Certification body and impartiality (ISO/UNDP 53001): frequently asked questions

To choose an ISO/UNDP 53001 certification body, look at the status of its accreditation for this standard, its independence from any consulting, its auditors' competence in your sector and on the SDGs, and the transparency of its rules: how audit duration is calculated, deadlines, and the handling of complaints and appeals.

Criteria to examine

• Accreditation status: does the body state clearly where its accreditation for the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard stands, and with which national accreditation body?
• Independence: does the body, or an entity linked to it, offer consulting, tailored training or diagnostics to the organisation it would certify? ISO/IEC 17021-1 forbids this.
• Competence: do the auditors know the organisation's sector and sustainable development issues? Are their qualifications described?
• Transparency: are the certification rules, the rules on certificate use and the complaints and appeals procedure public?
• Audit duration: is the calculation method explained in the quote?

Warning signs

A promise of certification within a fixed time, a quote far below others for the same scope, a bundled offer combining support and certification, or a mention of accreditation that does not name the national body should all raise doubts. No certification body can promise the outcome of an audit.

Gardiant Certification is not yet accredited; it is preparing its application for COFRAC accreditation. COFRAC (Comité français d'accréditation) is France's national accreditation body. Gardiant's current status is set out on the accreditation page. The role of ISO/IEC 17021-1 is explained in a dedicated question.

ISO/IEC 17021-1 sets the requirements for bodies that audit and certify management systems, including those conforming to ISO/UNDP 53001. It governs their competence, impartiality and consistency of decisions: three-year cycle, two-stage initial audit, surveillance audits, grading of nonconformities, and separation between auditing and deciding.

Two standards, two audiences

The ISO/UNDP 53001 standard is addressed to the organisation: it states what its SDG management system must include. ISO/IEC 17021-1 is addressed to the certification body: it states how audits are conducted and decisions taken. The auditor applies the first; the auditor's employer is bound by the second.

Accreditation rests on ISO/IEC 17021-1: the national accreditation body, which in France is COFRAC, assesses whether a certification body meets these requirements. ISO 19011 completes the picture with guidelines on conducting audits and on auditor competence.

What it means for the audited organisation

For the organisation, ISO/IEC 17021-1 translates into concrete, predictable rules:

• audit duration set by a documented method;
• an audit plan sent in advance;
• findings graded according to common definitions;
• a decision taken by people who did not audit;
• a right of appeal and complaint;
• a ban on the certification body advising it.

These rules are reflected in the certification rules. For impartiality, see the dedicated question.

A certification body's impartiality rests on the rules of ISO/IEC 17021-1: a ban on consulting, a documented analysis of risks to impartiality, declarations of interest by auditors, separation between auditing and deciding, and oversight by a committee on which interested parties sit. These arrangements are examined during the accreditation assessment.

The arrangements required

Impartiality is not a declared virtue but a set of verifiable mechanisms. The certification body identifies situations that could influence its judgement: financial interest, personal relationships, commercial dependence on a large client, or self-review if an auditor helped design the system being audited against the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard. It analyses, records and deals with them.

Each auditor declares any links with the organisation before an assignment. Someone who has worked for or advised the organisation cannot audit it until a cooling-off period has passed, which Gardiant Certification plans to set at 2 years.

The impartiality committee

A committee bringing together representatives of parties with an interest in certification oversees how the body safeguards its impartiality. It can challenge a management decision that would threaten it. At Gardiant Certification, the planned committee will have 3 to 5 members and will meet at least once a year.

The policy and membership are described on the impartiality and impartiality committee pages. The ban on consulting is the subject of a separate question.

A certification body cannot advise the organisation it audits, because it would end up assessing its own work. ISO/IEC 17021-1 forbids it to design, implement or maintain its clients' management systems. This separation ensures that the certificate rests on an independent judgement rather than on a service that was sold.

What is ruled out, what remains possible

Ruled out is anything that amounts to building the system on the organisation's behalf: drafting its SDG policy, choosing its priorities, setting its indicators, carrying out its internal audit, supplying ready-made documents. Also ruled out is suggesting that certification would be easier with the help of a particular consultant.

Still possible: explaining publicly what the requirements of the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard ask for, describing how the audit runs, presenting findings and their basis. That is the line this site follows: it describes what the auditor checks, never how to meet it.

During the audit

The auditor describes nonconformities without proposing solutions. Asked what they would do in the organisation's place, they do not answer on substance. This restraint can surprise, but the value of the certificate depends on it.

Gardiant Certification carries out no consulting activity, has no link with any consulting firm and recommends none. The rules are set out on the impartiality page. For an auditor who has a link with the organisation, see replacing an auditor.

Yes. Before the audit, the certification body communicates the audit team's composition. The organisation can object to an auditor's appointment by giving reasons, especially a conflict of interest: a link with a competitor, past consulting work, a personal relationship. The certification body examines the request and, if it is justified, appoints another auditor.

Acceptable grounds

Objecting to an auditor protects the impartiality and confidentiality of an audit against the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard. Generally acceptable grounds include an auditor who has worked for or advised the organisation, a link with a direct competitor, a personal or family relationship with a senior manager, or a previous dispute. For an auditor with a past professional link to the organisation, Gardiant Certification plans a gap of 2 years before any assignment there.

The certification body weighs the request. It does not replace an auditor simply because earlier findings were unwelcome; challenging findings is a matter for appeal, not for objection.

The duty to declare

Objection is the route open to the organisation. The auditor, for their part, declares before each assignment any link that might affect their judgement, and the certification body sets aside anyone who presents a risk. The organisation does not have to uncover a conflict of interest itself, but can report one that slipped through this check.

A request made during the audit remains possible if a new fact emerges. See the impartiality of the certification body and the complaints and appeals page.

An ISO/UNDP 53001 audit is conducted in a language agreed with the organisation and understood by both the audit team and the people interviewed. Before the audit, the certification body checks it has auditors fluent in that language, or arranges an interpreter. The report is written in the agreed language. Gardiant plans audits in French and English.

Why language matters

To test an organisation against the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard, an auditor has to understand the documents they read and the answers they hear, including the nuances. A management review written in a language the auditor handles poorly, or an interview held in a language the employee barely speaks, weakens the evidence. The certification body takes this into account when it puts the audit team together and calculates audit duration.

In an international organisation, several languages may coexist: head office documents in one, site interviews in another. The audit plan says which.

Using an interpreter

When an interpreter is involved, they are independent of the audited organisation and bound by confidentiality. Interpreting lengthens interviews, which the quote reflects. The auditor remains responsible for the findings and checks that the translation conveys the evidence rather than a paraphrase.

The certificate can be issued in the organisation's language, with a version in another language where appropriate. See organisations outside Europe and the duration and cost of an audit.

Yes. An organisation certified to ISO/UNDP 53001 can transfer its certificate to another certification body during the cycle. The new body carries out a pre-transfer review: certificate validity, audit reports, open nonconformities, complaints. If the review is satisfactory, it takes the cycle over where it stands, without starting again from an initial audit.

The transfer review

A transfer is not a mere formality. The body taking over the certificate checks in particular:

• that the certificate is valid and neither suspended nor at risk of suspension;
• that the scope matches current activities and the requirements of the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard;
• that nonconformities raised by the previous body have been dealt with, or that action is under way;
• the reasons for the change, to make sure it is not an attempt to avoid an unfavourable decision.

Depending on the results, it may decide on a site visit before reaching a decision. The decision is still taken by people who did not conduct the review.

The cycle calendar

The new body continues the current audit programme: a planned surveillance audit is still due within the calendar year, and recertification keeps its due date. Open findings are carried over and followed up. The organisation passes on earlier reports and relevant correspondence.

Gardiant Certification will issue ISO/UNDP 53001 certification once its accreditation is granted; transfers to Gardiant will only be possible from that point. The procedure is described on the transfer page. See also choosing a certification body.

The ISO/UNDP 53001 certificate and the certification body's mark may appear in an organisation's communication, provided the certified scope is stated, they are not placed on a product or test report, and all use stops in the event of suspension, withdrawal or expiry. The rules are set by the certification body.

Usual rules

ISO/IEC 17021-1 requires the certification body to control the use of its marks and of references to certification. These rules generally cover:

• stating the scope, so as not to imply that the whole organisation or an entire group is certified;
• a ban on using the mark on a product or packaging, or in any way that suggests product certification;
• respecting the mark's graphic form, without distortion;
• stopping all reference to certification immediately in the event of suspension, withdrawal or expiry.

Certification to the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard gives no right to use the ISO logo.

In the event of misuse

Misuse found during an audit, or reported by a third party, leads, depending on its seriousness, to a request for correction, a nonconformity or a suspension. Removal of the material concerned is then verified.

Gardiant Certification's own rules are on the certificate and logo use page; they will apply to the certificates Gardiant will issue once its accreditation is granted. On the substance of claims, see what a certified organisation may claim.

Gardiant Certification is not yet accredited. It is preparing its application for COFRAC accreditation; COFRAC is France's national accreditation body, and the application has not yet been submitted. Gardiant Certification will issue ISO/UNDP 53001 certification once its accreditation is granted. To date, Gardiant has issued no ISO/UNDP 53001 certificate.

What accreditation covers

Accreditation is an attestation, by an independent national body, of a certification body's competence for a given activity, for example certification to the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard. Accreditation is organised at national level; in France, that role belongs to COFRAC (Comité français d'accréditation). For management systems, the assessment examines conformity with ISO/IEC 17021-1: organisation, impartiality, auditor competence, decision-making process, handling of complaints and appeals.

The assessment includes a review of procedures and the observation of audits. It ends with a decision by the accreditation body, for a defined set of standards.

While the application is being prepared

Gardiant Certification is building its arrangements in line with ISO/IEC 17021-1: certification rules, impartiality policy, impartiality committee, auditor qualification. These elements are published on the site so that anyone can examine them.

Gardiant Certification claims no accreditation and does not use the COFRAC logo. Its status will be updated at each stage. The accreditation page gives the current position, and the certification process page describes the audit that will apply.

Gardiant Certification will issue ISO/UNDP 53001 certification once its accreditation by COFRAC, France's national accreditation body, is granted. It is currently preparing its application; the application has not yet been submitted and no date can be announced. Gardiant Certification undertakes not to issue any ISO/UNDP 53001 certificate before it has obtained its accreditation, and presents none as obtained.

Why no date is announced

Accreditation depends on an assessment that the accreditation body conducts on its own timetable, and whose outcome cannot be taken for granted. Announcing a date would mean presenting as settled a decision that belongs to COFRAC. Gardiant Certification will report each step on the accreditation page.

Once accreditation is granted, no certification decision will be taken without a full audit conducted under the rules of ISO/IEC 17021-1: stage 1, stage 2, handling of nonconformities, and a decision by people who did not audit.

What is possible now

An organisation can already read the certification process and the certification rules, understand what the auditor will check against the ISO/UNDP 53001 standard, or ask for information through the contact page. Any commercial proposal issued before accreditation will state this status and will contain no commitment to issue a certificate by a given date.

The current status is detailed in the question on Gardiant's accreditation. The choice of certification body remains open: see how to choose a certification body.