BRC Consultant asked to Pay Certification Costs in Fees

Hi everyone,

Does anyone out there carry out consultancy work assisting food companies in gaining certification to the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety?

If so, have any of your clients required you to include fees paid to the chosen certification body as part of your overall consulancy costs i.e. you as the consultant to pay for the audit carried out by the BRC certification body??

I look forward to any replies

Regards Skye  :happydance:

Hi, I do consultancy work but have not been asked by any client to include the certification fee in my cost; however, they have asked me to recommend for them the preferred certification body and cost has always been the main consideration; my thinking is, they want you to get for them the certification body, agree on cost and charge them as one package, I don't think this is to much for you but remember to consider the man hours for traveling and accommodation and add a cushion figure so that you don't suffer the blow of working and no gain. all the best...,

Thank you for your comments Philips.

We do generally speaking always recommend a certification body.

I must add that this particular client agreed a cost and was paying by monthly installments. However, now that there are only 2 installments left he has suddenly said that we should pay the BRC audit fee out of the money still owed, even though this was not agreed at the start of the contract. Personally I think they are just trying it on!

Section 1 of the BRC GSFS states that the company should provide the human and financial resources required to produce food safely in compliance with the requirements of this Standard and for the implementation of the HACCP-based food safety plan. Therefore the fact they don't want to pay for the work still to be carried out plus the BRC audit raises a non-conformity in this section of the standard.

Regards

Skye

It's the company that is going for BRC accreditation and not the consultant.

If you look at page 62 of the standard, section 5 says that "A contract shall exist between the company and the certification body"

And also that the CB will collect "from the company" the registration fee.

If he doesn't want to pay, then that's fine, you have to pay up front (10 days before the audit) ! so if he doesn't pay, he doesn't get audited.

Caz x

I am a consultant and I have never been asked to pay the certification fees, that's just a try on in my opinion. Follow Cazs' advice, I do and she's usually right!!