*G.5.3.13. Where an organization has a number of sites with similar activities covered by a single EMS, a certificate may be issued to the organization to cover all such sites provided that:
(a) all sites are operating under the same EMS, which is centrally administered and audited and subject to central management review, and
(b) all sites have been audited in accordance with the internal audit procedure(s), and
(c) a representative sample of sites have been audited by the certification/registration body, taking into account the factors below
• the results and reports of internal site and central EMS audits
• the results of management review
• maturity of the management system
• any existing knowledge of the organization
• variations in the size of the sites
• complexity of the EMS
• complexity of the sites
• any shift working
• variations in working practices
• repetitiveness of functions
• variations in activities undertaken
• the spread of the organization’s personnel over the sites
• the significance and extent of the aspects and associated impacts
• potential interaction with sensitive environment
• differing legal requirements
• the views of interested parties, and
(d) the sample should be partly selective, based on c), above and partly non-selective and should result in a range of different sites being selected, without excluding the random element of site selection, and
(e) the surveillance programme should include visits to the organization’s head office, be designed in the light of the above factors and should, within a reasonable time, cover all the sites of the organization in accordance with the certification/registration body’s sampling method, and
(f) in the case of a nonconformity being observed either at the head office, or at a single site, of an organization with an EMS certificate/registration covering multiple sites, the corrective action procedure should apply to all applicable sites covered by the certificate/registration