The presence of SKArating Assessors on projects and their performance is vital in ensuring the quality and accuracy of SKArating assessed projects. A certificate confirms compliance with all the rules and criteria of the SKArating scheme benchmarks. SKArating Assessors are trained, and then provided with the ability to subscribe on to the accreditation scheme which provides them with the licence to issue certificates on behalf of SKArating.

Quality Assurance through a Systemic Approach

SKArating wishes to have a supporting and constructive approach towards auditing and strengthen the market with more capable sustainability professionals. Our auditing is as much to reassure clients and the industry that performance is maintained as it is to assist assessors with a health check of their service. Our approach to ensuring good quality assessors in the market and ensuring the quality representation of project certificates, takes a systemic view and includes the following strategy and actions:

  • Professional Competency: We recognise that professionals have varying levels of knowledge, experience and skills and some require more time to gain the level of competency required for an assessor role. Our Professional Pathways provide clarity on the quality and competency level accepted for assessors, plus an avenue to get there via the Competent Professional pathway.

  • Early support in practice: All newly qualified assessors undergo a 'first year' audit at a project's Design Stage assessment. Depending on the results from this audit, a second audit of the same project at Handover Stage will also be requested. These audits are aimed at supporting professionals as they gain initial experience and correct knowledge in the first steps.

  • Stepped audit consequences: We recognise that errors can happen in daily life and our audit consequences have a stepped approach to recognise this.

  • Education first: As the issues are in most cases related to lack of knowledge, the consequences drive for further training before barring from the scheme altogether.

  • Ongoing support: To support and re-align Assessor practices over time, there is a requirement to re-sit the assessor exam every 3-years since training was completed. When schemes are updated, Assessors are also required to undertake training on the updated scheme specifics.

Assessor Audits & Process

To support the quality of service by SKArating Assessors and reassure the market of this ongoing performance, we undertake assessor audits. The audit requirement forms part of the SKArating Assessor accreditation which each professional wishing to act in this capacity and offer the assessor service, needs to subscribed to annually. The tables below show the levels of tolerance for passing an audit or failing one, and the consequences table details what occurs under each audit result.

TABLE 1: ASSESSOR AUDIT BENCHMARKS 

TABLE 2: ASSESSOR AUDIT CONSEQUENCES

To make the assessor audits most effective and accurate, we are sourcing auditors from existing assessor pool. Assessors with an Authoritative level of Competence will undertake audits on behalf of SKArating. 

Should a project's audit fail and the certificate level be found invalid, the certificate is not removed from the client. The consequences of a failed audit currently fall on only the SKArating Assessor.

Ongoing reviews and improvements

We monitor the audit outcomes for more than Assessor performance issues and where repeat errors occur we always aim to improve the schemes and delivery of assessments. This can be done by designing in the solution during the next set of scheme updates, improving Assessor training contents or updating terms and conditions of the scheme itself.

For example; past errors on rules found during audits frequently have been corrected by the functionality of the online tool; clarification on the levels of competency for Assessors now prevent those not yet capable being put in such a position before they are ready and this has been supported through the SKArating Pathways.

A public list of certified projects is frequently discussed and this remains on the agenda for future review and action if it is deemed necessary for quality issues or if the market and industry request it.

Contact Us

For queries about our Quality Assurance approach please contact us at [email protected], call us on 0300 30 20 752.

If you have any queries on aspects of our quality assurance process or wish to report concerns about your experience with an Assessor's quality against the scheme's rules, please email us at [email protected].