Certi-fi Schemes Limited will not allow commercial, financial, or other pressures to compromise impartiality.  We identify, document, analyse and mitigate risks to impartiality on an ongoing basis.

Applications and procedures have been designed so as not to unfairly impede or inhibit access by applicants. Certification will not be restricted to applicants on the grounds of undue financial or other limiting conditions.

In order to identify, document and mitigate risks to impartiality arising from its activity as the Flexi-Orb Scheme owner, Certi-fi has developed the Flexi-Orb Risk Registers (FORR) to document all concerns relating to impartiality risks and relationship impartiality risks. The FORR is an ongoing working document, used in conjunction with other documentation to continually assess threats to impartiality.

All our employees, Board members and Impartiality Committee members sign a conflict-of-interest statement and declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest at least annually and have the responsibility to update declarations as new situations arise that may pose a conflict of interest. Such disclosures are then analysed, and appropriate risk mitigation measures are taken. 

External oversight of our impartiality is provided by the Flexi-Orb Scheme Impartiality Committee which meets at least once, annually.

We do not offer any services that directly prepare organisations for attaining certification to the Flexi-Orb Scheme. We do not:

• Provide applicants or certified installers with assistance to develop company procedures or management systems to meet the requirements of the Scheme
• Help applicants or certified installers address non-conformities identified by the Certification Bodies during their assessment activities
• Conduct any assessment activities which are required by the Scheme as evidence for certification
• Provide applicants or certified installers with assistance to conduct subcontractor verification which is required by the Scheme as evidence for certification
• Conduct training that provides company-specific solutions/instructions to enable compliance with Scheme requirements

While we may provide information about consultancy organisations who may be able to support applicants or certified installers, we do not state or imply that certification would be simpler, easier, faster, or less expensive if a specified consultancy organisation is used.

We do not enter into agreements with nor engage in any financial or contractual arrangements with consultancy (or any other 3rd party) organisations in which (a) we remunerate the 3rd party if they recommend an installer to the Flexi-Orb Scheme or (b) conversely, the 3rd party pays us for a recommendation from us.

On an individual level, we ensure that any person performing tasks related to our Scheme is free from conflicts of interest and can perform tasks objectively and in an impartial manner. We also demand the same commitment from the Certification Bodies who operate the Scheme.

Certification Body employees (assessors, certification decision-makers, dispute resolution staff, etc) cannot be assigned relevant tasks if they worked at or provided consultancy to the installer within the previous two years.

Certi-fi Employees will not be allowed to apply for certification under this Scheme. Certi-fi employees cannot be assigned relevant tasks if they worked at or provided consultancy to the installer within the previous two years.

There are other Certi-fi group companies who provide products and services to the renewable energy sector. The activities of these companies are entirely independent of the Flexi-Orb Scheme, and the Scheme does not mandate the use of their products and services by Scheme applicants or certified installers. These companies therefore do not pose any risk to the impartiality of the Scheme.