Guide to successful CSE certification

Guide to successful CSE certification

CSE certification serves as condensed marketing. With the CSE seal on your products and/or the CSE certificate for your company, you can communicate your sustainability performance briefly and concisely.

This guide takes you step by step to successful CSE certification.

Guide

Step 1
Step 1
Prerequisite for CSE certification

Please read the CSE standard carefully and at your leisure. It is available for download on our website. The requirements for the business models of individual company types are important here (see chapter 6.1 Sustainability aspect Value system/business model.

If you do not meet this requirement for your type of company, please contact us. We will advise you on how to proceed.

The use of the STAR Sustainability Tool for Assessment and Reporting software tool is a prerequisite for CSE certification.

The tool translates the CSE criteria into questions. You enter your answers or link to the relevant documents. You receive explanatory notes and sample documents for each question/criterion.
This tool is also used for the audit, which is why it is a prerequisite for CSE certification.

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Step 2
Step 2
The certification process

CSE is a combination of product and management certification. The product here is sustainable business practices in accordance with the CSE standard. The CSE standard requires a management system in accordance with ISO 14001:2015, which means that CSE certification also includes a review of the management system. The audits therefore have different focuses in terms of content.

The basis for certification is the performance of audits by an external certification body. These are carried out using the STAR tool. If all criteria have been assessed as fulfilled, the certification body issues the CSE certificate, which is valid for 3 years. Surveillance audits are carried out annually during the validity period.

The table provides an overview of the different audit types and the roughly estimated effort for a manufacturing company with approx. 50 full-time employees.

Audit type: Pre-audit (voluntary)

Year: 0
Content: Check for certifiability
Scope: 1-2 audit days
Result: “Homework list” for certifiability

Audit type: Initial audit

Year: 1
Content: Review of the management system and the CSE criteria
Scope: 1-2 audit days
Result: CSE certificate with a validity of 3 years until the recertification audit

Audit type: Surveillance audit

Year: 2, 3
Content: Review of the CSE criteria and random checks of the management system
Scope: 1 audit day

Audit type: Recertification audit

Year: 4
Content: Same as first audit
Scope: 1-2 audit days
Result: New CSE certificate

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Step 3
Step 3
Costs and effort

The costs of the CSE certification are divided into 3 items:

  • Costs by the certification body according to expenditure - please obtain a quote from EcoControl or the Prüfgesellschaft.
  • Costs incurred by the standard setter GfaW for the use of the CSE mark and the CSE-STAR data collection tool for certification by number of full-time equivalents. Click here for the costs (call to action to STAR-Premium)
  • Internal costs of your company (variable depending on criteria already fulfilled, documentation effort and consulting requirements). The following table provides roughly estimated values for a manufacturing company with approx. 50 full-time employees:

QMS in place: yes
Period until certifiability: 0.5 years
Task: Coordination
Number of working days:1 day / week

QMS in place: yes
Period until certifiability: 0.5 years
Task: Head of department
Number of working days:1 - 2 days / month excl. workshop

QMS in place: no
Period until certifiability: 1 year
Task: Coordination
Number of working days:1-1.5 days / week

QQMS in place: no
Period until certifiability: 1 year
Task: Head of department
Number of working days: 1-2 days / month excl. workshop

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Step 4
Step 4
Timing

To start the certification process, you sign a contract with GfaW to use the STAR. You will then promptly receive your access to the STAR. Depending on the status of your company, you can start filling in the STAR immediately or use our consultant service. The STAR also serves as preparation for certification and is a guide for the introduction of a management system in accordance with ISO 14001:2015. As soon as your company has answered all the questions in the tool, certification can begin. After signing the contract with the certification body, you will receive an audit appointment. As a rule, you will receive the audit date approx. 6 months after signing the contract.

The initial audit is followed by the surveillance audit in approx. 12 months.

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Step 5
Step 5
Content sequence

As soon as you have access to STAR, familiarize yourself with the tool and get an overview. There are self-explanatory videos on our website and in the tool.

If you do not yet have an environmental management system in your company, we recommend starting the STAR with the question "Does your company have an environmental and sustainability management system UNMS in accordance with ISO 14001:2015?". A guideline is available in the notes section.

We strongly recommend approaching the introduction as a team project. This requires one person who is responsible for coordination and project management. Individual tasks can be distributed among the heads of the company divisions and brought together in workshops. A project of this kind can be your treasure trove for motivation, identification with your values and team cohesion. These workshops also provide a basis for external communication.

If an environmental management system is in place, the STAR serves as support for supplementing the documents with regard to conformity with the CSE standard.

We are happy to help and advise you and look forward to your inquiry.

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Step 6
Step 6
Preparation for the audit

The documents required for the CSE audit are requested in the STAR. Once you have gone through all the questions in STAR and the paths to your documents have been entered, your company is ready for the audit.

Although the audit is an examination, auditors are not representatives of the authorities or even the police. So don't get unnecessarily excited. You can make good use of the audit by looking at your processes together with the help of the auditor and finding out whether you can still improve in certain areas. Auditors are also often well informed about the industry, so you can use the annual audit as an opportunity to talk to experts.

And a little tip: Auditors are often on the road for days on end, have sometimes not slept as well as at home and are very happy when they are treated as welcome guests. A pleasant atmosphere during the audit makes the work easier for both sides.

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