Impartiality Policy

1. Statement of Commitment

Ubicert (Pty) Ltd, as a SANAS-accredited certification body, is fully committed to undertaking its conformity assessment activities impartially and objectively. Top management recognises that impartiality is fundamental to the credibility of certification and ensures that decisions are based solely on objective evidence of conformity to the requirements of the relevant management system standard.

2. Legal Basis (ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, Clause 4.2 & 5.2)

In accordance with Clause 4.2 (principle of impartiality) and Clause 5.2 (management of impartiality), Ubicert shall be responsible for the impartiality of its certification activities and shall not allow any commercial, financial, or other pressures to compromise impartiality. Top management demonstrates its commitment to impartiality and ensures that the body identifies risks to impartiality, demonstrates how it eliminates or minimises such risks, and maintains a publicly available statement on its commitment to impartiality.

3. Identification of Risks to Impartiality

Ubicert actively identifies, analyses, and manages risks to impartiality arising from, but not limited to:

• Self-interest: a real or perceived benefit that may influence judgement;
• Self-review: the body reviewing work it has performed or a related entity has performed;
• Bias: predilection that prevents impartiality;
• Familiarity (trust): excessive trust in a person or organisation;
• Intimidation: overt or covert coercion that prevents impartiality.

These risks shall be eliminated or minimised to an acceptable level, and where they cannot be eliminated or minimised, certification shall not be offered.

4. Independence and Organisational Structure

Ubicert maintains an organisational structure and decision-making process that safeguards impartiality. Personnel involved in certification decisions are independent of those who performed the audit. Consultancy relationships, where permitted, are managed in accordance with Clause 5.2.7 to ensure no relationship exists that would threaten the impartiality of certification activities.

5. Impartiality Committee

An impartiality function/committee oversees the certification body's activities to ensure impartiality is maintained. The committee includes representatives of clients and other interested parties, providing balance and input on risks to impartiality, the structure of the body, and the development of certification policies.

6. Personnel Responsibilities

All employees, auditors, technical experts, and committee members are required to disclose any situation that may constitute a conflict of interest or a threat to impartiality. Where such a situation is identified, the individual shall be excluded from the relevant certification activity.

7. Public Availability

This policy is publicly available on the Ubicert website and is communicated to all interested parties upon request, in fulfilment of Clause 5.2.5.

8. Review and Improvement

This policy is reviewed at least annually, and whenever significant changes to the organisation or the requirements of ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 occur, to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness.