Certification Complaint Procedure

The purpose of this procedure is to define the mechanisms in place to ensure that South African Compliance and Certification (SAC&C) manages pressures and risks to handling of Complaints while neutralizing tendencies that may prevent objectivity in the provision of certification activities to deliver certification outcomes that provide confidence.

The procedure covers the mechanisms of handling of Appeals in the SAC&C provision of certification services

This procedure is applicable within the function and service of SAC&C

Parting using this document shall apply the most recent edition of the documents listed as follows:

• Applicable IAF Mandatory documents
• Applicable ISO standards

• SAC&C: South African Compliance and Certification (PTY) LTD

All the parties using this document shall refer to ISO 17021-1:2015 standard

Any valid complaint received by certification body about a certified client shall be referred to the certified client in question as deemed appropriate. Unless they formally consent to disclosure, the complainant shall be actively protected from disclosure by organisation. The certification body may give the client an opportunity to investigates and ensure that appropriate corrections and corrective actions are undertaken to resolve the complaint raised against them using their internal complaint handling procedure.

 The organisation may also conduct short notice or unannounced surveillance audits to follow up an investigation of a complaint. In which case, the audit team selection shall be done impartially and shall provide the complainant with results/report of the complaint resolution.

 The organisation shall provide the complainant with results/report of the complaint resolution. Any complaints received directly by the certified client shall be handled as per according to the procedure. Should they fail to resolve the complaint, the complainant may appeal to the organisation for action. Should the client fail to address the complaint to the satisfaction of the organisation within the agreed time action shall take place. The certified company shall keep records of complaints made known to it and take appropriate action with respect to the complaints and any deficiencies found in products/services.

Any person or organization may complain to organization about the operation of the certification activities and the service provided. Complaints may be submitted verbally by telephone or walk-in complainants or in writing to SAC&C by hand, post mail, or e-mail.

 Any complaint however received shall be entered into form complaint register for tracking.

 The Manager shall examine the complaint to verify and confirm whether it is valid and relates to SAC&C certification activities before it is addressed.

 The valid complaint shall be forwarded to the respective division or other responsible party who shall investigate, gather, and verify the necessary information to validate the complaint and progress it to a decision. The level of investigation shall be commensurate with the seriousness, frequency of occurrence, and severity of the complaint to obtain all the relevant facts

 The results of the investigation and the corrective action taken, together with any supporting evidence shall be recorded and submitted for verification that the complaint has been satisfactorily addressed.

 If the investigation so made indicate necessity to carry out corrective actions, appropriate root cause analysis shall be conducted, and corrective action undertaken to prevent recurrence of the same problem as per procedure control of nonconformance procedure.

 All complaints shall be investigated within one month. Invalid complaints shall be fed back to the complainant with justification while complaints relating to other functions of SAC&C shall be forwarded to the concerned departments.

• If a complaint is received it is passed to the Managing Member.
• Complaint’s register is updated, completed with as much information as possible.
• On receiving a complaint, the client is contacted via e-mail to confirm receipt of the complaint and obtain any further information (if required). A reference number is allocated from the Electronic Complaint Register.
• The complaint is investigated, and feedback given to client via e-mail.
• The client is informed via e-mail to give feedback on the progress of the complaint if not yet resolved.
• The complainant will be contacted to verify whether the complaint has been resolved and whether it’s resolution should be made public and if so, the extent thereof.
• When it is verified the Complaints, register is updated to reflect closure.

Any complaint however received shall be entered into the complaints register for tracking.

 Quality Manager shall maintain the records of complaints and appeals, and any subsequent actions taken. Quality manager shall monthly review the register to ensure that reasonable effort is made to expedite the resolution of all open cases within agreed timelines and shall also ensure that they verify that the action(s) taken are satisfactory.

 Decisions on complaints or appeals shall be recorded to provide a traceable resource for future complaints and appeal investigations and to ensure consistent decision-making and understanding of complaint or appeal trends. SAC&C shall together with the client and complainant determine whether and to what extent the subject of the complaint and its resolution shall be made public, subject to confidentiality requirements.