Information for your Certification General: The access to the certification body is open to all companies and persons. The certification body is liable to impartiality, avoiding any conflicts of interests and always ensuring the evenhandedness of your activity. Language of the audit: Principally the certification process can be conducted in any language as desired by the clients. The additional expenses for potentially required interpreters and translators are to be substituted by the certification body. If writing in any other language is not agreed upon, the Auditing and certification is carried out in German or English language. Issuing of Certificates: The certificates are issued on the basis of the applicable procedure. The certificate can only be issued when all the relevant requirements are fulfilled, i.e. it must be ensured that the certification conforms to the manufacturing of the product. Certification process: At the beginning of the certification process, we clarify with you the procedures to be followed for your product. The requirements arise from the relevant technical rules in which the scope of the certification process and the stipulated performance of the product are described. To avoid inconsistencies, you shall receive from us a form for the request, in which you are requested to enter all necessary specifications. Further questions related to the form will be naturally resolved before the certification process and consequently we will provide you with a certification plan and cost calculation. Should you agree to our offer, then begins the actual certification process with your written instructions. We conduct the first- First, send us the documentation of your Quality-safeguard system. surveillance if the certification efficiency is evident from the documents. DIBt- Procedure: German procedures are carried out according to DIN 18200. This includes technical approvals, BFU 100 and formaldehyde- controlled products in accordance with the 100 DIBt guidelines. Shall the certification be carried out on the basis of the technical approval, the completion of the surveillance and certification contract takes place after a successful first-surveillance. The samples for the initial Seite 1 von 7
inspection will be collected from the first-surveillance. The first-surveillance should indicate whether you can manufacture as the producer of the authorized product series. The first-surveillance should not be confused with the suitability-test for the authorization of the product. Once the firstsurveillance is successful and the surveillance contract is terminated, you acquire the authority to label the product with conformity mark (Ü-Mark). Procedures according to Building Products Guideline /regulation and CARB The procedures comply with the specifications of the respective European standards, or with the Final Regulation 93130 - Airborne Toxic Control Measure to Reduce Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products. The surveillance process commences with the termination of the contract. No initial inspections take place depending on the procedure and shall be conducted only under the responsibility of the manufacturer or a notified body. The first-surveillance is performed only after the successful execution of the initial inspection and is independent of the procedure. You will acquire the authority to label a product after the successful certification of the factory production control who conducted the first-surveillance. Basic process of Certification: Seite 2 von 7
Certificate: The certificate is used to serve as the documentation of conformity of the product with the requirements of certification process. The certificate remains the property of the WKI and may be used by the product provider only as long as the full consent with the respective procedure has been given. For details, see "Conditions for issuance or granting, maintenance, extension, constraint or limitation, suspension and withdrawal of certification." Attestations: We issue the attestations after the successful external third-party monitoring. Through the attestations we will endorse the compliance of the factory-owned production control with the requirements of the procedures. Attestations do not substitute for certificates. Fees: The costs are divided into one-time disbursements for the initial surveillance as well as potential initial inspections and also in the ongoing costs related to the external monitoring of the product and the travel expenses. In principle, fees for the external monitoring and travel expenses will be charged together. For the inspections, we set separate bills. If several external monitoring are to be conducted in a business trip, the allowable travel expenses shall be distributed such that only the proportionate expenses are invoiced to the respective manufacturer. The prices for the creation of test reports and certificates are included in the first version of price. Should versions in other languages be desired, the respective fee for the translation will be billed further. The delivery of samples at WKI is to be borne by the manufacturer. This also applies to charges for customs clearance of goods. Conditions for issuance or granting, maintenance, extension, constraint or limitation, suspension and withdrawal of certification Issuance: The issuance of certification can take place under the following conditions: Seite 3 von 7
a) If there is a contractual agreement between the certification body and the client to be certified. b) after successful completion of the certification process by the to be certified manufacturer, including Review of documentation, Survey of the production, Assessment of the laboratory areas, Interrogating the management and staff, Initial testing of samples by the manufacturer or the monitoring body depending on the process, Documented consent of the clients for maintenance and further development of the to be certified management system based on the standard requirements, Documented consent of the clients of shortly informing the certification body about any proposed or implemented changes, especially changes in the company s managerial, legal, economic and organizational status, in policies and procedures; during relocation and during modifications in the certification domain. Maintenance: A certification can be maintained if the certified client provides evidence in the context of the surveillance audits that it fulfills the requirements of the underlying process and that there are no other information which speak against the maintenance of certification. The evidence is documented, certified and attested in the surveillance report. The scope of external monitoring generally corresponds to that of the initial inspection. An extension of the certification is then required if the manufacturer offers new products subjected to identification requirements, or the product area, such as expansion of the thickness range. A separate certification is necessary for the new locations, as for an example: when production is relocated to another position or extended by a location. Amendments shall be notified by the manufacturer of the certification body and shall be held under written contractual extensions. Constraint or limitation: A limitation or constraint to the certification may be required if any of the following cases apply: Seite 4 von 7
a) The manufacturer informs the certification body that the product is to be produced to a lesser extent, such as smaller thickness range. b) The manufacturer informs the certification body that he only wants to maintain the certification for certain products. c) In the case of external monitoring, the auditor asserts that the certified range or other criteria have changed. He holds the change and proposes a constraint to the certificate in the external monitoring report. If any of the above situations arise, the head of the certification body checks the extent of change and the associated effects on the certification on the basis of available information. If a clarified explanation is not provided, the head requests further information from certified companies. If necessary, the head of the certification body arranges for a special surveillance. Suspension: A suspension of certification may be required if any of the following cases apply: the factory-owned production control, or the production does not fulfill to a considerable extent the requirements of certification such that the conformity of the product is not obtained. the manufacturer does not allow the conduct of the external monitoring, which should be carried out at appropriate frequencies, or the certified client has voluntarily requested a suspension, e.g. because the product is temporarily not produced. The suspension may be undone only if the client can make the removal of nonconformities feasible through the infliction of required documents and be supported by a third-party external monitoring to resume complying with the requirements. In the case of a temporary suspension of production, the certification process is resumed after a successful completion of special surveillance. Withdrawal: The withdrawal of certification may be required if any of the following cases apply: Seite 5 von 7
a) There are repeated deficiencies identified during audits, which may suggest that the manufacturer cannot meet and accordingly does not meet the standard requirements of the process, although the corresponding actions were agreed upon. b) The certification body shall whereby be also always brought into disrepute and be discredited. c) The certificate or the certification is misused or used in a misleading manner. d) No surveillance audits, as required in the period of validation of the certification have taken place without the fault of the certification body. e) The reasons for a previous suspension were not eliminated on time. f) The client has suspended the manufacture of the product. In these cases, the client is deleted from the list of certified companies. Other rights and obligations Further rights and obligations of the clients and the certification body are set forth in the contracts. Appeals and Complaints A complaint may be submitted by any person or organization. A complaint should be submitted in written form. In case of a verbal complaint, the personnel of the certification body who receives the complaint can document them informally. The receipt of a complaint shall be confirmed to the complainant. The head of the certification body or a designated person shall investigate on the basis of the given grounds whether the complaint is justified or not. For objective evaluation, he or she brings all required information in a reasonable time from interested involved parties and accordingly from relevant documentations and information sources. About the complaint, definite actions and the progress of the workflow management are directed to the certification body and where appropriate forwarded to the complainant. The results of the evaluation shall be submitted to the head of the certification body for management decision. The head of the certification body decides quickly and disposes the written information to the complainant to inform about the decision taken. Seite 6 von 7
An appeal, for example, against an administrative certification decision must be justified in written form, although a particular form is not obligatory. The receipt of an appeal has to be confirmed by the complainant. Appeals are liable to be submitted to the head of the certification body without delay. The head of the certification body shall review the decision of the certification body taking into account the aforementioned grounds. For objective evaluation, he gathers further information from interested involved parties (client, employee) in a reasonable period of time. The head of the certification body ensures, in each case, that no disadvantages arise for the complainant because of his appeal or complain. After testing and evaluation, the head of the certification body decides about the appeal and notifies the client of his decision, stating the grounds therefore. The acceptance of the decision must be left on the client s confirmation. Seite 7 von 7