FAQs for Vendor Accreditation

As the industry continues to develop and grow, ACCT also has a duty to audit and develop our programs to ensure we provide the most up-to-date support based on your needs and feedback.

For many years, different volunteer groups have worked towards reviewing the program's requirements and procedures, identifying our own areas of growth and the roadblocks members are hitting, and evaluating the feedback we have received from vendor clients and other stakeholders in the industry. Through this inward look, these volunteers and staff have revised this accreditation program to meet the current needs of the industry and packaged it with a more structured administrative oversight. 

General Changes

• Consistent and reliable audits
• Greater value for users
• Stronger program enforcement
• Data-driven, fair, and accurate accreditation
• Improved quality control by the Association
• Enhanced transparency in all processes

Specific Changes

• Application Process:

  • Vendor-Initiated: The accreditation process begins with the Vendor company submitting itself for review. The Vendor Applicant must provide thorough proof of compliance with Program requirements, ensuring detailed review by the ACCT Program Manager, Vendor Auditor, and ACCT Program Work Group.
  • Self-Assessment: Instead of a pre-application, vendors complete a Self-Assessment to evaluate their readiness and submit it when they meet all requirements. This Self-Assessment serves as an audit outline, making the review process more efficient by clearly identifying where evidence can be found.
  • Inclusive Fee: The application fee is included in the application, eliminating the need for additional invoicing from ACCT staff.
  • Clear Definitions: Roles, application intake, and timelines are better defined.
  • Resource Documents: Availability of well-defined accreditation categories and reference checks, incorporating Accredited Operations as a preferred option for a reference letter.
  • Quality Control: Integrated quality control requirements for general and specific service areas, enhancing overall program quality.

• • Design: Added as a new service area.
  • Installation: Reviews of five installations or major modifications to ensure consistency, with a focus on acceptance inspections. The process is divided into Pre-Installation, Installation, and Post-Installation phases for comprehensive review.
  • Inspection: Reviews of five inspection reports to ensure consistency. The Inspector QCP requirement is replaced with an ACCT Level 2 Professional Inspector.
  • Training: Training dates must be submitted with the application, allowing the audit team to plan and schedule in advance. Aligns with Chapter 2 standards (Facilitated, Guided, Self-Guided) with a clear outline of what needs to be observed during training.
  • Practitioner Certification: Maintains many existing standards with a clearer outline of testing observations.
• Site Audits

More structured with a defined schedule. Priorities are set by the PM and volunteers. Audits now have clear Pass/Fail criteria, requiring a score of 79 or lower to pass.

• Reaccreditation
  • Streamlined Process: More structured and better outlined. Reaccreditation should be smoother and faster, as most of the initial application work has already been completed. It ensures everything is still in place.

• Disciplinary Procedures

Defined Structure: Clear disciplinary structure to ensure consistency and transparency.

• Program Oversight:
  • Procedures Manual: A manual clearly outlining the entire program.
  • Administrative Oversight: Increased administrative oversight to ensure program integrity.

• • Documented Process: Enhanced documentation of confidentiality processes and measures taken by ACCT to ensure confidentiality.

• • Clear Instructions: Improved instructions on document sharing and handling by ACCT.

• • Structured Role: The roles of the Administrative and Technical Reviewer have been replaced with a Vendor Auditor, who has a more structured and defined role.

You will find that through this process, you have many avenues that we have created to support you.

Website Resources: The web pages provide a breakdown of every step of the process in an easy-to-understand narrative.

Written Resources: You have access to the Accreditation Manuals, which walk you through and explain in depth the program, the requirements, and how to navigate the intricacies of what you can expect along the way.

Program Manager: You can contact the Program Manager through e-mail anytime. The Program Manager can provide additional context and information should you need clarification or have questions about the program. The Program Manager is also able to set up virtual calls when necessary. 

Applicant Liaison: The Applicant Liaison is a member of the Program Work Group who works directly with the vendor and ACCT Program Manager throughout the application and renewal process. This individual will work with the vendor from when an application is requested to the accreditation decision. They will work with you to ensure deadlines are being met, scheduling is done for the audit, and help answer questions along the way.

Yes! There are portions of the audit that can be done virtually. 

We request that you share the documents that will be reviewed as part of the accreditation process through a digital sharing platform like Google Shared Drives. This will save time on-site. Any questions, clarifications, discussions, or interviews that might need to happen as a result of the document review can be done virtually before the auditor is on-site.

The entire audit can not be done virtually. The vendor auditor must observe some requirements in action to receive a reporting grade.

First, you do not need to apply for all service areas at once if you don't feel you are ready. You have the ability to apply for accreditation in the service areas you know you are likely to pass by being informed of your company's readiness from the self-audit. You are always able to apply for additional services at a later time.

That said, if you apply for multiple service areas, they will be treated as separate applications. Each service area follows its own requirements and receives its own specific Audit Report. If you do not receive a passing score for one of the service areas, you could still receive accreditation for the others.

*If you do not pass Training, you cannot receive Practitioner Certification accreditation, as it depends on the training service area.

Four priorities, representing deficiencies that need to be addressed before accreditation can be granted, could be included by a vendor on their site audit report (s). 

• Priority 1: Critical: Item(s) listed on the report that are considered critical and may cause serious injuries or fatalities. Immediate action is required. A subsequent site audit may be required to ensure the item(s) listed are completed and are no longer considered critical.
• Priority 2: 30-Day Written Response: Item(s) listed on the report that are not considered critical but require additional clarification or documented verification from the Applicant. A written response from the Applicant is required within 30 days.
• Priority 3: Next Annual Compliance Report: Item(s) listed that need to be rectified before the current year's Annual Compliance Report.  Proof of completion must be submitted to the Program Manager.
• Priority 4: Next Site Audit: Item(s) listed that will be carried over as a priority to be addressed by the next site audit.

Each one of these priorities equals a numerical grade.

• Priority 1 = 40 points
• Priority 2 = 30 points
• Priority 3 = 20 points
• Priority 4 = 10 points

Like golf, the lowest score is the goal. If a vendor receives a score of 80 or higher, they will not receive accreditation.

On the Vendor Audit Reports, each requirement will meet one of the following designations.

Pass-No Contradictions: There is an absence of behaviors or conditions that would contradict the standard.

Pass- Reported: The vendor reports compliance in certain areas that were not directly observed.

Pass-Observed: There is evidence in terms of behavior, documents, or conditions present in at least one staff member or situation that would indicate at least that a person or document is in compliance. 

Fail-Critical: The standard has been deemed critically important for accreditation and/or non-compliance could result in serious injury or death.

Fail-Non-compliance: The operation was shown to not be in compliance with the Standard being evaluated.

ACCT is committed to maintaining confidentiality and not disclosing any sensitive information contained in the documents to unauthorized individuals. The ACCT Tech Use Policy, a crucial component of our commitment, outlines how to handle documents and is a mandatory review and agreement for each Vendor Auditor. This policy is designed to protect the integrity of the accreditation process and the confidentiality of the vendor's information. Vendor Auditors do receive training on document handling both digital and on-site.

Secure Storage: When you provide access to documents as part of accreditation, this is done on your terms. Whether digital or hard copies, they are reviewed on site. Although we encourage the use of Google Shared Drives for ease and adaptability, we can also use other document-sharing platforms. It is up to you as the vendor to set the appropriate settings and protection on your documents. However, if you would like to provide any additional guidance on how you would like ACCT to securely store them, please let us know as quickly as possible so we can make sure we are accommodating your requests. This could include information on how documents are password-protected; if there is any encrypting sensitive information that we would need special instructions for; and/or how you would encourage us to keep hard copies while under review with ACCT.

Limited Access: You should only be sharing your documents with the Program Manager, your Applicant Liaison, and your Vendor Auditor. Please limit access to the documents only to these authorized personnel involved in the accreditation process. Unauthorized individuals should not be given access to the documents under any circumstances.

Access Removal: Once the accreditation process no longer requires access to documents, the Vendor shall remove access for the Program Manager, the Applicant Liaison, and the Vendor Auditor. 

Reporting Concerns: If you have any concerns or incidents related to the handling of documents immediately report this to the Program Manager for prompt investigation and resolution.