CAI Appeals & Complaints

1. All appeals received by Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall be handled in accordance with its Appeals & Complaints handling procedure.
2. Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall provide certification services as per document procedures, meeting the requirements of accreditation criteria with a focus on impartiality, competence, responsibility, openness and confidentiality during all stages of service delivery.
3. However, appeals received from interested parties against decisions taken by Certification Assurance International (CAI) during its certification service delivery and associated processes shall be handled in a non-discriminatory manner by an independent committee. Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall be responsible for decisions at all levels of the appeal handling process.
4. Appeals and complaints handling committee shall be constituted as an independent committee that includes management representative and if required additional members can be nominated by certification manager from impartiality committee.
5. No member of the appeals committee shall be a member of the audit team or worked as a technical team for a specific client for which appeal has been registered such that the appeals handling process is independent of its certification process of the specific client.
6. The appellant must have provided complete information giving substantial grounds for appeal within the specified time scales. Provided these criteria are met, the appeals are recorded.
7. Both the appellant and the relevant Certification Assurance International (CAI) personnel shall be entitled to be heard in confidence.
8. Appeals shall be registered by a certification sales coordinator with all details and acknowledgement will be sent to the appellant within 07 working days. The Register shall be updated with the action undertaken to resolve appeals upon completion of all the activities.
9. Appeals Committee shall review the appeal and discuss the circumstances necessitating the client to appeal and conclude the findings based on the merit of each appeal and previous similar appeal.
10. A predetermined date shall be decided for the hearing and the appellant's representative informed of the hearing date to enable them to nominate a representative. The Appellant's representative shall be provided an opportunity to present their details.
11. After providing opportunities for all concerned parties, a decision shall be given by the committee, which is binding on all concerned.
12. The decision of the appeals committee shall be reviewed by certification manager and necessary corrective action taken to prevent recurrence of similar appeals and prevent occurrence of potential appeals in future.
13. The management representative shall write to the appellant informing them of the appeal panel decision, within 07 days of the decision. During the appeal handling process, the progress report is made available upon request of the appellant. If the appellant does not accept the decision the they may revoke the conditions of contract.
14. Corrective actions shall be implemented by the respective process owners and shall be monitored by management representative.

Complaints Handling Process

1. All appeals received by Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall be handled in accordance with its Appeals & Complaints handling procedure.
2. Management shall review the compliance, whether it relates to certification activities that Certification Assurance International (CAI) is responsible, or whether a compliant relates to a certified client, which may require consideration of the effectiveness of a certified management system. Any compliant about a certified client shall also be referred by Certification Assurance International (CAI) to relevant client under consideration.
3. Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall be responsible to gather all the information about the compliant and verify its validity.
4. All complaints shall be handled by a committee of personnel who are independent of audits, technical review and decision-making processes.
5. Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall analyze the root cause and identify the corrective actions needed within 04 weeks (one month). Additional time may be considered for a specific complaint with justification, if required. 12 weeks (three months) is the maximum time frame after the first hearing or as decided at the first hearing as the target date for closure of the complaint.
6. If the complainant is not satisfied with the solution or if the time frame is exceeded the complainant may complain to the accrediting body.
7. The decision of the compliant shall be reviewed by certification manager or by a Management Representative who not involved in the subject of the compliant.
8. Certification sales coordinator informs the client of the action taken and the resolution within 07 working days from the last day of the completion of the action.
9. Management representative shall implement and monitor effectiveness of corrective action and shall revise management system documents as to prevent the recurrence of similar complaints prevent occurrence of potential complaints in future.
10. Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall determine along with the client and the complainant, the extent of subject complaint and resolution which can be made public.
11. Log of appeals and customer complaints shall be maintained by Certification Assurance International (CAI).
12. Certification Assurance International (CAI) may also inform the progress of the resolution of the complaint, if required, in case of any delay in resolution.
13. Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall be responsible for decisions at all levels of compliant handling process
14. Certification Assurance International (CAI) shall refer to the accreditation body, the complaints which are longstanding than the specified time

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