Complaint Procedure

All complaints related to actions performed by Dutch Certification Institute (DCI) shall be submitted to the management of DCI, through submission of a written complaint. Oral complaints will be recorded in writing by DCI staff.

These written complaints are reviewed by management based on established procedures within DCI (manual, system procedures) and generally accepted good practice. If a complaint is upheld, management takes corrective action.

Appeals

Decisions made by DCI during the certification process may be appealed by submitting a written reasoned objection. This appeal must be submitted to DCI management within 30 days of the date of the decision.

Naturally, the first attempt will be to resolve any disagreements by mutual agreement.

Should this still fail, remaining disagreements over decisions made by DCI will be submitted to a single arbitrator. This is an arbitrator acceptable to both the company and DCI. For this purpose, the company may challenge an arbitrator proposed by DCI.

The arbitrator:

• may have no direct or indirect interest in the decision;
• Must be knowledgeable in the field covered by the appeal;
• must therefore have completed an education at at least college level and at least 5 years of work experience in field(s) relevant to the profession;
• Must have legal knowledge in the area of contracts and knowledge of DCI’s procedures or have someone to support them in these areas.

The place of arbitration is located in the Netherlands. The proceedings will be conducted in the Dutch language. The arbitrator shall decide according to the rules of law within 3 months of receiving the objection. Pending the ruling on an appeal against suspension/revocation of a certificate, the suspension/revocation shall be postponed until the date of the ruling.

Complaints about a certified company

All complaints, both internal and external are recorded and handled by DCI according to written procedures. This also applies to third-party complaints. If the complaint is found to be well-founded, the company must provide appropriate satisfaction to the complainant and take measures to prevent the complaint from recurring. Actions and complaints must be recorded.

When complaints related to the subject of certification, for which DCI has issued a certificate to company, are reported to DCI by third parties, DCI has the right to investigate complaints on the basis of unequal (or have them investigated) in order to protect the rights granted by DCI. DCI. is required in some cases to report complaints about DCI-certified firms to the appropriate scheme administrators.

If the investigation of complaints reveals that they can be traced back to the subject for which DCI has issued a certificate to company, DCI will promptly require corrective action and modification of the company’s system. Corrective actions will be verified by DCI within the specified timeframe.

Would you like to file a complaint?

Would you like to appeal a decision made by DCI?

Want to file a complaint against a DCI-certified company?

Would you like more information about DCI’s handling of complaints and appeals? Please send a clear description of your complaint or request for information to the email address: info@dciworldwide.eu