Each client, project owner and third party may submit a complaint to the certification body about:
- complaints about the operation of COPRO;
- complaints about documents or quality registration records issued by COPRO;
- complaints about the activities or documents of a COPRO subcontractor;
- complaints about products or management systems approved or certified by COPRO;
- complaints about the unauthorised or incorrect use of a quality mark used in a certification by COPRO.
Complaints must be confirmed in writing by the complainant and documented with the necessary information to enable the complaint to be investigated by COPRO.
The complainant must make himself known to COPRO. Anonymous complaints will not be acted upon. However, the complainant may request that his or her anonymity be guaranteed as much as possible during the complaint investigation. The information obtained from the complainant is in principle treated as non-confidential, unless the complainant specifically requests otherwise.
When a written complaint is submitted to COPRO, its admissibility is assessed. A complaint is admissible if it relates to at least one of the aforementioned cases. In addition, it must be clear what the deviation or non-conformity actually entails, and sufficient data must be known to enable the complaint to be investigated. The certification body shall inform the complainant in writing of the admissibility of the complaint.
If the complaint is admissible, COPRO examines the merits of the complaint, possibly after agreement with the complainant, the supplier and/or third parties concerning the investigation to be conducted.
Apart from these agreements, COPRO may conduct the investigation in whole or in part without prior information or the presence of the complainant and/or the supplier.
COPRO is authorized to conduct an investigation - or have it conducted - of the producer, distributor, importer and/or the place of delivery on the reported deficiencies or violations. This research can therefore be extended beyond the premises of the supplier and the production unit, if necessary, after obtaining the necessary authorisations from third parties.
COPRO declares the complaint to be well-founded if:
- a deviation from the rules of an applicable regulation or agreement is established;
- non-conformity is detected concerning a product, an implementation or service;
- the quality mark was wrongly referred to or used.
COPRO shall notify the complainant and the accused in writing of the merits of the complaint and notify them of the results of the investigation.
In response to a well-founded complaint, COPRO may impose a sanction on the certificate holder, accompanied by various measures.
If it appears that a complaint is valid, COPRO can recover the cost of handling the complaint from the accused.
The costs of controls or investigations carried out by the complainant or any third party may not in any case be payable by the certification body.
If it appears that a complaint is well-founded, the complaint can – depending on the object of the complaint – be reported to the following authorities: the OSO, another certification body or BENOR vzw.