Audit & Certification Services Pty LtdScope Your Certification

Impartiality statement

Objectivity is the condition for confidence.

We are responsible for the impartiality of our certification activities and do not allow commercial, financial or other pressures to compromise it.

Our commitment

Top management commits to impartial management system certification. Our decisions are based on objective evidence of conformity or nonconformity and are not influenced by other interests or parties.

We identify, analyse, evaluate, treat, monitor and document risks to impartiality on an ongoing basis. This includes risks arising from ownership, governance, management, personnel, shared resources, finances, contracts, marketing, referrals, familiarity, self-interest, self-review and intimidation. We consider both actual conflicts and public perception.

Separation from consultancy

We do not provide consultancy on the management systems we certify. We do not design, implement, operate or maintain a client's management system. We do not market certification as linked to the services of a management system consultant, and we will not imply that certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if a particular consultant were used.

How we protect impartiality

  • We assess impartiality risks before accepting work and throughout the certification relationship.
  • We do not provide certification where an unacceptable threat cannot be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level.
  • We use competent auditors and decision-makers and manage conflicts before assignment.
  • The person or group making a certification decision is not the audit team that performed the audit.
  • We consult appropriate interested parties on matters affecting impartiality, openness and public perception, without allowing one interest to predominate.
  • Commercial success, client payment or pressure to retain a client does not determine audit findings or certification decisions.

Raise an impartiality concern

Anyone may raise a concern about our impartiality, a conflict of interest or the conduct of certification activity. Contact us and mark the subject “Impartiality concern”. The concern will be recorded, reviewed by personnel who are not involved in the matter where practicable, and handled with appropriate confidentiality.

Basis: ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, principles in 4.2 and requirements in 5.2, together with the public-information requirement in 8.1.