PARTICIPANTS
A specific commission is dedicated to each standard. The commissions issue conclusions that determine the certification process of a company, by the decision awarding or not, the certificate of conformity.
Organization of Commissions
- The Commission is activated upon a request for certification, alongside the evaluation of the beneficiary according to the referential (standard or norm), by COFICERT or by an accredited third party.
- The Commissions, organized in the form of a board, are held (subject to some exceptions) on the first Wednesday of each month.
- Commissions are held in odd numbers, with at least 5 participants; their status and qualifications are described in the section below.
Composition of Commission within COFICERT
- 1 Representative of COFICERT, generally a member of the general secretary of the Organization, and according to the standard object of the commission, holding the title of chartered accountant or lawyer.
- 2 Accredited auditors according to the concerned standards, out of which at least one of them is a representative or has participated to the evaluation object of the Commission’s meeting.
- 2 Representatives of the scientific committee (observatory), of the concerned repository.
(Each title is materialized by an official accreditation or authorization)
PROCESS
The certification decision is based on the evaluation and is taken during specific Commission dedicated to each standard. The mission of these committees is to present and defend the certification file(s) of the companies that have applied for obtaining the certification.
Evaluations are carried out as part of the initial audit, known as the Major Audit. When the Major Audit reveals that the audited company complies with the requirements of a given standard or norm, it leads to the certification of this entity.
A certificate of conformity is thus issued to the company.
INTEREST
The initiative aiming to obtain a certificate of conformity is a powerful message sent to its environment. A certification is presented as an indicator and a mark of trust, granted to a third party, at a specific time.
From an internal point of view, a certification is a guarantee and a concrete commitment reflecting the conformity of a topic to a set of requirements. From an external point of view, a certification, as a vehicle of communication, is a relevant argument contributing significantly to the enhancement and the improvement of the attractiveness of a company, both nationally and internationally.
The certification process helps to strengthen and sustain the compliance of a system by acting as a lever for progress and good governance practices. At the same time, the assessments delivered on a regular basis during the certification process help to build up the reliability of an information system and, in turn, to create and maintain databases.
In a continuously changing economic and financial context, a certification is a common indicator for market players seeking reliable and standardized references.
