(1) Declaration of interest and offer
The company showing interest in a FSC certification consults GFA Terra Systems (GFA) and informs GFA of all products, production processes, sites and economic indicators (turnover of wood products of the last financial year). Thereafter, GFA makes an offer for the FSC certification, including a cost assessment.

(2) Certification contract and agreement on dates
If an agreement is reached and the offer accepted, then a certification contract is subsequently concluded. Thereafter, further proceedings are discussed between the designated expert (Auditor) and the enterprise. An appointment for the inspection is subsequently made.

(3) Execution of the company inspection (Audit)
In a first step the company draws up an "company manual" that describes the processes and responsibilities involved in dealing with certified goods within its operations. The manual serves as a guide for the audit. The main emphases of the audit are the separation of certified and uncertified goods, product identification and documentation throughout the entire production process (from the entry of the goods into the company, over their subsequent processing to output). Weaknesses and possibilities for improvement are identified and discussed between Auditor and the responsible persons of the company.

(4) Written closing report (audit report)
In the audit report processes connected to operations, trade and production are listed and compared to the six FSC CoC principles. If necessary, preconditions are laid down that have to be met by the company before a certificate is granted. Furthermore, conditions are listed in the audit report that the company has to comply to within a predefined period after the certificate has been awarded.

(5) Award of the certificate
If GFA Terra Systems acknowledges that the company satisfies the prerequisites for the certification, a FSC certificate is awarded to the company along with an individual certification number. Now, the company has the permission to attach the FSC logo on its certified products. The certificate is valid for a period of five years.

Monitoring audits
The FSC certified company is inspected on an annual basis. Compliance with the FSC guidelines in the documents and on the spot as well as the fulfilment of the conditions derived from the previous audit report is checked. Every inspection audit is documented in a report. In the case of the company not complying with the FSC Standard in due time, further conditions are listed in the report that constitute prerequisites for the award of the FSC certificate. Other than the regular inspection audit, spot check audits can take place in suspicious cases.

Duration of the entire certification process
The certification process takes approx. 3-8 weeks, all depending on plant size, number of sites and product range

Costs
The service costs of the certification are based primarily on the amount of designated expert days that are required for the course of certification. Travelling expenses and an additional cost flat rate are added. As an orientation, budgeted costs can amount to approx. EUR 1,000 to EUR 3,000 per site per annum.