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Certificate Suspension, Withdrawal or Reduction in Scope

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Certificate Suspension 

Assurco will suspend a certificate where; 

  • the client’s certified management system has persistently or seriously failed to meet certification requirements, including requirements for the effectiveness of the management system;  
  • the certified client does not allow surveillance or recertification audits to be conducted at the required frequencies;  
  • the certified client has voluntarily requested a suspension.  

A suspension request may be issued to the technical team by the audit team or the Assurco Office however the Technical Manager will make the final decision based on objective evidence available. 

A notice will be issued to the client informing them of the suspension. 

Assurco’s online certificate database will be updated to reflect the status: SUSPENDED. 
Note: The Assurco certificate database feeds all associate bodies databases.

The client will be informed of the time frame to resolve the certificate suspension and actions required to resolve the issue. 

Our standard maximum suspension timeframe is 6-months.  After this time the certificate will be withdrawn or the scope of certification reduced. 

The technical team may alter the suspension time frame. 

Certificate Restoration 

Assurco shall restore the suspended certification if the issue that has resulted in the suspension has been resolved.  

Resolution of an issue may be through: 

  • Provision of documented evidence to the Lead auditor, 
  • An additional or special audit being conducted.  

Failure to resolve the issues that have resulted in the suspension in a time established by the certification body shall result in withdrawal or reduction of the scope of certification.  

The Technical Team will make the decision to restore a suspended certificate or move to the withdrawal or scope reduction process. 

Certificate Withdrawal 

If the issue cannot be resolved within 6-months, the certificate will be withdrawn. 

A notice will be issued to the client informing them of the suspension and requesting they cease use of any certification marks or making claims of conformity.    

Assurco’s online certificate database will be updated to reflect the status: WITHDRAWN. 

The Assurco office will set a reminder to check the client’s website or other literature in 3-months time to ensure compliance and protection of the marks.   If the client is still using Assurco’s certification marks or making claims of conformity, the Assurco Office will send a Cease and Desist Letter. 

The client will be required to complete a full stage 1 and stage 2 audit to regain certification. 

Reduction to Scope 

The technical team may reduce the scope of certification to exclude the parts not meeting the requirements, when the certified client has persistently or seriously failed to meet the certification requirements for those parts of the scope of certification. Any such reduction shall be in line with the requirements of the standard used for certification.  

The client will be invited to submit a reduced scope statement for the lead auditor and technical team to consider. 

The Technical Team will need to be confident that there is sufficient evidence of conformity for the newly reduced scope in order to reissue the certificate.  An additional special audit may be required to ensure this. 

If the Technical Team accepts the new reduced scope, they will make a new certification decision and the Assurco office will reissue certification documents and update the Assurco database. 

The client will be informed and will be required to update references to their scope as soon as possible.   The Assurco office will set a reminder for 3 months after the reissued certificate to ensure the client is not making misleading statements on their website or other documentation. 

Assurco Certificate Suspension Withdrawal and Reduction in Scope Policy and Procedure v1

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