Complaints & Appeals

The Cyprus Certification Company applies a procedure for the Handling of Complaints and Appeals.

Complaints.

Complaints include written (e.g. questionnaires, letters) and oral expressions of discontent that can be expressed by anyone (customer, consultant, consumer, etc.) and involving either CyCert activities, such as audit conduct, staff incompetence, failure to respect confidentiality, the service provision, employee behaviour, delays etc.  It also covers complaints by third parties, such as customer complaints and complaints from other certified companies.

  • Upon receipt of any complain regarding the CyCert services, these are documented and forwarded to the responsible Manager.
  • CyCert Management shall assess the problem, decide the direct relevant actions and communicate these to all involved.
  • All immediate corrections as well as further additional corrective action decisions are recorded.
  • In case the complainer is not satisfied with the proposed actions, he reserves the right to request a repeat review of the complaint. If deemed necessary by CyCert Management, the issue is escalated to higher Management levels, for resolution.
  • The involved customers are CyCertt always informed about the progress of their complaint.

Appeals.

Appeals include written expressions of dissatisfaction by CyCert customers of regarding the results of Audits or the certification process itself. Examples: refusal/revocation and/or suspension of a certificate, registration of non-conformances.

All Appeals are documented and are forwarded to CyCert Management.

  • The General Manager invites a meeting of the Independent Certification Council (ICC), which is responsible for the review of all appeals.
  • The ICC meets and examines all the relevant documents.
  • Upon review of the appeal, the ICC may request the input of Technical Experts, involved personnel, the Certification Committee, etc. as well as any other interested party (customer representative who submitted the complaint, members of the Audit team, company staff, etc.). All invitees shall be informed in advance about the case before the date of the meeting.
  • The ICC must reach a decision within one month from the date of the appeal.
  • The ICC decision shall be documented and communicated to all involved parties, within 5 days.
  • The initial CyCert decision remains in effect, until the ICC reaches a decision
  • The decision of the ICC is final and may not be cancelled or changed. The implementation of the ICC decision is mandatory.
  • Upon implementation of the ICC decisions, the appeal is considered as closed and is archived as such.

Any costs incurred by Cyprus Certification Company for reviewing an objection are charged to the applicant on a case-by-case basis.