Conflict of Interest Policy

QA Assessor requires all personnel, committee members, assessors, reviewers, tutors, contractors and applicants to identify, declare and manage any interests that could compromise, or be reasonably perceived to compromise, the impartiality of the certification process. This policy applies to both the certification and the training functions of QA Assessor and to the Approved Training Provider programme. Reference: QA-CB-POL-003 | ISO/IEC 17024:2026 clauses 4.3, 6.1 and 6.2 | Version: 3.0 | Last reviewed: September 2026

1. Policy statement

QA Assessor treats actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest with equal seriousness. No certification decision may be made by a person who has a conflict of interest in relation to that decision, and no application may be verified or assessed by such a person.

2. What constitutes a conflict of interest

A conflict of interest may arise when personal, professional or financial relationships could influence, or appear to influence, certification decisions. Examples include: training or coaching an applicant and then verifying, assessing or deciding their application; employing, working with or reporting to the applicant; a close personal or family relationship with an applicant or certified person; having consulted for the applicant’s organisation within the last two years; financial interests in organisations affected by certification outcomes, including training providers; and receiving gifts or inducements that could affect judgement.

3. Declaration and management

All individuals involved in certification activities are required to: sign a confidentiality, impartiality and conflict-of-interest declaration on appointment and each year; declare any known conflict of interest before taking part in any verification, assessment or decision; disclose new conflicts if they arise during the certification process; and recuse themselves from tasks and decisions where a conflict exists.

QA Assessor applies safeguards such as: the decision maker is always a different person from the assessor; reassignment of tasks to eliminate conflicts; independent review of a sample of decisions each year; and pausing or reviewing certification activities if a conflict cannot be managed. Training and certification records are kept separate to protect impartiality, and the training provider is recorded on every training record so that the exclusion can be applied.

4. Applicant responsibility

Applicants are expected to disclose any professional, financial or personal relationship with QA Assessor personnel that could affect impartiality. Failure to declare a conflict may affect certification eligibility or outcomes.

5. Reporting concerns

Anyone who becomes aware of an undeclared or potential conflict of interest may report it confidentially to: certification@qaassessor.com. All reports are treated confidentially and investigated promptly. QA Assessor does not retaliate against anyone who raises a concern in good faith.

6. Policy review

This policy is reviewed at least once a year by the Impartiality Committee to ensure its continued suitability and effectiveness and is publicly available.