Independence & impartiality

01

Independence principles

• Impartiality — decisions based solely on objective evidence
• Competence — auditors trained and regularly assessed
• Transparency — public methodology and criteria
• Accountability — traceability of every decision in admin logs

02

Audit / decision / commercial separation

• Audit directorate — auditor accreditation, scheduling, report quality
• Certification committee — final decision, no hierarchical link to auditors
• Commercial directorate — applications, billing, no access to audit recommendations before decision

03

Auditor requirements

• Initial RefurbCertified training and annual update
• Prohibition on auditing organisations where they have financial interest
• Auditor rotation on renewals (except documented exception)
• Annual conflict of interest declaration
• Performance assessed on report quality, not approval rate

04

Certification committee

• Minimum three members for each decision
• Quorum excluding applicant, assigned auditor and commercial staff
• Motivated vote recorded in certification file
• Second opinion available for contentious files

05

Conflict of interest management

• Mandatory applicant declaration of any link to auditor or committee member
• Automatic reassignment if conflict detected
• RefurbCertified employees prohibited from holding shares in applicant under audit
• Annual institutional independence statement published

Related documents

• Methodology
• Audit process
• Dispute resolution