Our Standards & Verification Methodology

Independence & Impartiality

The credibility of the CCert designation rests entirely on the independence of the organization that grants it. Accreditation Partners Incorporated has no commercial relationship with the businesses it certifies beyond the cost-recovery application fee that funds operations. We do not accept advertising revenue, sponsorships, or placement fees from any certified or applicant company. We hold no equity in any business we review, and our board members are required to divest any such holdings before assuming their seats.

Every member of our review staff signs a conflict-of-interest agreement before their first assignment and must update that disclosure annually. If a reviewer identifies a potential conflict - prior employment, a family relationship, or a financial interest - the case is immediately reassigned and the disclosure is logged in our compliance record. We operate on the principle that the appearance of conflict is itself a conflict; we do not wait for a material impact before taking action.

Our Standards Review Committee is composed entirely of professionals who are not current employees of Accreditation Partners Incorporated. The Committee meets quarterly to review process consistency, adjudicate appeals, and evaluate proposed updates to the verification framework. No certification decision made by an internal reviewer can be reversed by management alone; any appeal must go through the Committee's formal process.

Accreditation Partners Incorporated's financial statements are audited annually by an independent public accounting firm. Audit reports are available to certified businesses upon written request. We believe that transparency about our own operations is the foundation of our authority to demand transparency from others.

Our Verification Process

Every application begins with an intake review conducted by a trained analyst. The analyst confirms that the submitted application is complete, that the applicant is a legal U.S. business entity, and that the stated certification level is consistent with the company's declared profile. Incomplete applications are returned to the applicant with a detailed checklist of missing items; no application enters the full review queue until it is complete.

The formal review process is tiered by certification level. At the Bronze level, the review consists of public-record verification: the analyst confirms the EIN against IRS TIN matching services, verifies the registered business address against state Secretary of State filings, and confirms that the stated website resolves to an active business presence under the applicant's name. The Bronze review is designed to confirm that the business exists as represented - nothing more, nothing less.

Silver-level reviews build on the Bronze foundation by adding documentation review. The applicant must submit current certificates of insurance (general liability and, where applicable, product liability), documentation supporting any product certification claims made in the application, and evidence of domestic origin for products where origin is a stated characteristic. Our analysts cross-reference submitted documents against issuer databases wherever technically feasible. Insurance certificates are verified directly with the issuing brokerage by phone or written inquiry.

Gold and Platinum reviews introduce human interaction and qualitative assessment. At the Gold level, a senior reviewer schedules a structured video conference with one or more principals of the business. This session follows a standardized protocol covering ownership history, material changes in business operations, and any regulatory or legal matters the applicant is required to disclose. The reviewer also conducts an independent background examination of the company's BBB standing, state licensing records, and publicly available litigation history. A minimum of five years in continuous business operation is required for Gold certification.

All reviews conclude with a panel sign-off. No single reviewer has the authority to issue or deny a certification unilaterally. Bronze and Silver decisions require sign-off from one lead analyst and one supervisor. Gold and Platinum decisions require sign-off from a senior reviewer and a member of the Standards Review Committee. This two-signature requirement applies to both approvals and denials, ensuring that every outcome has been examined by more than one qualified professional.

Document Standards

All documents submitted in support of a certification application must be current, unaltered, and legible. "Current" is defined as having been issued within the preceding 12 months for insurance certificates and within the preceding 36 months for all other compliance documents, unless the document has a stated expiration date, in which case that date controls. Documents must be submitted in PDF format at a minimum resolution of 150 DPI. Scanned photographs of physical documents are accepted provided they are unobstructed, fully within frame, and shadow-free.

Accreditation Partners Incorporated reserves the right to request original documents, notarized copies, or direct verification from issuing authorities for any document submitted in connection with a certification application. We exercise this right whenever metadata analysis, visual inspection, or third-party cross-referencing raises questions about a document's authenticity. Applicants who submit fraudulent documentation are permanently disqualified from the CCert program and may be referred to relevant authorities.

All submitted documents are retained in encrypted storage for a minimum of seven years following the conclusion of the associated certification period, whether the certification was granted, denied, or withdrawn. Documents associated with fraud referrals are retained indefinitely. Applicants may request copies of documents they submitted at any time during their certification period; requests for documents after the certification period closes may be subject to a retrieval fee.

For Silver and above, documents are organized into a formal Certification Package that is maintained as a versioned record. Each renewal cycle generates a new Certification Package, and prior versions are preserved to enable historical comparison. Reviewers who identify a material discrepancy between a current Certification Package and a prior version are required to escalate the matter to the Standards Review Committee before the renewal can proceed.

• PDF format required (minimum 150 DPI)
• Insurance certificates: must be dated within 12 months
• All other compliance docs: within 36 months or per stated expiry
• Documents retained for 7 years post-certification
• Fraudulent submissions result in permanent disqualification
• Direct issuer verification at reviewer discretion

On-Site Protocols (Gold & Platinum)

While Gold certification requires only a structured virtual meeting, Platinum certification mandates a two-day on-site visit by a team of two senior reviewers. The on-site visit is the most comprehensive form of verification available in the CCert program and is designed to confirm the physical reality of the business against its documented representation - its facilities, workforce, equipment, and operational systems.

On-site visits are scheduled no fewer than 10 business days in advance and no more than 21 business days in advance. The applicant is given no more than five business days' advance notice of the specific dates within the scheduled window. This limited-notice structure is a deliberate element of the protocol; it reduces the ability of an applicant to temporarily misrepresent their operational status while still respecting the practical need to prepare for visitors. Reviewers arrive unannounced at the start of the visit each morning.

During the visit, reviewers conduct a facility walkthrough, interview a random sample of employees at each level of the organization (without management present for a portion of the interviews), inspect equipment claimed in the application, review a sample of customer contracts and completed project records, and examine the company's compliance documentation in its physical form. Reviewers do not announce in advance which documents or facilities they will examine; the full scope of the review is at the reviewers' professional discretion.

Platinum-certified businesses are subject to unannounced spot-check visits at any point during their certification period. A spot-check visit is typically conducted by a single senior reviewer and lasts no more than four hours. Spot-checks are triggered by renewal proximity (within 90 days), a consumer complaint filed through the CCert portal, or a material change in the company's public profile (such as a significant change in size, ownership, or regulatory standing). Businesses that refuse a spot-check visit without documented justification are placed under certification review and may have their status suspended pending a formal hearing.

Travel and accommodation costs for on-site visits are covered by the application fee at the Platinum level. Spot-check visits are covered by the annual maintenance fee. Neither the applicant nor any affiliate of the applicant may pay for, offer, or reimburse any travel expense of a CCert reviewer under any circumstances. Offers of hospitality beyond water and the use of a meeting room are declined as a matter of policy.

Annual Review Policy

All CCert certifications carry a three-year term. During this period, certified businesses are required to submit an Annual Compliance Attestation (ACA) in the second and third years of their certification. The ACA is a structured declaration in which the company's principal affirms that no material change has occurred in the company's legal status, ownership, insurance coverage, or compliance standing since the most recent full review. The ACA also requires disclosure of any litigation, regulatory action, or significant operational change that occurred during the year.

Accreditation Partners Incorporated conducts a desk audit of each ACA submission within 30 days of receipt. The desk audit consists of a spot-check of public records - Secretary of State filings, court dockets, BBB complaints, and relevant regulatory databases - to confirm that the attestation is consistent with available information. Discrepancies between an ACA attestation and discovered public records trigger a formal inquiry to the certified business, which must be resolved before the certification's current-status designation is maintained.

Failure to submit a timely ACA (due on the anniversary of the certification date) results in the business's directory listing being flagged as "Attestation Pending" for a period of 30 days. If the ACA is not received within the 30-day cure period, the certification is suspended and the directory listing is removed until the submission is received and cleared. Businesses that fail to submit an ACA in two consecutive years are treated as having voluntarily surrendered their certification and must reapply from the beginning.

The renewal process, which occurs at the end of the three-year term, is a streamlined re-verification rather than a full re-application. Businesses in good standing may enter the renewal process 90 days before expiration. Renewal reviews are conducted at the same level as the original certification and involve a documentation refresh and, for Gold and Platinum, a new structured interview. Businesses that have experienced a material operational change during the certification period may be asked to undergo a fuller review as a condition of renewal.

Revocation Policy

Accreditation Partners Incorporated reserves the right to suspend or revoke a certification at any time if evidence emerges that the basis for the certification was materially inaccurate at the time of issuance or has since become inaccurate. "Material inaccuracy" includes - but is not limited to - misrepresentation of ownership, falsification of submitted documents, lapse of required insurance coverage, revocation of a required professional license, entry of a criminal conviction against an owner or officer, filing of bankruptcy proceedings, or receipt of a civil judgment for fraud.

When a potential revocation trigger is identified, the business is notified in writing and given 15 business days to respond with documentation or explanation. During this period, the directory listing is flagged as "Under Review." If the business's response satisfactorily resolves the concern, the flag is removed without further action. If the response does not resolve the concern, or if no response is received within the cure period, the matter is escalated to the Standards Review Committee.

The Standards Review Committee has authority to issue a Suspension Notice or a Revocation Order. A Suspension Notice removes the business's directory listing and prohibits use of the CCert seal for a defined period, after which the business may submit a remediation plan. A Revocation Order permanently removes the certification, removes the business from the directory, and places the business on a 24-month reapplication hold. Both actions are communicated to the business in writing with a statement of the grounds for the decision.

Businesses subject to a Revocation Order may appeal to the Board of Directors within 30 days of the written notice. The Board's decision on appeal is final. Revocation Orders are not published in detail in the public directory; the listing is simply removed. However, if a party inquires directly about a specific revoked business, CCert will confirm whether a certification is active, lapsed, suspended, or revoked - without providing the underlying reasons - in order to prevent consumer harm from a party falsely claiming active CCert status.

The most serious sanction - permanent disqualification - applies in cases of documented fraud, submission of falsified documents, or impersonation of CCert staff. Permanently disqualified businesses and their principals are listed in a non-public register maintained by the Standards Review Committee. Reviewers consult this register at the start of every new application review.