Transfer your Certificate to NCC

5.7 TRANSFER – Product

5.7.1. Only certificates covered by accreditation conducted by Cgcre can be accepted. For transfer.

If the certification is accredited by a body that belongs to a regional agreement, the transfer shall be limited to accreditations valid within this regional agreement.

5.7.2. Organizations that present certificates not covered by Cgcre’s accreditation shall be treated as new customers.

5.7.3. A qualified person from NCC shall conduct a critical analysis of the prospective customer’s certification. This critical analysis should be conducted by examining the documentation/records and/or visiting the future customer. The critical analysis of certification transfer processes is detailed in procedure PNCC_15

Critical Analysis of the Application.

5.7.4. Suspended certificates shall not be accepted for transfer purposes.

5.7.5. Suppose the previous critical analysis does not identify other pending or potentially occurring problems. In that case, a certificate may be issued, dated at the end of the critical analysis, following the certification supervision process generally used by NCC. The standard methodology from the previous certification shall be used to determine the surveillance and reassessment program unless NCC has performed an initial or surveillance audit as a result of the review.

5.7.6. After a previous critical analysis, when there are doubts as to the suitability of the existing certification or the certification to be performed, NCC will, depending on the extent of the doubt:

1. treat the applicant as a new customer, or
2. conduct a focused audit on areas where problems have been identified.

The decision on the required actions will depend on the nature and extent of the problems encountered and should be explained to the organization.

5.7.7 NCC will maintain all documentation and records related to the transfer of certification for the time specified in its quality management system.

5.7.8 NCC shall inform the issuing OCP and Inmetro when it is ready to assume responsibility for the actions in progress and the transfer. At this time, the cancellation of the original certificate can be effected.

5.9 TRANSFER – QMS

5.9.1 Accreditation

5.9.1.1 Only valid accredited certifications shall be transferred. Certifications that are in the process of being suspended shall not be accepted for transfer.

5.9.1.2. In cases where certification was granted by a certification body that has ceased trading or accreditation has expired, is suspended, or is canceled, the transfer shall be concluded within six months or on certification’s expiration, whichever comes first.

5.9.2 Critical Analysis Before Transfer

5.9.2.1 NCC has a process to obtain sufficient information to make a certification decision and inform the customer of the transfer process. This information includes, at a minimum, provisions relating to the certification cycle.

5.9.2.2 NCC shall review the certification of the customer to be transferred. This review should be driven by a review of the documentation and, where identified as necessary by this review, e.g., identifying significant nonconformities should include a pre-visit transfer to the customer to confirm the validity of the certification.

Note: The transfer preview is not an audit.

5.9.2.3 The personnel involved in the critical analysis before the transfer shall meet the minimum competence requirements of item 6.12 of the MDC (Position Description Manual). One or more people can conduct the review. The individual or group conducting the pre-visit shall have the same competence required for an audit team appropriate for the scope of certification being reviewed.

5.9.2.4 The analysis shall at least cover the following aspects, and the evidence shall be documented:

1. Confirmation that the customer’s certified activities are covered and valid within the scope of NCC accreditation;
2. Confirmation that the accredited scope of the issuing certification body is covered by the scope of accreditation of the IAF MLA;

III. The reasons that led to the transfer;

1. That the site or sites seeking transfer of certification have a valid accredited certification;
2. Most recent initial certification or recertification audit reports and last surveillance report; the status of all critical nonconformities evidenced in reports or other available means, relevant documentation related to the certification process. If these audit reports are unavailable or the surveillance or recertification audit has not been completed, as required by the issuing certification body’s audit program, the organization shall be treated as a new customer;
3. Receipt of complaints and actions taken;

VII. Relevant considerations for establishing an audit plan and audit program. The audit program established by the issuing certification body should be revised, if available. See requirement 5.16.3.3 of this procedure; and

VIII. Any current customer engagement to be transferred with regulatory bodies relevant to the scope of certification concerning legal compliance.

5.9.3 Transfer of Certification

5.9.3.1 According to requirement 9.5.2 of ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, NCC shall not accept the transfer until:

1. The implementation of corrections and corrective actions concerning all major critical nonconformities has been verified, and
2. The customer requesting the transfer has accepted the correction and corrective action plans for all outstanding minor non-conformities.

5.9.3.2. If the pre-transfer review (desk review and/or pre-transfer visit) identifies issues that prevent the completion of the transfer, NCC shall treat the customer as new.

The rationale for this decision shall be explained to the transfer applicant and documented by the NCC, and records maintained.

5.9.3.3 The normal decision-making process shall follow requirement 9.5 of ABNT NBR ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, including that the personnel responsible for decision-making shall be different from those who performed the critical analysis of the pre-transfer.

5.9.3.4. Suppose no issues are identified in the pre-transfer review. In that case, the certification cycle shall build on the previous certification cycle, and the NCC shall establish an audit program for the remainder of the certification cycle.

NOTE: NCC may quote the organization’s initial certification date on certification documents indicating that the organization was certified by another certification body before a specific date.

If NCC had to treat the applicant as a new customer due to the pre-transfer review, the certification cycle should begin with the decision to certify.

5.9.3.5 NCC shall decide on certification before any surveillance audit or recertification has started.

5.9.4 Cooperation between NCC and Issuing Body

5.9.4.1 Cooperation between issuing certification bodies and NCC is essential for the effective transfer process and integrity of the certification. Upon request, the issuing certification body shall provide the NCC with all documents and information required by this procedure. Where communication with the issuing certification body is impossible, NCC shall record the reasons and make every effort to obtain the necessary information from other sources.

5.9.4.2 The client requesting the transfer shall authorize the issuing certification body to provide the information requested by NCC. The issuing certification body shall not suspend or cancel the organization’s certificate after notification that the organization is transferring to the NCC if the customer continues to comply with the certification requirements.