Any intended or unintended misuse of these marks shall result in the request for immediate removal of all offending documentation.

For any clarification required on these rules please contact ACS Registrars Ltd prior to any printing.
Both ACS Registrars Ltd and the Accreditation Bodies strictly govern the use of the Registration Marks. Only companies authorized by ACS Registrars may use these Marks. Should you decide to use the Registration Marks on any of your company documentation then there are a few simple regulations that must be followed.

ACS Registrars Ltd Certification Mark
There is one format of the ACS Registrars Ltd Certification Mark which may be downloaded for use
EPS (High resolution for printers) The downloaded ACS Registrars Ltd Certification Mark must not be split or amended in any way and must remain intact, as downloaded.

The ACS Registrars Ltd Certification Mark may be applied to any websites, stationery, brochures, walls, exhibition stands, publicity material, company flags and vehicles, but it must relate only to the Scope of

Registration for which the company has been certified and must remain legible, with no infilling.
The ACS Registrars Ltd Certification Mark must not be applied directly to any of the company’s products, packaging or labels for the company’s products.

The ACS Registrars Ltd Certification Mark must not be used in an ambiguous manner, which may be interpreted as denoting product conformity.

The ACS Registrars Ltd Certification Mark must not be applied to any Reports or Certificates of Conformity for Laboratory Testing, Calibration or Inspection.

Feedback, Appeals and Complaints
Feedback
We welcome feedback about ACS Registrars Ltd and our activities or about ACS Registrars Ltd s’ customers and their activities, whether it is an expression of satisfaction or a complaint. Any information on instances of misuse of the Mark or misleading references to certification or accreditation is also welcomed.

Appeals and Complaints
It is important that any issues of Appeals, Complaints and Disputes are handled in a professional manner; ensuring that they have been appropriately addressed and a reasonable effort has been made to resolve any issues arising.
If the Company feels that the findings of the Audit Team are not correct or are not appropriate and would like to challenge these findings, or if the Company are not satisfied with the conduct or professionalism of the Audit Team, then the Company has the right to submit either a formal Appeal or a formal Complaint.

Appeals
If the Company feels that the findings of the Audit Team are not correct or are not appropriate, then an informal Appeal should be made to the Audit Team Leader during the Closing Meeting, and the findings should be questioned. At this time the Audit Team Leader may consider the Company’s Appeal to be justified and in this case shall make an adjustment to the findings.

If the Audit Team Leader does not agree with the informal Appeal and the Company would like to submit a formal Appeal, the following procedure should be followed (submission, investigation and decision on Appeals shall not result in any discriminatory actions against the Company):
The Company shall contact the ACS Registrars Office within seven days of the Audit, and advise of the intent to Appeal against the findings of the Audit Team
Upon the request to Appeal, ACS Registrars shall provide the Company with an Appeals Form to complete. The Company should complete and return this form to ACS Registrars within 30 days of the Audit Findings being raised. Appeals that have not been submitted in writing can go no further
The ACS Registrars Office will contact the Company to discuss the Appeal and shall pass the formal Appeal to the ACS Registrars Accredited Office.
If the ACS Registrars Accredited Office agrees that the findings of the Audit Team are not correct or are not appropriate, they will overturn the findings of the Audit Team and advise the Company in writing.

f the ACS Registrars Accredited Office agrees with the Audit Team then the Appeal Form will be passed to the Independent Appeals Panel of the ACS Registrars Impartiality Committee, for their further review and decision
The Company will be advised in writing that the Appeal is to go forward to the Independent Appeals Panel and will be advised of the details of the panel members. If the Company is of the opinion that a member of the panel constitutes a conflict of interest, or objects to any of the Panel members, then all objections must be made in writing, within 15 days of notification by ACS Registrars that the Appeal is to be reviewed by the Independent Appeals Panel. Any objections must clearly detail the reasons for objection, which will be considered by the Chairperson of the Panel. If they feel the objection is justified, the offending member shall be removed from the Independent Appeals Panel and an alternative shall be appointed.

The Company will then be advised in writing of the results of the Independent Appeals Panel review.
All Appeals submitted to ACS Registrars will be subject to periodic review by the Accreditation Body, to ensure fairness and impartiality of the Appeal process.

Complaints
A Complaint about the conduct or professionalism of an employee or subcontractor of ACS Registrars may be made at any time. The Complainant shall contact the ACS Registrars Office and advise of the intent to complain. Upon the request to complain, ACS Registrars shall provide the Complainant with a Complaints Form to complete. The Complainant should complete and return this form to ACS Registrars. Complaints that have not been submitted in writing can go no further
The ACS Registrars Office will contact the Company to discuss the Complaint and shall pass the Complaint to the ACS Registrars Accredited Office, who will be responsible for dealing with the Complaint and coming to a conclusion, to be provided to the Complainant in writing.
If the ACS Registrars Accredited Office response to the Complaint is not satisfactory then the Complainant may contact the ACS Registrars Accredited Office to discuss the Complaint further
All Complaints submitted to ACS Registrars will be subject to periodic review by the Accreditation Body, to ensure fairness and impartiality of the Complaints process

Objectives of an ACS Registrars Audit

Stage 1 Audits
The objectives of a Stage 1 Audit are to:
– Assess your Documented Management System
– Evaluate your Locations and any site-specific conditions
– Assess your understanding of the requirements of the standard
– Agree the scope of your Documented Management System, processes and location(s) and related statutory and regulatory aspects and associated risks
– Plan the Stage 2 Audit and establish your planning arrangements for Internal Audits and Management Reviews
– Determine your readiness for a Stage 2 Audit
– Identify any areas for potential Improvement of the Management System

Stage 2 Audits, Re-Audits and Transfer Re-Audits
The objectives of a Stage 2 Audit are to:
– Evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of your Management System
– Assess your performance against key performance objectives and targets (monitoring, measuring, reporting and reviewing)
– Evaluate your legal compliance, operational control of processes, Internal Audits, Management Reviews and Policies
– Evaluate links between the normative requirements, policy, performance objectives and targets, responsibilities, competence of personnel, operations, procedures, and performance data.
– Identify any areas for potential Improvement of the Management System

Surveillance Audits and Surveillance Takeover Audits

The objectives of a Surveillance Audit are to:

• Ensure your Management System has continued to fulfil requirements between Audits
• Ensure Internal Audits and Management Review have been performed to programme
• Review actions taken on nonconformities identified during previous Audits
• Evaluate your handling of any complaints
• Evaluate the continued effectiveness of the management system, with regard to achieving your objectives
• Evaluate your legal compliance and performance
• Evaluate your progress of planned activities aimed at continual improvement
• Ensure continuing operational control
• Review any changes to your organization since the previous Audit
• Ensure that ACS Registrars and the Accreditation Body marks are being used correctly
• Identify any areas for potential Improvement of the Management System

Validation Audits

The objective of a Validation Audit is to:

– Ensure your Management System has continued to fulfil requirements between Audits
– Ensure Internal Audits and Management Review have been performed to programme
– Review actions taken on nonconformities identified during previous Audits
– Evaluate your handling of any complaints
– Evaluate the continued effectiveness of the management system, with regard to achieving your objectives
– Ensure continuing operational control
– Identify any areas for potential Improvement of the Management System
Unscheduled visits

The objective of an Un-Scheduled Audit will be defined separately, as each Audit of this type is unique.