FAQ - QCI

FAQ's - NABCB

What is NABCB?

NABCB is the acronym for National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies. NABCB is a constituent of Quality Council of India (QCI). QCI has been established in 1998 through the joint initiatives of the Indian Government and the industry.

What is the objective of NABCB?

The objective of NABCB is to establish and offer accreditation schemes, based on internationally accepted standards, for certification bodies and inspection bodies engaged in providing services of system certification (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 etc.), product certification and inspection.

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is the formal recognition of competence. In our context it relates to competence of certification bodies and inspection bodies.

Why is accreditation needed?

Accreditation is the recognized mechanism accepted by WTO / TBT agreements for establishing equivalence of certification/ inspection schemes operated in different countries as also the test results of various laboratories

Clause 6.1.1 of TBT Agreement refers to mutually satisfactory understanding regarding

adequate and enduring technical competence of the relevant conformity assessment bodies in the exporting Member, so that confidence in the continued reliability of their conformity assessment results can exist; in this regard, verified compliance, for instance through accreditation, with relevant guides or recommendations issued by international standardizing bodies shall be taken into account as an indication of adequate technical competence;

What is the structure of NABCB?

Chairman of the Board is nominated by Chairman of Quality Council of India. The other members are nominees of Ministry of Commerce, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotions, CII, FICCI & ASSOCHAM (industry associations), Bureau of Indian standards, nominees of Association of Certification Bodies (2- one representing CBs and one representing auditors), nominee from consulting organizations and nominee of consumer bodies (11 members including Chairman). There could be other invitee members.

What are the accreditation schemes offered by NABCB now?

NABCB offers accreditation in the areas of Management System Certification [based on ISO 9001 (QMS), ISO 14001 (EMS), ISO 22000 (FSMS)] , Product Certification and Inspection bodies.

How does NABCB ensures that its accreditation is recognized worldwide?

NABCB is a member of the Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (association of Accreditation Bodies in the Asia-Pacific Region) and International Accreditation Forum (Association of Accreditation Bodies worldwide). NABCB is also a signatory to the IAF MLA (Multi lateral Arrangement for Mutual Recognition). This status has been achieved after undergoing an assessment by our peers from other countries.

How can a company not satisfied with the Certification Body, complain against it?

Each Certification body has a procedure to resolve the complaints, disputes and appeals. The company should first write to the certification body for resolution of the complaint, dispute or appeal.

In case the certification body is not able to satisfy the company raising complaint, dispute or appeal, then the company can approach the respective accreditation body with complete details of the matter for redressal. If NABCB is approached with the complaint, it will be forwarded to the respective accreditation body if the certification body referred in the complaint is not accredited by NABCB.

If the complaint/dispute or appeal does not have the name and address of the sender and/or is not accompanied by the relevant evidence of the basis of complaint and the effort to resolve the complaint with the Certification Body, NABCB will reserve the right to decide whether to process the complaint, Dispute or appeal or not.

How can a customer complain against an ISO Certified Company?

Each of the Certified Company has procedure to address the complaints of the customers. If the customer is not happy with the redressal of his complaint, he/she should complain to the respective Certification Body for redressal of their complaint.

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FAQ's - NRBPT
•	What is the difference between Provisional Auditor, Auditor and Lead Auditor?
	A Provisional auditor is a person who meets all requirements for Registration except of audit experience. An Auditor is a person qualified to perform all or any portion of a quality system audit. A Provisional Auditor can apply for Auditor grade after conducting minimum of five NRBPT recognized audits as acting auditor. A Lead Auditor is a person qualified to manage & lead a quality system audit team. An Auditor can apply for Lead Auditor Grade after conducting five audits as acting Lead Auditor.
•	Why NRBPT Registration?
	NRBPT under Quality Council of India has been formed by the joint initiative of Government of India and the Indian Industry to establish the Auditor and Training Course Registration in India. Before the formation of NRBPT, the Auditors and Training Course providers had to obtain Registration from overseas Registration bodies. NRBPT offers Registration in accordance with international standards and guides at competitive rates and locally accessible services with understanding of the Indian environment.
•	What is the procedure to get NRBPT Registration for Auditor?
	Applicants have to apply with required enclosures in the prescribed application form, which can be procured from NRBPT office.For more details please refer to Auditor Registration on this web site.
•	Where can I procure a list of NRBPT Registered Auditors?
	The list of NRBPT Registered Auditors is available on this web site at " Register of Certified Auditors".
•	Is it mandatory to get NRBPT Registration for Training Courses?
	This scheme is voluntary in nature. Registration with the national registration body will help in improving the credibility and acceptance.
•	What is the procedure to get NRBPT Registration of Courses?
	NRBPT offers Registration of Training Courses as per international standards and guidelines. It involves assessment of documents and procedures, their implementation including verification of adequacy of resources and witnessing of conduct of the course. Once the Training Course Providers is found to be complying to all the NRBPT requirements for the course, a Certificate is issued by NRBPT. For more details please refer to the " Training Course Registration" on this web site.
•	How can I procure a list of NRBPT Registered Courses?
	Details of all the NRBPT Registered Courses are available on this web site. Please refer to "Register of Certified Courses".
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FAQ's - NABH

1. What is NABH?
National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) is a constituent board of Quality Council of India, set up to establish and operate accreditation programme for healthcare organizations. The board while being supported by all stakeholders including industry, consumers, government, have full functional autonomy in its operation.

2. What is Accreditation?
A public recognition of the achievement of accreditation standards by a healthcare organization, demonstrated through an independent external peer assessment of that organization's level of performance in relation to the standards.

3. Why Accreditation?

Accreditation benefits all Stake Holders. Patients are the biggest beneficiaries. Accreditation results in high quality of care and patient safety. The patients get services by credential medical staff. Rights of patients are respected and protected. Patient satisfaction is regularly evaluated.
Accreditation to a Hospital stimulates continuous improvement. It enables hospital in demonstrating commitment to quality care. It raises community confidence in the services provided by the hospital. It also provides opportunity to healthcare unit to benchmark with the best.
The Staff in an accredited hospital are satisfied lot as it provides for continuous learning, good working environment, leadership and above all ownership of clinical processes. It improves overall professional development of Clinicians and Paramedical staff and provides leadership for quality improvement within medicine and nursing.
Accreditation provides an objective system of empanelment by insurance and other Third Parties . Accreditation provides access to reliable and certified information on facilities, infrastructure and level of care.

4. What are NABH accreditation standards for hospitals?
The standards for hospitals have been drafted by the Technical Committee of NABH and contain complete set of standards for evaluation of hospitals for grant of accreditation. The organization is evaluated against 100 standards and 503 objective elements contained in 10 chapters.

5. Who at NABH should a hospital contact before initiating the process of accreditation?
Enquiries for accreditation may be addressed to Deputy Director NABH or mail at nabh@qcin.org

6. How to apply for NABH Accreditation?
The hospitals can obtain the application form for NABH Accreditation from NABH Secretariat or download it from the web-site. The application form should be accompanied with the required application fee. Hospitals should also submit a signed document ‘Terms and Conditions for Maintaining NABH Accreditation'. The same can be downloaded from the website. For more details please see ‘General Information Brochure'.

7. How can a hospital/healthcare provider prepare itself for NABH Accreditation?
A hospital planning to go for NABH accreditation may obtain a copy of NABH accreditation standards and carry out a self assessment on the status of compliance with the standards to ensure that the standards are implemented and integrated with the hospital functioning.
Note: For further details, please go through the various documents available on our website.

8. Is NABH accreditation a one-time phenomenon?
NABH accreditation is not a one-time phenomenon. Once the hospital gets accredited, accreditation shall be valid for a period of 3 years. NABH conducts an annual surveillance of the accredited hospitals. The surveillance visit will be planned during the 2 nd year. Hospital shall apply for renewal of accreditation to NABH at least 6 months before expiry of validity of accreditation for which reassessment shall be conducted.

9. Does NABH have any International Linkages?
NABH is an institutional member of ISQua as well as member of ISQua Accreditation Council. NABH standards for hospitals are being reviewed by ISQua. NABH is also one of the founder members of newly emerging Asian Society for Quality in Healthcare (ASQua). This is being registered in Malaysia with the support of MSQH. This initiative is to strengthen the Asian representation at international level and improve the quality structure in healthcare.

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