This blog also looks at processes you may not be aware you can do yourself, concentrating on changing contact, employer and employee details. We will readily accept that it’s not the most thrilling stuff you will ever read, but familiarising yourself with these practices will hopefully save you time and effort in the future.
Firstly, we are going to look at things from a Certifier’s perspective:
Approved Certifiers
Changing contact details
You can change your email address (and password) via your User Information page, which is accessible by logging in and clicking on your name in the top right corner of the screen.
Then choose the 'Change email address' option:
To change all of your contact details, including address, telephone and email, you can log into your account and select ‘Update Details' followed by ‘Update Contact Information’.
If you choose to use a work contact address, and answer ‘Yes’ to ‘Are you employed by a firm which is currently a member of the SER Scheme?’, you are able to input the SER number of the Approved Body to automatically pick up that Body’s address; otherwise you can edit the address details manually. If the firm moves office, as long as the Certification Coordinator changes the address associated with the Approved Body (instructions for which can be found later in this blog), your ‘work’ address will automatically update.
Changing employer
If you change employer, as well as updating your work contact address using the method above, you are able to update the relevant details by selecting ‘Update Details’ followed by ‘Update Qualifications, Employment & Membership’. From there you will be able to remove the previous Approved Body and add the new one.
Here is a checklist of the things you should consider as a Certifier when changing employer:
- That the email address you use to log in is changed from that of your previous employer.
- That your employer and contact details are also changed from those of your previous employer.
- You may also want to check with previous employer that you have been removed from their Approved Body records – this is particularly important if you were also a Certification Coordinator at the firm
Now we will move on to processes which can be carried out by a Certification Coordinator:
Approved Bodies
When a Certifier leaves your firm
The first thing to be aware of is that every SER Approved Body is required to permanently employ (i.e. PAYE or director) at least one Approved Certifier. You can then use any number of non-permanent Certifiers in addition, but at least one must be permanent. Therefore, if your only permanently employed Certifier leaves the firm, you should contact SER Admin (yes, we know, this blog claims to be detailing things you can do without contacting us, but please bear with us) to inform us that you do not currently permanently employ an Approved Certifier. Your Approved Body membership will then be temporarily suspended until you inform SER Admin that you permanently employ a Certifier.
Adding or removing Certifiers
Whenever a Certifier leaves or joins your firm, the following factors should be considered:
- Is the list of Approved Certifiers employed by the firm correct?
- Was the Certifier also a Certification Coordinator? If so, you need to remove them as a Certification Coordinator. This is particularly important as your SER emails will continue to be sent to them at for as long as they remain listed as a Certification Coordinator for your Approved Body.
- Is the email contact address for your firm that of an Approved Certifier who has left the firm? This will need to be updated if so.
Either the Primary or Alternative Coordinator is able to log in and update the firm’s Operational Details via the ‘Update Details’ section.
Under ‘Certifiers Employed by the Firm’ at the bottom of this page, you can then remove old Approved Certifiers and add new ones to your heart’s content.
In terms of SER audits, as soon as a Certifier generates a certificate under an Approved Body number, a link is created by our IT system that ensures that the Certifier can be audited at that Approved Body. However, it is recommended that whenever needed you do update your ‘Approved Certifiers Employed by the Firm’, as the Approved Certifiers listed for your Body do appear on the Building Standards Division Certification Register.
Changing an Approved Body/Certification Coordinator email address
An important point to note here is that a Certification Coordinator email address is not necessarily the same as the Approved Body email address.
By logging into their User Information page, a Certification Coordinator can change their email address (and password) in the same way as an Approved Certifier can as described previously. This email address is:
- Used as the Certification Coordinator’s login
- The address that certificates generated for that Approved Body are sent to
- Included on the Building Standards Division Certification Register under Certification Coordinator’s contact details on the Approved Body details page
Once logged into the Body Account the firm’s information can be updated by selecting ‘Update Firm Information’ via the ‘Update Details’ section.
Changing the email address here does not change the email address that the Certification Coordinator uses to log in with, the email address that certificates are sent to or the contact email address that appears on the BSD Certification Register.
However, this is where you go to change the Approved Body’s Address and Telephone number—it is important that these are correct as both will appear on the Approved Body’s BSD Certification Register entry. We will also use this address to send any correspondence that needs to be sent by post, such as membership certificates.
Changes to the Approved Body’s name
You are not able to change your firm’s name without contacting SER (see, we’re not trying to stop all contact with our members). If the firm’s name has changed we will need to send you a form to be completed, after which we will let you know whether we have been able to change the name or whether the changes to the firm’s details necessitate a fresh Approved Body application.
Changing a Certification Coordinator
The final item that needs to be included in this series of Things you can do yourself without contacting SER Admin is how to change a firm's certification coordinator(s).
Full instructions on how to do this can be found in the Certification coordinator changes blog. However, the shortened version is that either coordinator can access the requisite section by selecting ‘Update Certification Coordinators’ under the ‘Certification Coordinators’ option within the Body admin area.