal audits to our certified clients. A recognized mitigation of this threat is that BVQA will not certify a management system on which we provided internal audits for a minimum of two years following the completion of the internal audits.

Where a client has received management systems consultancy from a body that has a relationship with BVQA, this is a significant threat to impartiality. A recognized mitigation of this threat is that BVQA will not certify the management system for a minimum of two years following the end of the consultancy.

BVQA will not outsource audits to a management system consultancy organization, as this poses an unacceptable threat to the impartiality of BVQA. This does not apply to individuals contracted as auditors of BVQA.

BVQA’s activities will not be marketed or offered as linked with the activities of an organization that provides management system consultancy. BVQA will take action to correct inappropriate links or statements by any consultancy organization stating or implying that certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if BVQA were used. A BVQA will not state or imply that certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if a specified consultancy organization were used.

In order to ensure that there is no conflict of interests, personnel who have provided management system consultancy, including those acting in a managerial capacity, will not be used by BVQA to take part in an audit or other certification activities if they have been involved in management system consultancy towards the client. A recognized mitigation of this threat is that personnel will not be used for a minimum of two years following the end of the consultancy.

BVQA will take action to respond to any threats to our impartiality arising from the actions of other persons, bodies or organizations.

All BVQA personnel, either internal or external, or committees, who could influence the certification activities, will act impartially and will not allow commercial, financial or other pressures to compromise impartiality.

BVQA will require personnel, internal and external, to reveal any situation known to them that can present them or BVQA with a conflict of interests. BVQA will record and use this information as input to identifying threats to impartiality raised by the activities of such personnel or by the organizations that employ them, and will not use such personnel, internal or external, unless they can demonstrate that there is no conflict of interest.

BVQA will evaluate our finances and sources of income and demonstrate that initially, and on an ongoing basis, commercial, financial or other pressures do not compromise its impartiality.