Certification standards and procedures

A. Certification bodies and training of auditors

1. Only certification bodies and auditors meeting the requirements set out in this Annex shall be entitled to carry out the certification of safe and secure parking areas referred to in Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006.

2. Certification bodies whose auditors carry out audits in view of certifying safe and secure parking areas in accordance with the standards set out in Annex I shall have a group accreditation in accordance with ISO 17021.

3. Auditors carrying out certification audits in view of certifying safe and secure parking areas in accordance with the standards set out in Annex I shall have a contractual relationship with the certification body.

4. In accordance with ISO 17021, certification bodies shall ensure that auditors carrying out audits in view of certifying safe and secure parking areas are properly trained.

5. Auditors of certification bodies shall have successfully passed a training for auditors on the latest version of the standards set out in Annex I comprising a theoretical and practical part.

6. Auditors of certification bodies shall have a good working knowledge of English as well as knowledge of the relevant local language of the Member State where they carry the audit.

7. Certification bodies wishing to certify safe and secure parking areas shall forward the documents proving that they meet all the requirements under this Section to the Commission. If the certification body meets all the criteria set out under this Section, the name and contact details of that certification body shall be added to the official website referred to in Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006.

B. Procedures on certification audits, unannounced audits and revocation of the safe and secure parking certificate

1. Certification audits of safe and secure parking areas shall take place physically. Parking operators willing to be certified in accordance with the Union standards setout in Annex I shall make a request to a certification body to carry out a certification audit on their site.

2. Three months before the end of validity of the certificate, operators of safe and secure parking areas wishing to renew the certification shall request the certification body of their choice to be re-audited. The re-certification audit shall be organised and the results notified to the parking operator before the expiry date of the current certificate.

3. Where, due to exceptional circumstances that could have not been anticipated either by the certification body or by the operator of the safe and secure parking area, the certification body is unable to carry out the requested re-certification audit, the certification body may decide to extend the validity of the current certificate for up to six months. Such an extension may be renewed only once.The reasons for such an extension shall be communicated to the Commission by the certification body and the relevant information shall be made available on the single official website referred to in Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006.

4. During the period of validity of the certificate of the safe and secure parking area, the relevant certification body shall carry out at least one unannounced audit on the standards set out in Annex I.

5. The certification body shall notify the results of the re-certification audits and of the unannounced audits to the operator of the safe and secure parking area without undue delay.

6. If following a re-certification audit or unannounced audit the certification body establishes that the safe and secure parking area no longer satisfies one or more requirements covered by the certificate, it shall notify the operator of the details of the failures observed and suggest the measures to remedy them. The certification body shall allow the operator to address those failures within a period set by the auditor, taking into account the seriousness of the failure observed. The operator shall inform the certification body of the measures taken to remedy those deficiencies and provide all the necessary details before the end of the period.

7. The certification body shall carry out the assessment of the remedy measures applied by the operator within 4 weeks. If it establishes that the safe and secure parking area satisfies all the minimum service requirements set out in Annex I and all the security requirements covered by the certificate, a new audit certificate for the requested level shall be issued. In the case of an unannounced audit, the same audit certificate shall continue to apply until its expiry.

8. If the certification body establishes that the safe and secure parking area satisfies all the minimum service requirements set out in Annex I and the security requirements of a different security level than the one covered by the existing certificate, a new audit certificate reflecting the appropriate level of security shall be issued. In the case of an unannounced audit, a new audit certificate with the appropriate level of security shall be issued with the same expiry date that the audit certificate it replaces.

9. If, following a re-certification audit or unannounced audit and the assessment of any subsequent remedy measures, the certification body establishes that the safe and secure parking area does not satisfy the minimum service requirements or does not satisfy one or more of the security requirements covered by the existing certificate, the certification body shall revoke the certificate. The certification body shall immediately notify the operator, who shall be responsible for removing any reference to the Union standards on safe and secure parking areas on its site.

10. The safe and secure parking operator shall have the possibility to appeal to the certification body that carried out the audit where it disagrees with the outcome of the audit, in accordance with the ISO 17021 standard. After examination of the appeal, the certification body may decide not to revoke the audit certificate, or to issue a new audit certificate for a different level of security.

C. Requirements to fulfil after the audit by certification bodies and provision of information

1.  Following the successful certification or re-certification audit, the certification body shall immediately issue the audit certificate to the parking operator, and shall send without delay a copy to the certified safe and secure parking area operator and to the Commission. It shall also inform the Commission when audit certificates have been revoked or when the level of security of safe and secure parking areas has changed following an audit. The audit certificate shall have a validity of three years.

2. In accordance with Article 8a(1) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, the Commission shall ensure that the relevant information on safe and secure parking areas certified in accordance with the standards set out in Annex I to this Regulation are available and up-to-date on the single official website.

3. The certification bodies shall set up an online complaint mechanism for users of safe and secure parking areas.

4. For the purposes of Article 8a(4) of Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, certification bodies shall cooperate with the Commission in exchanging information and feedback collected in order to propose improvements or clarifications to the standards set out in Annex I to this Regulation, where relevant.