Complaints and appeals process

You, as a client or another interested party, may appeal a certification decision made by QMS, or make a complaint about us or one of our clients. This should be done by formally notifying your local QMS office in writing.

The appeal should contain as much information as possible, describing the original certification decision and the reasons for your appeal.

QMS has a detailed policy outlining our complaints and appeals process. In the interest of effective resolution and transparency, all complaints are investigated and recorded. In the event that any dispute or complaint cannot be fully and satisfactorily resolved, it will be referred to a relevant third-party accreditation body for further examination and mediation. If you have any questions regarding the QMS complaints and appeals process, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Complaints and appeals process

1. The QMS office that receives the complaint or appeal immediately passes the notification on to the QMS Certification Services head office for investigation.
2. Head office staff pass every complaint and appeal to either the General Manager or CEO for initial investigation.

Upon completion of the initial investigation, the QMS General Manager or CEO contacts the original party to notify them of the initial findings and whether they agree that a full investigation is warranted or whether they believe, based on the initial evidence, that no further investigation or action is required.

Any complaint about a certified client is communicated to the client after QMS has conducted the initial investigation.

3. All notifications, whether they are deemed to require further investigation or not, are recorded internally by the QMS head office as a QPR (Quality Problem Report). Copies of all relevant documentation – including notifications, investigations and decisions – are attached to the internal record for evidence and assessment.
4. If further investigation is required, the General Manager or CEO conducts all necessary internal investigations, interviews, assessments or any other necessary methods to provide a conclusive response and corrective actions to the originator of the notification.
5. All complaints and appeals are reviewed by the QMS Advisory Board, who may appoint an independent and impartial appeals panel to investigate any complaint that they feel has not been dealt with properly by management. The decision of such a panel must be implemented and may not be vetoed by QMS management.
6. Accreditation bodies, such as JAS-ANZ, are notified if a complaint or appeal remains unresolved between QMS and the originator for more than three months. An appeal of a certification decision will not result in any discriminatory actions against the client by QMS.
7. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaints handling process, they may refer the complaint to the relevant accreditation body, such as JAS-ANZ.
8. When appropriate, QMS will determine, with the complainant and the certified client, whether and to what extent the complaint and its resolution is to be made public.