Our Registrar has been Suspended

[ValleyGirl]

Please help!

Our registrar has been suspended. Our audit is scheduled for June 25 & 26 with the suspended registrar. I contacted our AS9100 Consultants as soon as I found out that they had been suspended and they connected us with a new registrar that would perform the audit on the same days. I had assumed that the suspended registrar would not be allowed to perform the audit...but I received a letter to confirm the audit dates from the suspended registrar today.

Are they allowed to do the audit? What risk would we be taking if we did allow them to perform the audit?

I have been satisfied with the suspended company and would prefer to stay with them - but I don't know the "rules" that need to be followed.

Your replies will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[AndyN]

You should review WHY they were suspended. There are many reasons a CB can be suspended. Suspension is pretty bad, really. You may not be aware of what the implications of suspension, if you say you are "happy with them" because it may not be an issue until well into the 3 year cycle. Being suspended should concern you, frankly.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

but I don't know the "rules" that need to be followed.

The rules are available in AS9104/1 paragraph 5.3.7:

When the accreditation of a CB having AQMS certification within its accredited scope is suspended, but not withdrawn/expired, the AB?s management system shall ensure the following requirements are imposed on the CB.
The suspended CB shall:

? notify all of its existing and applicant AQMS clients of its suspended status and any consequences that may have an impact on the client, within 15 calendar days of the suspension decision being provided to the CB;
? continue to perform required surveillance and recertification audits;
? not conduct any Stage 1 audits for initial certification;
? not conduct any certification scope extensions;
? not accept any AQMS certificate transfers of clients from other CBs;
? obtain a documented agreement from the AB defining the conditions and controls for the issuance of any client certification (new or recertification), during the suspension period, to ensure the credibility of the certification;
? on request, provide the AB and/or SMS with a documented list of any certifications (new or recertification) issued during the period suspension; and
? adhere to any other conditions that may be imposed by the AB as a result of the suspension.

The AB shall initiate the withdrawal process for AQMS accreditation for CB failure to conform to these requirements.

f. CB suspensions, including AQMS standards in the scope of accreditation, that exceed three months in duration shall be referred by the AB for review to the SMS or CBMC. AB suspensions of a CB shall not exceed six months from the date of the suspension decision. Where the reasons for the suspension are not resolved within the six-month period, the AB shall determine whether the CB accreditation for all AQMS standards shall be withdrawn.

g. Where the accreditation of a CB is withdrawn or has expired, ABs shall provide for current AQMS standard certificates issued by the applicable CB to be eligible for transfer for a maximum of six months after the withdrawal or expiration date of the CB or until client AQMS standard certificate expiration, whichever is less; providing the certificate is eligible for transfer in accordance with the requirements of IAF MD 2 and this standard.

If the CB did not communicate with their clients that they were suspended within the 15 days from suspension date, their accreditation body should (if they are following the AS9104/1 document) be in the process of withdrawing their accreditation. One can find out the date of the suspension in the ANAB website for ANAB accredited CB's.

 

[Wes Bucey]

Valley Girl doesn't say how she learned of the suspension, but if she hasn't heard some mollifying story from the suspended registrar regarding the suspension, its side of the story, its efforts to lift the suspension, and the client's rights in the matter, the problem is no longer the mere fact of the suspension but that the registrar did not maintain a clear communication with its client.

It isn't stated specifically, but the registrar scheduling without such notification "could" mean one of two things:

1. the suspension was a technical one (late payment of fees to its AB), already lifted
2. the left hand (the auditor scheduling the visit) isn't aware of things going on with the registrar with which he/she is affiliated.

 

[Big Jim]

Following the link Sydney provided shows suspension for 9100, 9110, and 9120 for a CB on 5/22/14 and all three lifted on 6/2/14.

Does the 15 day notification rule apply if it is lifted before 15 days have passed?

 

[Wes Bucey]

Following the link Sydney provided shows suspension for 9100, 9110, and 9120 for a CB on 5/22/14 and all three lifted on 6/2/14.

Does the 15 day notification rule apply if it is lifted before 15 days have passed?

If this is, indeed, the subject registrar, then:

By my calculation, lifted on the 7th business day after suspension (check crossed in the mail?)

Makes one wonder who was so eager to bring the suspension to ValleyGirl's attention and why she wasn't ALSO notified when it was rescinded. For the sake of the profession and industry, I sure hope it wasn't someone from a competing registrar.