The process of becoming certificated against the BRC Global Standards is designed to be as straight forward as possible and we have broken this down into the following key steps. The audits and certification against the BRC Global Standards is carried out not by the BRC but by Accredited Certification Bodies who are registered and licensed with the BRC.

STEP 1    Getting prepared

Order a copy of the Standard and assess the compliance of your site to its requirements. The BRC have published guidance documents on best practice and on the use of standards for some sectors which may also be of assistance.

To assist in the implementation of the BRC Global Standards, the BRC has developed a wide range of practical training courses.

STEP 2   Self assessment

Review your current systems and practices against the requirements of the Standard in order to identify areas which may need further work before undertaking a full audit. This can be carried out by your own site, by a consultant familiar with the BRC Standard or by asking a Certification Body to undertake a pre-assessment. Please note Certification Bodies are not able to provide consultancy although they can identify areas where further work is required.

STEP 3   Select a Certification Body

Select an accredited Certification Body to carry out the evaluation on your site. Only Certification Bodies that are registered by the BRC can undertake audits.

Certification Bodies will require details of your site and operation before being able to provide a quotation. Typical audit durations are indicated in the Standards.

STEP 4    Audit

A plan for the audit should be provided by your Certification Body to ensure that you and your team are properly prepared. The audit may be extended if staff or documentation is not available at the audit so preparation is essential. It is important that the site is in production at the time of the audit otherwise a further audit will be required.

STEP 5   Corrective actions

At the end of the audit the Certification Body should provide a written list of any areas which need improvement in order to gain certification, this will also be discussed at the closing meeting. Where non-conformances have been identified, these must be addressed and suitable evidence provided to the Certification Body for assessment within 28 days. In some circumstances it may be necessary for the auditor to return to the site to check that appropriate corrective action has been taken.

STEP 6    Certification decision

The Certification Body will review the audit report from the auditor and corrective action documentation provided in order to make a certification decision.

STEP 7   Issue of report and certificate (if applicable)

The audit report and certificate (if applicable) should be issued within 42 days of the original audit date to the person who paid for the audit (usually the site). A copy of the report is automatically sent to the BRC to allow quality control checking of the Certification Bodies. Certificated sites are invited to have site details placed on the BRC Directory web site to advertise their achievements.

STEP 8    Issue of report to customers

It is a principle of the BRC scheme that the audit report is owned by the company paying for the audit and copies can only be provided to other parties at the request of the owner (a copy is provided to the BRC and this is held confidentially). It is usual to authorise the release of a copy of the report and/or certificate for customers.