Appeals Procedure

New applicants & certified clients of Socotec Certification Philippines Inc. (SCPI) have the right to appeal against any certification decision by Socotec Certification Philippines Inc. relating to the applicant organisation or certified client.
If you have a grievance regarding any written, electronic, or oral communication that alleges deficiencies related to the quality, credibility, or performance of SCPI’s employees and or services, a complaint can be raised.
Appeals or complaints shall be subject to a full investigation by an ‘independent person’ and shall not result in any discriminatory action against the appellant or complaints.

Note 1: An independent person is someone who has had no direct involvement with the audit or certification of the relevant appellant in the calendar year preceding the submission of the appeal, including the audit or certification that is the subject of the appeal.

Note 2: Investigations shall consider results of similar appeals.

Procedure:

Appeal

Appellant submits a formal appeal in writing to the SCPI, setting out the background to and reasons for, the appeal with objective evidence presented during the actual audit. The intent to appeal shall be made within 7 calendar days from the last audit day.

Note 3: Acknowledgement shall be made to the appellant.

All appeals are recorded in the Appeal Tracking Monitoring and assigned a unique identifier.

Complaint

Complainant submits a formal complaint in writing to SCPI, providing clear, detailed description of what your complaint is about, copies of any evidence to support your complaint where applicable and a valid email address (preferred) or postal address so we can reply promptly

Note 4: Acknowledgement shall be made to the complainant.

All complaints are recorded in the Complaint Tracking Monitoring and assigned a unique identifier.

SCPI Independent Committee will notify the appellant or complainant of the names of the individuals responsible for the investigation and an anticipated timeframe for completion. Interim updates will also be provided to the appellant, particularly if there are likely to be changes in the timeframe of investigation.

The outcome of the investigation and provisional decision shall be reviewed and approved by the SCPI Operations Director (or nominated deputy) prior to communication to the appellant. The SCPI Operations Director (or nominated deputy) shall be an independent person (as defined in Note 1 above) and have had no prior involvement with the investigation and provisional decision.

In order to ensure impartiality and in addition to the review by the SCPI Operations Director (or nominated deputy) shall also be reviewed by a member of the SCPI Impartiality Committee, prior to the outcome being communicated to the appellant or complainant

Upon completion of the investigation and satisfactory impartiality review, the outcome shall be fomally communicated to the appellant or complainant. The SCPI Operations Director (or nominated deputy) shall be responsible for the initiation, monitoring and close out of any corrective actions identified as being incumbent upon SCPI.

The decision of the SCPI Operations Director is final and binding upon all parties.

Comprehensive records of the investigation and decision-making processes shall be retained.

Any corrective actions incumbent upon SCPI shall be presented to the Management Review Meeting.