Complaints and Appeals

A client or other interested party may appeal a certification decision made by CBS, or make a complaint about CBS or one of its clients, by formally notifying the local CBS office in writing. The appeal should contain as much information as possible, describing the original certification decision and the reasons for the appeal.

The receiving CBS office shall immediately pass the notification onto the CBS Certification Services head office for investigation. Head office staff shall pass every complaint and appeal to either the General Manager of CEO for initial investigation. Upon completion of the initial investigation, the CBS General Manager or CEO shall contact the original party to notify them of the initial findings and whether they agree that a full investigation is warranted or whether they believe, based on the initial evidence, that no further investigation or action is required.

Any complaint about a certified client must be communicated to the client after CBS has conducted the initial investigation.

All notifications, whether they are deemed to require further investigation or not, are recorded internally by the CBS head office as a QPR (Quality Problem Report). Copies of all relevant documentation including notifications, investigations and decisions are attached to the internal record for evidence and audit purposes.

If further investigation is required, the General Manager or CEO will conduct all necessary internal investigations, interviews, audits or any other necessary methods to provide a conclusive response and corrective actions to the originator of the notification.

All complaints and appeals are reviewed by the CBS Advisory Board, who may appoint an independent and impartial appeals panel to investigate any complaint that they feel has not been dealt with properly by management.  The decision of such a panel shall be implemented and may not be vetoed by CBS management.

Accreditation bodies, such as IAS, shall be notified should a complaint or appeal remain unresolved between CBS and the originator for more than 3 months.

An appeal of a certification decision will not result in any discriminatory actions against the client by CBS.

If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaints handling process, they may refer the complaint to the relevant accreditation body, such as IAS.

When appropriate, CBS will determine, with the complainant and the certified client, whether and to what extent the complaint and its resolution is to be made public.