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As is stipulated in the international standards, a certification body has to act in total independence, free from ties to its customers. AFNOR Certification is not just a trusted third party standing firm in its advocacy of independence and confidentiality; we go the extra mile to guarantee that our code of professional ethics is shared by all teams and adopted throughout our partner networks.

 

AFNOR policy is braided by three central strands: impartiality in judgements on the issuing of certification, equal treatment for all applicants and all certification-holders, and fully transparent decision-making.

 

Expertise

AFNOR Certification coordinates a 1500-strong network of qualified, experienced auditors. Most of them also have a 'day job' alongside their auditor role. These auditors perform to the very same code of professional conduct as that governing the AFNOR: impartiality, professionalism, hands-on guidance. They are duty-bound to refresh their qualifications and their in-depth knowledge of the reference frameworks that they audit. AFNOR Certification tasks them to missions according to each customer's specific profile: their business, size, language, radius of activity, corporate culture, and so on…

 

AFNOR Certification's qualified auditors are renowned for their independence, their talent for consensus-building and co-development, and their full mastery of the target business sector.

 

The assessment and certification services offered by AFNOR Certification are delivered, in the main, through two world-class quality marks: AFAQ and NF. The NF mark activity mobilizes a comprehensive network of impartial and competently-skilled technical bodies (industry-leading laboratories, technical centres and inspection agencies), all AFNOR Certification partners.

 

All are COFRAC-accredited. They boast insider scientific knowledge and field-proven technical skills in their respective areas of action. It is this network-driven setup that drives AFAQ and NF mark development and market-awareness.

 

Independence, impartiality

Our code of ethics triangulates around:


  • Independence, impartiality, and compliance with the code of professional ethics when developing our services and conducting our business.

"AFNOR Certification set up an organization in order to provide high-quality assessment and inspections services to its customers. In this way, AFNOR Certification and its major partners are awarded through these COFRAC accreditations.


As Managing Director of AFNOR Certification, I commit:

  • To defining, to implementing and to improving a quality management system and the assessment, certification and inspection procedures according to the current international standards for the assessment of the conformity: ISO / CIE 17021, EN 45011, ISO / CIE 17024 and ISO / CIE 17020,
  • To implementing a quality policy for improving our services and our customers’ satisfaction,
  • To implementing not discriminatory procedures to allow the access to the certification, assessment and inspection services every customers who makes it the request,
  • To guaranteeing the confidentiality of any information obtained within the framework of the activity, at every levels of the organization,
  • To adopting procedures guaranteeing the qualification of the staff and the improvement of the skills and keep their application.
  • To guaranteeing the independence, the impartiality and the integrity of the functioning of our body.

As such, AFNOR Certification meets the criteria of independence of the standard NF EN ISO / CIE 17020 by a status of third party of type A because its organisation and its staff are independent from stakeholders parties in the inspection.

 

More our Policy Board gathers together the different certification and inspection stakeholder groups in order to guarant impartiality in our processes and to watch that there are no conflicts of interest. Separate committees for each type of certification mading up together the external-member stakeholders are assigned to monitor the certification process and to report back to the Policy Board.

 

AFNOR core values are disciplined action, ethical conduct, respect for our customers and the level of service we owe to them. These values lead us to deliver professional-standard services to each individual customer and to prompt us to continually looking for new perspectives and improvement for the quality of our certification,assessment and inspection service delivery. Everyone working for or with the AFNOR makes a personal committement to respect and to meet these values, and to warn us for any conflict of interest. ”

 

Florence Méaux, CEO, AFNOR Certification


  • Decisions to award certification taken by Certification Experts with inside knowledge of your business sectors and the constraints involved.

  • A benchmark certificate whose reputability and international renown are commensurate with the level of dedication you have put in.

 

Hands-on guidance

AFNOR Certification customers are guaranteed hands-on guidance from a dedicated correspondent throughout the assessment and/or certification process. One of the secrets to AFNOR Certification's success has been its ability to reproduce this customer-tailored follow-up at international scale, through local branches in over 90 countries across five continents, and through 14 regional delegations on French home turf. The French delegations organize events and host certification-holder club meetings (the 'Clubs des Certifiés') where participants can network and exchange feedback.

 

EAFNOR Certification offers the same level of quality service delivery in France and abroad, driving improved performance for customers worldwide.

 

Handling claims

 

You are AFNOR Certification’s customer
 
  • You wish contest a certification decision

 

  1. You address us your written contesting within 15 days as from the decision date (or information decision),
  2. we analyse your request and assign another decision-maker if necessary,
  3. we inform you the updated certification decision if necessary,
  4. You have the opportunity to appeal to this 2nd decision.
  5. If yes, we involve a external competent experts committee to take a new decision,
  6. we inform you of the new certification decision.
 

The contesting of a certification decision has not a suspensive effect.

 

 
  • You are not satisfied about our performance

(examples: Audit service, commercial relation, sent documents…)

 

  1. You address us your written contesting,
  2. we analyse your request and assess its admissibility.
  3. If your request is admissible, we analyse the causes complaint,
  4. we determine the corrections and the consecutive measures to be implemented, if necessary,
  5. we inform you of our answer.
 

The financial purpose complaints are not acceptable when the contractual conditions were respected.

 
 

 

You are not AFNOR Certification’s customer
 
  • You wish sent a complaint about a product, a service, person or a company which we have certified

 

  1. You address us your written contesting,
  2. we analyse your request and assess its admissibility,
  3. we inform you of our answer.
  4. If your request is admissible, we inform our certified customer of managing your complaint,
  5. during the certification surveillance, we check the corrections and the consecutive measures implemented by the certified customer regarding your complaint,
  6. the decision-maker takes account the complaint management by the certified customer in the certification decision.
 
 

 

For sending us your complaint

You can:

 

  • write us:

AFNOR Certification - Direction Générale/Gestion des réclamations

11 rue Francis Pressensé - F-93571 La Plaine Saint Denis Cedex

 

  • join us by your usual contact.

 
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