1. Responsibilities
- The responsibility for the effective application of LHR procedures rests with the Surveyor(s) involved.
- It is the responsibility of the Technical Department involved to ensure that the Surveyor(s) assigned to perform the work described in LHR procedures is proficient in all areas assigned.
2. Obligations and responsibilities of interested parties
- Interested parties (Manufacturers, testing laboratories, etc.) involved in the certification in accordance with these Rules undertake:
- To provide LHR with the documents needed to perform its assignments, namely: technical file as per Directive, any available certificates, manuals and accompanying procedures relevant to the assessment
- To take the necessary measures so that LHR Surveyors can carry out surveys and tests in complete safety. In this regard it assumes with respect to Surveyors all the responsibility of employers for their workforce such as to meet the provisions of applicable legislation. As a rule, when in attendance the LHR Surveyor is to be accompanied by personnel representing the interested party and is to have free access to all areas where it is necessary to carry out inspections required to verify compliance with the Rules.
- To ensure that the type for the written Declaration of Conformity is as per the company’s approved type.
- To use only the CE mark and notification number supplied to him.
- To keep at disposal of the company and E.U. Member State Maritime Authorities, for at least 10 years after the last product has been manufactured, the documents, records and other information prescribed by the Rules.
- To pay invoices received from LHR under the terms of the agreement by the scheduled dates.
3. Confidentiality and information disclosure
LHR is to keep in strict confidence the client information obtained from service process, and keep confidential all information about clients from other sources (complainant, or statutory body).
Unless legally required or at the order of the Administrations, without the written agreement of the client, LHR and its employees shall not disclose the confidential information to any organization or individuals.
If required to provide a third party with non-public information by law, LHR will, in accord with relevant laws, notify the client or individual involved (unless restricted by law) of the information released.
Information on certificates and annexes, including name of the certified client, relevant regulatory documents, scope of certification and geographic position, identification information about certified product, international conventions and relevant standards used as certification basis, and effective status of certification, are deemed as public information. LHR is required to publish decisions on certification on website or in other forms.
4. Certificate validity
The certificate issued by LHR has the validity defined by the Directive. In the case of Modules A1, B, C1, F, G the certificate does not expire.
5. Certification suspension, cancellation, reduction or termination
In case the applicant or client has severe incompliance, LHR may suspend, cancel, reduce or terminate the certificate, including:
- Technical documents submitted to LHR have severe incompliance with products manufactured or manufacture process;
- Serious defects in the service;
- Major modification of products without notifying LHR;
- Expenses unpaid;
In case of modification of standards and/or requirements, the applicant is unable or believed to be unable to meet the requirements of modified standards, LHR may suspend, cancel, reduce or terminate the certificate. Suspending, cancellation, reduction or termination of certificate is to be published on LHR website.
The applicant may also request to LHR, justifying the reasons, the suspension of the certificate for a period generally not exceeding six months and no later than the expiration date of the certificate. The suspension shall be notified in writing, stating the conditions for re-instating certification and the date by which they must be implemented.
6. Appeals and Arbitration
Appeals mean the requests from the applicant for LHR to reconsider the decision on certification conformity. The decisions are about the acceptance of application and review, audit conclusion, granting of certification, expanding, suspending, cancellation, or reducing certifications.
Complaints mean the action of any organization or individual to express their dissatisfaction about LHR certification and expecting for replies. The complaints may cover the applicant or the certified client or other external personnel’s dissatisfactions about LHR policies, operation process and certification results, performance of certification personnel, external people’s utilization of products delivered by certified organization, utilization of certificates and utilization of certification/approval marks. Disputes mean the applicant’s or client’s written statement of disagreements on certification procedures and technical problems during the certification process.
Appeals, complaints and disputes are to be reported to Libero Hellenic Register. The applicant may appeal against the decisions of LHR, stating the reasons for its disagreement within 30 days from the date of notification of the decision. LHR will examine the appeal within two months of its submission. All costs related to the appeal rests with the applicant, except in cases of recognized merits.
Unless otherwise agreed, disputes about services arising from the Rules are to be submitted to Appeal Court of Piraeus (Effetio) for arbitration by the rules of arbitration that are effective when applications are made for arbitration. The arbitration award is finale and binding on both parties involved.
7. Certification renunciation
The applicant may send formal communication of renunciation of certification to LHR, before the expiry of the certificate if applicable, including the case in which the applicant himself does not want to or cannot conform to new provisions established by LHR.
LHR, upon receipt of such notice, starts the process to make the invalid certificate. Within one month from the date of the communication, LHR updates the status of the certificate validity.
8. Job assignment
Before the commencement of the certification procedure the certification application form dully signed by the applicant or his representative is dully signed and submitted to the Technical Department.
