Certification
The Certification Process
This chapter gives you an overview over the SuRe® Standard certification process. Please refer to the subsections below:
Certification Actors
Scheme owner
of SuRe®
GIB Foundation
Board
Provides strategic input in all standard activies. Final authority in accepting standard processes, procedures, docs. etc.
Has final decsion on standard related complaints.
Standard Committee (SC)
Provides technical input and approval in all standard-setting and revision processes.
Recommends final documents for approval to the GIB Board. Handles Standard related complaints.
Stakeholder Council (SHC)
Provides technical input.
Nominates and choses members of the SC.
SuRe® Secretariat
Operational and secretarial functions of the standard. Develops all documents, procedures and processes according to the SC and SHC advice.
Unit of Certification
“The Project”
Infrastructure Project that is certified to the SuRe® v2.0 Standard following a successful Certification Audit by the accredited Certifiction Body.
Accreditation
Bodies (AB)
Independent entity that conducts accreditation activities ensuring that CBs comply with ISO17021 and all SuRe® and oversight requirements.
Certification
Bodies
Independent entities that provide conformity assessment activities and conduct SuRe®v2.0 Certification Audits.
Certification steps and timeline
Preparing for Certification
Preparing for certification is a recommend first step towards ensuring that infrastructure project are ready to successfully undergo the full assessment process.
Infrastructure projects willing to undergo the SuRe® certification process are highly encouraged, before starting the SuRe® Certification roadmap, to first review the SuRe® materials available online on the SuRe® Document Library (link) and in the FAQ section (link) and to ensure that the project meets the eligibility criteria.
Roadmap to Certification
The full assessment of SuRe® follows a complete auditing process of the Project’s compliance against SuRe® criteria. Compliance with the SuRe® criteria is assessed in terms of performance against key sustainability indicators and the implementation and/or existence of efficient management process and systems.
The full SuRe® assessment process takes approximately 4-8 months to complete (depending on the individual characteristics of each project), including audit, reporting and issue of the SuRe® certificate.
The 7 SuRe® Certification Steps
1
The Project Owner registers their infrastructure project for SuRe® certification, and submits basic project information, including the scope of the project boundary.
2
Self Assessment
The Project completes a self materiality assessment against the SuRe® criteria as a first step towards determining materiality and compliance which will be reviewed in the following steps.
3
Engagement with a Certification Body
The Project shall select a SuRe® accredited Certification Body (CB) to carry out the full assessment (including auditing). In this step the CB will:
- Agree on the terms of the assessment with the Project;
- Develop a timeline for next steps and roadmap to certification for the Project.
- Sign contract with the Project. Revise the Project’s materiality assessment against
- SuRe® criteria; Conduct a preliminary gap analysis of the Project’s performance against SuRe®;
4
Public Consultation
The CB submits for public consultation the results of the Materiality Assessment. All stakeholders are given a period of 30 days to comment and raise issues. The CB shall review the comments and if necessary redefine the materiality of the
criteria.
5
Independent Third-Party Audit
The CB appoints an auditing team to formally conduct a third party audit of the Project against SuRe® criteria. This audit will include a desk review of the evidence provided by the Project and site visits.
6
Final report and Certification Decision
The output of the audit is a draft assessment report detailing the Project’s performance against SuRe® criteria. The draft report will also include (if applicable) a list of non-conformities and corrective action.
The Final Report is issued once the auditing team has revised it according to the comments received during the public review and after the Project’s own revision of errors of fact. GIB shall provide a recommendation to the CB of whether the
Project should be certified or not.
7
Certification granted
The CB takes the final decision on the certification for the Project.
Using your SuRe® certification, you can now start using the SuRe® label and promoting your certification status. Certification is valid for 5 years.
Maintaining Certification
The SuRe® certification will last up to 5 years. During this time, the project will need to make required improvements and will be subject to yearly surveillance audits by the appointed certification body.
The purpose of the audits is to determine if The Project continues to satisfy the requirements of SuRe®.
If significant changes are made to the project after certification, it will need to report them to its certification body that will determine whether the certification status is impacted and advise on next steps.
Recertification
On the fourth year of the validity of the Certification, projects may apply for recertification through their selected certification body.
14 themes covering 61 criteria
SuRe® – the Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure assesses infrastructure throughout the project life cycle at the design, construction and operational phases.
SuRe® consists of 14 themes covering 61 criteria across environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in addition to two general reporting requirements for impact measurement.
Environment
Themes
Climate
Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Resource Management
Pollution
Land Use and Landscape
18 Criteria
Society
Themes
Human Rights
Labour Rights and Working Conditions
Community Protection
Customer Focus and Community Involvement
Socioeconomic Development
24 Criteria
Governance
Themes
Management and Oversight
Sustainability and Resilience
Management
Stakeholder Engagement
Anti-corruption and Transparency
19 Criteria
Materiality Assessment
Reporting for Impact Assessment
All details about the criteria are available in document ST01 SuRe® Normative Standard available in the Document Library.
Certification Costs
Costs can vary depending on the size, complexity, stage of development and availability of information relating to the infrastructure project. We advise that Project Developers contact a SuRe® representative who will provide guidance through the process, and give a better understanding of the costs relevant to the project.
Assessments are conducted by independent certification bodies and their selected auditors who are responsible for their own pricing structure. Project Developers will need to determine the assessment costs with the selected certification body. (For a complete list of the current accredited SuRe® certification bodies, click here (à link to the list of accredited CBs)).
As a guide, the following table shows approximate costs, however actual costs may vary significantly from project to project.
Indicative Costs of Assessment for SuRe® Certification
For Projects with a CAPEX
$10 – 50m
Approx Assessment Cost for Project in Design Stage
USD 30,000
Approx Assessment Cost for Project in ‘As Built’ stage
USD 40,000
For Projects with a CAPEX
$50 – 100m
Approx Assessment Cost for Project in Design Stage
USD 40,000
Approx Assessment Cost for Project in ‘As Built’ stage
USD 50,000
For Projects with a CAPEX
>100m
Approx Assessment Cost for Project in Design Stage
USD 50,000
Approx Assessment Cost for Project in ‘As Built’ stage
USD 60,000
Register your project
Learn more
Licensing and Fee structure
The SuRe® Standard, as a resource, it is freely available to consult and use. Certification bodies and projects do not have to pay a fee to use the Standard as an assessment tool. However, both certification bodies and certified projects have to sign licensing agreements in order to use the SuRe® Standard logo. The relevant licensing fees are outlined below.
Certification Bodies
The Certification Bodies that use the SuRe Standard to assess and certify infrastructure projects pay certain licensing fees, in exchange for the right to use the SuRe® Standard logo themselves and to sublicence its use to the projects that become successfully certified.
Upon signing a licensing agreement with GIB, Certification Bodies pay a one-off sign-up fee of 2,000 CHF. During the 5-year term of a standard licensing agreement, Certification Bodies also pay an annual fee of 1,500 CHF for the right to use the SuRe® Standard marking, applicable from the first year of their licence. Finally, Certification Bodies pay GIB a Royalty Fee of 700 CHF for every project they assess using the SuRe® Standard, regardless of the outcome of the evaluation.
Projects
Projects that undergo an assessment using the SuRe® Standard have no licensing fees until they are successfully certified. Once they succeed in their assessment, they have to sign a sublicensing agreement with their Certification Body in order to have the right to use the SuRe® Standard logo. The fees that are associated with a sublicensing agreement vary depending on the size of the project.
Upon certification, projects have to pay a one-off sign-up fee based on project CAPEX. From the first year and for the duration of their certification, projects pay an annual fee, also based on their CAPEX, as outlined below.
The following tables outline all relevant licensing fees, both for certification bodies and for projects. For more information, please contact .
Outline of Licensing Fees (for Certification Bodies)
Initial fee
- One-time fee paid by the Licensee (the Certification Body) to the Licensor (GIB) upon signature of the licensing agreement.
Annual fee
- Annual fee paid by the Licensee (the Certification Body) to the Licensor (GIB) counting from the second year of the licensing agreement. Paid each year for the duration of the licensing agreement and the Licensee’s accreditation.
Royalty Fee per project
- One-time fee paid by the Licensee (the Certification Body) to the Licensor (GIB) per project for which the Licensee has completed a SuRe® assessment process (independently of awarding or not certification)
Outline of Sublicensing (Project) Fees
Initial Fee
Project CAPEX: 10-25 M- Initial fee (based on project CAPEX)
- One-time fee paid by the Sublicensee (Project) to the Licensor (GIB) and collected by the Licensee (Certification Body). This fee is paid upon certification
Initial Fee
Project CAPEX: 25-100 M- Initial fee (based on project CAPEX)
- One-time fee paid by the Sublicensee (Project) to the Licensor (GIB) and collected by the Licensee (Certification Body). This fee is paid upon certification
Initial Fee
Project CAPEX: above 100 M- Initial fee (based on project CAPEX)
- One-time fee paid by the Sublicensee (Project) to the Licensor (GIB) and collected by the Licensee (Certification Body). This fee is paid upon certification
Annual Fee
Project CAPEX: 10-25 M- Annual fee (based on project CAPEX)
- Annual fee paid by the Sublicensee (Project) to the Licensor (GIB) and collected by the Licensee (Certification Body).. This fee is paid each year starting from the first year of certification and as long as the project is certified.
Annual Fee
Project CAPEX: 25-100 M- Annual fee (based on project CAPEX)
- Annual fee paid by the Sublicensee (Project) to the Licensor (GIB) and collected by the Licensee (Certification Body).. This fee is paid each year starting from the first year of certification and as long as the project is certified.
Annual Fee
Project CAPEX: above 100 M- Annual fee (based on project CAPEX)
- Annual fee paid by the Sublicensee (Project) to the Licensor (GIB) and collected by the Licensee (Certification Body).. This fee is paid each year starting from the first year of certification and as long as the project is certified.
SuRe® Accreditation for Certification Bodies
The SuRe® Certification and Accreditation Requirements (document RQ01) have been based on ISO 17021, with its headings mirroring those of ISO 17021. Where additional requirements to ISO 17021 apply or where individual ISO requirements have been changed, these are described under the respective headings. When conflict between SuRe® and ISO requirements is found, SuRe® requirements shall prevail.
GIB has appointed ASI – Assurance Services International as the assurance partner for the Initial Implementation Phase of SuRe®-the Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure. ASI has opened the application process to all Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) currently accredited by ASI which are interested to participate in the SuRe®program.
CABs interested in preliminary accreditation against the SuRe® requirements may contact GIB () and ASI. More information is available here.
About the Assurance System
Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) shall ensure that the information about the assurance system including the the actors involved in the certification process, how stakeholders can engage in the assurance process, how personnel competence is evaluated, how audit teams should be formed, a description of the assessment process including types of audits, their frequency and intensity and the steps for Projects to be certified is made public and available to all stakeholders on the SuRe® website. This information is contained on document MA07 Assurance Public System Report, available in the Document Library.