Background

Resignation of Approved Certifiers and/or Approved Bodies from the Scheme may occur, usually arising from retirement or inactivity, sometimes from changes to the status of an Approved Body (refer to Guidance Note 15).

Prior to resignation, the resigning party should, where possible, ensure that all projects are completed such that the services of the resigning party are no longer required.  Where this is not possible, for example where a project extends over a number of years beyond the date of resignation, Approved Bodies should make alternative arrangements to facilitate certification of any design elements that remain outstanding at the time of resignation (refer to Guidance Note 13 for full information on these processes).

On receipt by SER of a Complaint (or, if earlier, any written notification of an intended complaint) against an Approved Body and/or Approved Certifier, and/or if there are outstanding matters of concern related to certification activities following an audit or otherwise, the Scheme member shall not be entitled to resign from the Scheme.

In this case, any purported resignation shall have no effect and the Scheme member shall be deemed to remain in membership and be bound by Scheme requirements until such time that the SER Board declares the member’s resignation is effective, which will usually be after a final decision regarding any complaint has been reached and/or the Board is satisfied that there are no matters of concern related to outstanding certification activities.

The following guidance sets out the procedures to follow when resigning from the Scheme.

Procedure

  1. To resign from the SER Scheme, you must inform SER via [email protected], clearly stating your SER membership number(s) and name(s) and the date from which resignation is to take effect.
  2. For Approved Bodies, resignation requests shall be made by the Primary or Alternative Certification Coordinator named on the Approved Body record. If neither is available, the resignation request shall be made by a Director or Partner of the firm relating to the Approved Body.
  3. Sole Practitioners registered as both an Approved Body and an Approved Certifier who wish to resign both memberships, must state this and quote all relevant SER membership numbers and names when you contact SER.
  4. When retiring from a firm/company and resigning from SER at the same time, you must inform SER prior to your retirement. Approved Certifier membership is a personal one not linked to employment and therefore not automatically resigned on retirement from employment.
  5. If resigning as a Certifier but you are also the Certification Coordinator for an Approved Body, you will not automatically be removed as Certification Coordinator as this is a separate role not related to Approved Certifier membership. Therefore, if you wish to also resign as Certification Coordinator for the Approved Body, please inform your employers and ensure that the resignation is actioned before you leave employment. If you are not able to do this, please contact SER who will be able to assist in removing you from the role.
  6. If when you resign from SER you are subject to an SER sanction e.g. mentoring, suspension, monitoring of certification, and you wish to re-join SER at a future date, you will be required to complete the terms of the sanction before returning to Active membership. SER will charge for completing these sanctions, usually at the rate for chargeable audits.

Transferring Access to certificate project accounts on resignation from the scheme

  1. Approved Certifiers should note that following their resignation any requests for access to certificates to be transferred to another Certifier within the Approved Body for which the certificate was generated for further certificates or Form Qs to be generated will automatically be actioned. Requests for access to certificates to be transferred outwith the Approved Body will be dealt with in accordance with the procedures in Guidance Note 13.
  2. When resigning, Approved Bodies should ensure that arrangements are in place for the generation of any further certificates or Form Qs that may be required to be generated for certificates they have issued and must inform SER of these arrangements. If SER has not been notified of such arrangements, access to certificates will be transferred on request.

Resigning from the Scheme in the circumstances of merger/acquisition

  1. If the acquiring firm wishes to continue to provide certification services, please refer to Guidance Note 15.
  2. If the acquiring firm does not wish to continue to provide certification services, please refer to procedures as set out above in this Guidance Note 14.

Resignation resulting from non-payment of annual renewal fees

If annual renewal fees remain unpaid for three months following their due date, the membership will be resigned, and a full re-application is required prior to re-instatement. See section 5.3.1 of the Scheme Guide for full details.

November 2023

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