Certificate transfer
Move your certificate without restarting the cycle
An active, accredited certificate held with another certification body can be transferred to CORE. We review the certificate, your recent audit reports and any open findings, then pick your existing three-year cycle up where it stands. You do not repeat Stage 1 and Stage 2, and there is no break in certification.
What we review before accepting a transfer
A transfer is a review of someone else's audit work, so it is done on evidence rather than on trust.
Certificate review
We check that the certificate is current, accredited and covers the scope you want to keep. A suspended, withdrawn or expired certificate cannot be transferred.
Audit history review
Your most recent Stage 2 or recertification report and both surveillance reports, read against the standard to establish where the cycle has reached.
Open findings
Any nonconformity still open with your current body is identified. Outstanding majors must be closed and verified before a transfer can complete.
Cycle continues
Your existing three-year cycle carries on from where it stands. The next audit is the one that was already due, not a new Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Where the review raises questions the reports do not answer, a short transfer audit may be needed before the certificate is issued in CORE’s name. We tell you that before you commit, not afterwards.
Why organizations move
The reasons we hear most often. None of them require a defence.
- Service or continuity has slipped with the current certification body
- Auditors arrive without sector knowledge and the audit adds no value
- Costs have risen without a matching change in scope or audit duration
- Certification needs to be consolidated with other standards under one body
- The current body's accreditation no longer covers the required scope
When a certificate cannot transfer
Stated first, because it decides whether the rest of the conversation is worth having.
Suspended
A certificate under suspension cannot move. The suspension has to be lifted by the issuing body first.
Withdrawn or expired
There is nothing to transfer. Certification would start again at application, Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Not accredited
An unaccredited certificate is outside the transfer rules. It can be replaced by certifying from new, but it cannot be carried across.
Scope outside our schedule
Where the scope on the certificate falls outside the standards CORE certifies to, the transfer cannot be accepted.
Thinking about a transfer?
Tell us the standards on your certificate, its expiry date and when your last surveillance audit took place. We will tell you whether it can transfer, and what the review needs to see.