V3 Certification is a legal entity incorporated under the Companies Act 1956, inIndia. The main object of the company is to offer independent third party certification to organizations against various International Standards.
V3 Certification offers a service to its clients, which cover the Assessment and Certification of Quality Management Systems based on ISO 9001 and Environment Management Systems based on ISO 14001.
Criteria for granting certification
V3 Certification has accepted the quotation for request
A document review is done, with the purpose of giving the customer an indication of the status of its documented management system with the requirements of the relevant standard without issuing a certificate of conformity.
Pre-Assessment AuditBefore the actual assessment, a detailed examination as a Pre-assessment of the client Quality Management System is undertaken for ensuring compliance with all applicable requirements of Quality Management System standard. This is optional part of certification process and has no bearing on certification process.
Certification AuditAn assessment team will visit the organization’s premises for assessment compliance with the procedures and requirements described in their Quality Management System/Environmental Management System documentation.
Non Conformity ReportIf a nonconformance is detected during assessment, a Nonconformity Report will be issued and a corrective action process will commence. Non-conformances may be classified as Minor or Major. The auditor will discuss with the client the reason for the NCR in order to enable the client to identify the corrective action. The auditor will also explain how V3 Certification will follow up and clear the NCR. Corrective Action shall be verified by V3 Certification.
In case of minor non-conformance, the Corrective Actions are identified by the client and the documentary evidence submitted to V3 Certification to verify the implementation. In case of a major non-conformance verification shall be done by a follow-up audit. In all cases certificate is not issued unless all NC's are verified by V3 Certification as having been effectively implemented.
The organisation will be recommended for certification when all non-conformities found during assessment have been closed to the satisfaction of the V3 Certification. Auditor will recommend the organization to the Certification Panel for certification. Upon acceptance by certification panel, the client will be awarded a certificate confirming the organisation's registration as a certified company, subject to clearance of all dues.
Note: The certificate shall not be released till such time that all dues are completely cleared.
The Certificate of Registration is the property of V3 Certification., and shall not be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior written approval of V3 Certification
The certification of Registration will be valid for a period of three years from the date of issue of the certificate, subject to the condition that surveillance audits confirm satisfactory maintenance of the Management System.
Surveillance audits are conducted regularly to ensure that the Client's Management System continues to conform to the requirements of the standard to which it is certified. The purpose of these audits is to verify that the approved Management System continues to be implemented and to consider the implications of changes to the system initiated as a result of changes in the organization's operation. Surveillance Audits are also to confirm continuous conformity with certification requirements and use of certificate and logo.
The frequency and number of these surveillance audits will depend on the efficacy of the client's Management System. Six monthly surveillance audits are preferred for regular maintenance and upgrade of the Management System during the three-year period of Certification of Registration. In any event, at least one Surveillance Audit shall be conducted every year depending on the confidence of V3 Certification in the organization's Management System.
In the event that more than a single surveillance audit is conducted during a year, V3 Certification shall decide which elements are to be audited during each of the surveillance audits, ensuring that all elements of the Standard are audited once a year. However, certain key elements crucial to the success of the Management System will be included in each surveillance audit. Some of these elements are internal audits, corrective actions and handling of customer complaints. V3 Certification shall be granted access for surveillance purposes whenever deemed necessary.
For each surveillance audit conducted, V3 Certification will prepare a report that will provide the client with feedback regarding the results of the audit.
For major non-conformances, a follow-up audit shall be conducted to verify that corrective action taken is appropriate and adequate before continuation of the organisation's registration is recommended. Corrective action must be verified for effectiveness within the stipulated period of one month to avoid suspension of registration.
For minor non-conformances, the organisation has to provide the corrective action plan with target dates acceptable to auditor. For the continuation of recommendation of certification the organisation has to submit the objective evidence of compliance of the corrective action plan provided The review of effectiveness of corrective Action taken shall be verified at the subsequent audit .
In the case that a surveillance audit cannot be carried out because the organisation's operations are affected owing to factors outside its control, e.g.: employee union strike, natural calamity, etc. the case shall be presented to Certification Panel for a decision.
Certification of an organisation's Management System is valid for a period of three years. At the end of this period, certification must be renewed through the conduct of another comprehensive audit on the lines of the certification Audit. If the re-certification audit reveals evidence that the client's company has maintained and continually improved the status of its Management System, V3 Certification shall renew the Certification of Registration for another three years.
Special AuditIf one or more major non-conformances are found during a certification/surveillance/re-certification audit, recommendation for certification/continuation of certification (Surveillance Audit) shall be stayed until a follow up audit is conducted to verify action against the specific non-conformance. Certification shall be recommended or continued as applicable if the non-conformance is cleared. Such verification must take place within one month .
If this timeframe is not adhered to in the case of a certification/re-certification audit, the organisation, at its own expense, shall need to undergo a complete audit all over again in order to achieve certification. In case of a surveillance audit where a major nonconformance cannot be closed after the follow up audit within one month, registration shall be suspended for a period of one to three months. If corrective action is still not verified within this time, the client's registration shall be withdrawn.
A client wanting to extend the scope of the registration to include additional products, processes, services or sites will need to make a written application to V3 Certification.
The application procedure for the extension of the scope will be the same as the application procedure for the initial scope of registration. The fee will depend on the amount of work and time involved for extension of scope of registration.
V3 Certification will conduct a special audit covering those aspects that have been added to the scope. If the audit finds no major non-conformities the client will be issued an amended Registration Schedule covering those aspects.
The client will retain the amended Certificate of Registration for the remainder of the tenure of the certificate and handover old certificate to V3 Certification.
The V3 Certification certificate shall bear the address of the site or sites where the audit was conducted. If the client wishes to make a change in the address, a written application shall be made to V3 Certification, which shall determine what needs to be done to maintain the status of the registration.
If the client intends to modify the product, process or Management System, in any way that might affect compliance with the Management System, V3 Certification shall be informed immediately. V3 Certification shall decide whether these changes need an additional audit. If it is found that the client has failed to inform V3 Certification of such changes to the Management System, registration status may be adversely affected.
V3 Certification will treat the fresh certification in following conditions and conducts the re-assessment as per procedure for re-assessment
The Certification is maintained for a period of 3 years under the following conditions.
Rules for usage of the V3 Quality Certification mark and the marks of the Accreditation body and some establishments about usage of a management system certificate
Customer and V3 Certification shall have the right to terminate this agreement at any time giving 30 days written notice of such termination.The customer shall, in case of termination, reimburse V3 Certification for all man-hours and other costs up to date of termination. V3 Certification shall receive a termination fee, which is to be negotiated in addition to amount due according to work complete. In no case such termination fee shall exceed 15% of the value of the agreement. All reimbursable are due at the end of said 30 days period.
(b) Confidentialityoooooopo=[]The customer and V3 Certification will not disclose any information to third parties without prior written consent. Except as required by the law of the Country, and the relevant Accreditation Authorities, V3 Certification will treat as strictly confidential and will not disclose to any third party without prior written consent of the Customer, any information which comes into the possession of its employees or agents in the course of Assessment or Certification of the Customer's Quality Management System.
(c). Force majeureDelay in or failure of performance of either party hereto shall not constitute a default hereunder or give rise to any claim for damage if and to the extent such delay or failure is caused by an act of war, natural disaster, fire, explosion, labor dispute or any other event beyond the control of the party affected and which, by the exercise of reasonable diligence, said party is unable to prevent. The party affected shall notify the other party in writing of the causes and expected duration immediately after the occurrence of any such event.
(d) LawThe agreement for certification between V3 Certification and client shall be governed by prevailing law in India. Any dispute arising in connection with the agreement, which cannot be settled by private negotiations between the parties, shall be referred to arbitration as per the The Indian Arbitration Act, subject to Delhi jurisdiction. The decision of the arbitration shall be binding for the both parties
(e) FeesThe fees shall be detailed in the application form to be filled in by the client. Fees are charged on the basis of applicable rates at the time of submission of the quotation. V3 Certification may revise the fee submitted in the quotation during the Certification period. Clients shall be notified of any change in the fee.
If an additional audit is required due to the client's request for a change in the scope of registration, V3 Certification shall charge an extra fee for such audit. For any extra surveillance or follow-up audits that may become necessary owing to non-compliance or the client's own will, V3 Certification shall charge over and above what is mentioned in the quotation.
V3 Certification shall charge the client for any extra work resulting from suspension/withdrawal/or cancellation of the Certificate. If V3 Certification needs to charge extra fees for any scheduled or unscheduled work, it shall send a letter to the client giving a clear basis for the extra fee. Fees shall be payable within 7 days of the invoice date.
The audit report along with its supporting documents submitted by the lead auditor, shall be reviewed by the certification committee, for ISO 9001, consisting of QMR and Directors, and if required Independent Lead Auditor, and for ISO 14000 & OHSAS 18000, consisting of Directors of the company, QMR and lead auditor(s) qualified under 14000 & 18000. If the lead auditor who did the audit on a particular case, is also member of committee then he will be removed from that committee meeting for the purposes of that case.If any member of the certification committee including managerial personal are involved in consultancy to the client in question then he will not take part in audit or certification activities at all.If after issue of certificate information is received that any of the personal were involved in auditing or certification activities has been also provided consultancy to the client in such cases additional audit will be conducted by independent personal.
If the report and the recommendation of the lead auditor is satisfactory, the certificate shall be awarded to the client. Their decision is recorded in Attachment no. P-08/15. If not satisfactory, then the committee will ask for explanation from the auditor or redo the audit if required, or do any other act which may be suitable as per the situation.
On awarding the certificate, the client's name is included in the list/ database of certified organization.
Recommendation letter is issued to the client at the earliest and the certificate is issued within 2 weeks from the audit date, after completing all the required formalities/ processing.
The Assistant to Certification assigns a number to each Certificate and registers it in the database "List of audit related data".
Language of certification (Audit report and Certificate)
Audit report and Certificate is normally issued in English language. However if a client wants these in some other specific language, the same will be arranged if possible.
V3 Quality Certification marks can not be applied on calibration / inspection/ test reports, as such reports are deemed to be products in this context.
The Assistant to Certification of V3 Certification informs the Director on expiry of the Certificate validity at least 60 days before the expiration date. V3 Certification addresses the Auditee and sends him "Application for management system certification" . If the Auditee accepts this application, the V3 Certification arranges an appointment with the client according to procedure P - 07 "Contract Evaluation" and prepares a new management system certification contract.
In case the major non conformities of the certification audit are not closed as per the schedule agreed between the auditee and Audit Team, the certificate is not awarded. It is informed to the client.
Procedure for reinstatement of suspended CertificateIf requirements specified in Decision on Certificate suspending were fulfilled within appointed time, V3 Certification will issue Decision on Certificate reinstatementattachment No. 16 and V3 Certification will inform this decision to Auditee.
Extensions to ScopeV3 Certification shall, in response to an application for extension to the scope of a certification already granted, undertake a review of the application and determine any audit activities necessary to decide whether or not the extension may be granted. This may be conducted in conjunction with a surveillance audit.
Suspension, Withdrawal, Cancellation or Reducing of the CertificateIn case, the client is not showing the interest to schedule the audit or client are not paying the certification fee or is not submitting corrective action plan or compliance against any non-conformity within the time frame or other reason (misuse of logos and certificates, client do not comply with rules and regulations of certification etc.), If analysis of a complaints or any other information indicates that the certified/registered clients no longer complies with the requirements of the V3 Certification certification service. the certification is suspended for, one to three months. A notice of suspension is to be issued to client against misleading activities of certification and the client has to respond to V3 Certification by intimating the proposed corrective/preventive action within a reasonable time frame. V3 Certification shall verify the submitted corrective actions to decide on withdrawal of suspension notice.
Consequence upon suspension of certification
The following reason for which the certification may be withdrawn:
Consequence of withdrawal of certification
The Managing Director/ Director Operations shall inform the registrant company about the cancellation through written communication. V3 Certification shall provide details of why cancellation is made. V3 Certification has authority to publish any notification of such cancellation.
Consequence of cancellation of certification
In the following condition, the certification may be reduced and certificate with amended scope is issued by V3 Certification
Consequence of reducing of certification scope
Complaint can be made to the Director regarding the functioning of V3 Certification in writing. All the complaints will be investigated and the client will be informed of the outcome as per V3 Certification procedure.
AppealClient shall appeal to V3 Certification in respect of the following,
V3 Certification shall deal with the appeals according to its procedure and shall be responsible for all decisions at all levels of the appeal handling process as per V3 Certification procedure No. P-09 Complaints and Appeals
V3 Certification shall acknowledge the receipt of the appeal and shall provide the client with progress reports and the outcome.
V3 Certification shall investigate the complaint received about the client to decide what action need to be taken and the same shall be communicated to the client at an appropriate time as per V3 Certification procedure No. P-09 Complaints and Appeals. The identity of the complainant shall not be disclosed.
DisputesAll disputes arising from operations which cannot be settled by mutual negotiations believes the parties shall be referred to arbitration set up as per the provision of prevailing, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 , subject to Delhi jurisdiction. The decision of the arbitration will be finding on the parties concerted.
Right To Assess the Client Records By Concerned Accreditation BodyAccreditation body of V3 Certification and/or V3 Certification has authority to assess the client's quality management system through their planned activities/survey. Certified client has to provide necessary information and access.
Accreditation body of V3 Certification and/or V3 Certification has authority to access the client's record in case of complaints by customer of certified client. Certified client has to provide necessary information and access.
