Change certification body without starting again

The steps

1. Ask 2-3 bodies for a transfer quote. Choose "Transfer" in the request builder to add the transfer questions and documents.
2. Send the new body your certificate, the last initial or recertification audit report, and the last surveillance report.
3. Send the status of all open nonconformities and your corrective action plans.
4. Give your current body written permission to share information with the new body.
5. The new body reviews the documents. It visits only when the review finds a reason, for example an open major nonconformity. The visit is not an audit.
6. The new body closes any open major nonconformity, accepts your plans for minor ones, then issues the certificate.
7. The new certificate keeps your cycle. The next audit is the one your old programme had planned.

Which certificates can transfer

Conditions for a transfer

The certificate must be	If not
Accredited under a signatory of the arrangement for management systems	The new body treats you as a new client, with a full initial audit.
Valid, not suspended	A suspended certificate cannot transfer.
Up to date: the last surveillance or recertification audit took place as planned	The new body treats you as a new client.

Good to know

• What stops a transfer: missing audit reports, a missed surveillance audit, an open major nonconformity you cannot close, or a scope outside the new body's accreditation.
• Your current body cannot hold you. It must not suspend your certificate because you announce a transfer, and it must send the documents. If it does not, contact its accreditation body.
• When to switch: before a surveillance audit is due, with time for quotes, the review and the contract. The new body then runs that audit.