Code of Ethics

Disclaimer: “Certified” refers to ISO/IEC 17024 certifications’ requirements and “Certificate holder” refers to ASTM E2659 certificate programs’ requirements."

1. Purpose

The purpose of the Code of Ethics is to present the values and ethics that PECB is committed to follow and to define the responsibilities of PECB professionals.

2. Scope
This Code of Ethics applies to all PECB professionals including employees, trainers, examiners, invigilators, members of different committees, partners, distributors, certified individuals and certificate holders.

3. Terms and Definitions

PECB Professionals:

• Employees, trainers, examiners, invigilators, members of different committees, partners, distributors, certified individuals, and certificate holders (hereby referred as “PECB professionals”)

Ethics:

• (Adapted from “Professional Ethics” definition from Psychology Dictionary):

Standards and rules of conduct that PECB Professionals are expected and required to meet.

Values:

• “Beliefs an organization adheres to and the standards it seeks to observe”. (ISO 22300:2021, clause 3.1.287)

4. Introduction

The Code of Ethics represents the values and ethics that PECB is fully committed to follow, as it recognizes the importance of them when providing services and attracting loyal clients. The Compliance Division makes sure that PECB employees, trainers, examiners, invigilators, partners, distributors, and members of different committees adhere to this Code of Ethics. In addition, the Compliance Division consistently emphasizes the need to behave professionally and with full responsibility, competence, and fairness in service provision with internal and external stakeholders, such as applicants, candidates, certified individuals, certificate holders, accreditation authorities, and government authorities.

It is PECB’s belief that to achieve organizational success, it has to fully understand the clients and stakeholders’ needs and expectations. To do this, PECB fosters a culture based on the highest levels of integrity, professionalism, and fairness, which are also its values. These values are integral to the organization, and have characterized the global presence and growth over the years and established the reputation that PECB enjoys today.

PECB believes that strong ethical values are essential in having healthy and strong relationships. Therefore, it is PECB’s primary responsibility to ensure that PECB professionals are displaying behavior that is in full compliance with PECB principles and values. All PECB professionals are responsible for understanding this Code of Ethics and complying with it when carrying out work for, on behalf of, and with PECB.

Every PECB professional is responsible to understand these principles and make sure that they are implemented successfully in their aspects of operation or for procedures which are under their competence. Anyone who is unaware of any procedure mentioned in this document or who needs a more detailed clarification is encouraged to contact PECB. It will be PECB’s pleasure to explain any and all of these principles and its implementations in great detail.

5. Applicability

Our Code of Ethics applies to all PECB professionals. In particular, should certified trainers, certified individuals, certificate holders, and partners fail to comply with this Code of Ethics, their certification, certificates, and/or licenses will be revoked or invalidated, respectively. That is why PECB highlights the importance of this Code of Ethics, as it aims to inspire its professionals to display professional and exemplary behavior in their service provision.

PECB professionals are responsible for:

1. Displaying professional behavior in service provision with honesty, accuracy, fairness, and independence
2. Acting at all times in their service provision solely in the best interest of their employer, clients, the public, and the profession in accordance with this Code of Ethics and other professional standards 
3. Demonstrating and developing competence in their respective fields and striving to continually improve their skills and knowledge 
4. Providing services only for those that they are qualified and competent and adequately informing clients and customers about the nature of proposed services, including any relevant concerns or risks
5. Informing their employer or client of any business interests or affiliations which might influence or impair their judgment 
6. Preserving the confidentiality of information of any present or former employer or client during service provision  
7. Complying with all the applicable laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in the country where the service provisions were conducted 
8. Respecting the intellectual property and contributions of others 
9. Not communicating intentionally false or falsified information that may compromise the integrity of the evaluation process of a candidate for a PECB certification or a PECB certificate program
10. Not falsely or wrongly presenting themselves as PECB representatives
11. Not misusing PECB logo, certifications or certificates
12. Not acting in ways that could damage PECB’s reputation, certifications or certificate programs
13. Cooperating in a full manner on the inquiry following a claimed infringement of this Code of Ethics

NOTE: For specific examples of violations and consequences, please refer to the PECB Code Of Ethics Violation Policy | PECB.

6. Integrity

PECB fully understands how significant honesty and integrity are in the service provision. For that reason, PECB remains strongly committed in providing services with absolute honesty, accuracy, and integrity. 

If PECB professionals find themselves in any potential circumstance that is in violation of this Code of Ethics, they should ask the following questions: 

• Do I suspect that the particular course of action may be illegal or unethical?
• In what way am I involved?
• What are the principles or rules infringed?
• Could this action undermine my professional and personal character?
• Does the proposed course of action involve being untruthful and/or unsafe?
• Could the proposed course of action damage PECB (directly or indirectly) or its reputation?
• Does the proposed course of action have a legitimate business purpose, and is there any alternative?

If the proposed course of action fails any of these questions, PECB professionals should seek advice and reconsider their decision. They should never ignore the existence of a problem.

7. Respect and Dignity

PECB cares about the relationships it has with its stakeholders. PECB treats them with respect and dignity. It makes sure that no behavior or decision taken by PECB is in any way offensive or discriminatory to them, but always based on the fundamental and universal human rights. PECB treats its stakeholders with the utmost respect, without prejudice on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, or sexual orientation. PECB will not tolerate any kind of physical altercations, harassment, discriminatory or offensive behavior displayed towards someone because of their disability, gender identity, race, religion or sexual orientation. PECB encourages freedom of speech and expression of opinions by cultivating a work environment with a strong emphasis for multicultural awareness and tolerance.

8. Impartiality

When providing services, maintaining complete impartiality is fundamental to PECB. The organization’s policies and procedures are focused on guaranteeing impartiality and making sure that services are provided impartially. PECB spends considerable time in checking every source of information so that any potential conflict of interest is avoided, and that impartiality is preserved. The organization’s objective is to inspire and maintain full confidence in the services that PECB provides.

9. Conflict of Interest

PECB encourages all PECB professionals to report (to certification@pecb.com) any cases where there could be a conflict of interest. It is important that all conflicts of interests are identified, minimized, and managed. In addition, it is mandatory that such conflicts of interest are documented, and further action(s) initiated in resolving those conflicts of interest.

10. Confidentiality

Any piece of information acquired during service provision must be handled confidentially and protected at all times, regardless of the medium in which it is communicated, shared, or stored. 

PECB professionals must never share confidential information without the other party’s prior consent. PECB professionals must understand the importance of the confidentiality of information and the consequences if they share it without prior consent, as they will be held accountable.

11. Information Security

Information security is the protection of information from a wide range of threats in order to ensure business continuity, minimize business risk, and maximize return on investments and business opportunities. PECB’s information security priorities are:

• To understand the strategic and operational information security risks and treat them accordingly
• To protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability, of stakeholders’ information

PECB professionals are responsible for providing only accurate information. The teams make sure all information shared or publicly distributed is in compliance with PECB Quality and Information Security and Data Protection policies.

12. Responsibility

PECB understands that success cannot be achieved without mistakes. Organizations cannot improve if they fail to identify and address those mistakes. Hence, it has put procedures in place to address issues, provide feedback, listen to stakeholders’ concerns and issues, and fix those raised issues. As part of the continual improvement process, PECB ensures that all issues are treated with priority and responsibility. The teams are capable of understanding and addressing the stakeholders’ concerns and needs. It trains the employees on methods and techniques on how to investigate the root cause of raised issues and take actions to eliminate them. Dealing mostly with ISO standards, PECB has learned and implemented best practices in this regard. Its teams are competent to analyze and comply with requirements of international standards and have embedded them into procedures. PECB is aware that any violation of the Code of Ethics will bring damaging consequences to its reputation. That is why PECB has put in place an adequate procedure to deal with all forms of complaints. This applies in the event of a complaint or appeal received from candidates, certified persons, and other parties concerned with the rules, policies, procedures, certification decisions, or overall PECB operations. This procedure covers the assessed actions, response, recommendations, and the role of the Appeal Board when reaching a conclusive settlement on account of the appeal.

13. Competence

All of PECB employees are competent and qualified in their fields. They are also aware of their roles and responsibilities that they have to perform in order to fulfill the organizational objectives and meet stakeholders’ expectations. In this context, the strategy is primarily focused in detecting the nature of problems through root cause analysis and providing solutions with a focus toward efficiency and satisfaction. PECB consistently trains its employees with the aim of increasing their knowledge and developing their skills, so that they can continually meet the stakeholders’ demands. Trainings and awareness sessions are conducted based on real-life scenarios in order to test the approaches in dealing with different issues.

14. Anti-bribery and Anti-corruption

PECB fully supports the fight against bribery worldwide, and as such rejects any form of bribery or corruption, direct or indirect, including kickbacks, the use of funds or assets for any unethical purposes. This categorical rejection of bribery practices also includes the use of other ways for the provision of improper benefits from or to partners, distributors, certified professionals, certificate holders, accreditation authorities, and government authorities. In this regard, PECB promotes full compliance with anti-bribery through local and international requirements such as ISO 37001.

15. Code of Ethics Evaluation

Being compliant with this Code of Ethics is essential for all PECB professionals. In the internal procedures, the evaluation and continuous monitoring is embedded in performance evaluations done to PECB employees and related stakeholders, such as trainers, invigilators, examiners, and members of different committees.

Any PECB professional who fails to comply with this Code of Ethics will be subject to disciplinary measures which may include termination of contract/agreement, and in cases when the impact is severe, legal measures will also be followed. In the case of certified individuals or certificate holders, PECB certifications will be revoked, and in the case of PECB certificate programs, certificates will be invalidated. 

Final decisions relating to a breach or violation of the Code of Ethics and all decisions for certification and certificate programs are taken solely by the Chief Compliance Officer, as per the Code of Ethics Violation Policy, and no other executive or managerial positions can take this role.

In all cases, the person who violates this Code of Ethics will have the right to be heard and defend themselves before a disciplinary measure is imposed.

16. Environmental Awareness

PECB is aware of the damages and externalities that unconscious human actions can cause to the natural world. Therefore, it seeks to improve the business process to reach an ideal level of environmental protection and operate in the best way possible.

17. Contact us

Should any stakeholder witness any breach of this Code of Ethics by PECB professionals, it is highly encouraged to report it to the Chief Compliance Officer at compliance@pecb.com. PECB is committed to investigate each case to the full extent necessary to ensure the highest ethical standards.

PECB encourages anyone that has questions, concerns, or issues regarding this Code of Ethics to contact the Chief Compliance Officer.

Version 3.2. Latest update: 2024-09-16