nd

QUALITY COUNCIL OF INDIA (QCI)

2 Floor, Institution of Engineers Building, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi – 110002
Phone: +91-11-2337 8056 / 57; Fax: +91-11-2337 8678; W eb: www.qcin.org

ZERO DEFECT – ZERO EFFECT

RATING SCHEME

Provisional Approval System for

Rating Agencies

Copyright © 2017 by Quality Council of India. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
shall be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or
retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ZED Rating Scheme - Provisional Approval of RA / Issue-3/May 2017 P a g e 1 | 16

 Table of Contents

Sl No. Description Page No.

0 Introduction................................................................................................03

1. Scope .......................................................................................................03

2. Criteria for approval ..................................................................................03

3. General Requirements………………………………………………………...03

4. Technical Requirements............................................................................ 05

5. A pp ro va l P ro ce s s . . .............................................................................06

6. Validity of Approval…………………………………………………………….08

7. Fee……………………………………………………………………………….08

8. Annex-A (Competence Criteria for ZED Maturity Model Assessors)……..10

9. Amendment Sheet……………………………………………………………..16

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 ZED CERTIFICATION SCHEME
PROVISIONAL APPROVAL SYSTEM FOR RATING AGENCIES

0. Introduction
0.1 The Rating Agencies (RAs), in order to operate under the ZED Certification Scheme,
hereinafter referred to as the Scheme, shall need to primarily comply with the
requirements specified in ISO 17020 and the additional requirements prescribed by
DC MSME/Quality Council of India (QCI).
0.2 The Rating Agencies would not get an applicant and would not be able to offer their
process for witnessing as part of accreditation process to the accreditation body to
get accreditation, or to get the relevant scope added in their accreditation, if already
accredited, unless they are approved under the Scheme.
0.3 Further, in order to launch the Scheme, it is necessary that some Rating Agencies
are available at the beginning. The new rating agencies also need a system to enter
the Scheme.
0.4 Therefore, it is necessary to establish a procedure for provisional approval of Rating
Agencies under the Scheme till such time they can get the scope added in their
accreditation or get formally accredited from the National Accreditation Board for
Certification Bodies (NABCB) and approved by DC MSME/QCI.
0.5 This document sets out the requirements to be fulfilled by Rating Agencies desirous
of operating under the Scheme pending formal accreditation and approval.
1. Scope
1.1 This document defines the system for provisional approval for Rating Agencies, to
enable them to operate under the ZED Certification Scheme pending formal
accreditation for the Scheme by NABCB as per the prescribed international
standard(s).
1.2 This approval shall be valid for a period of one year within which the approved Rating
Agency would have to obtain formal NABCB accreditation.
2. Criteria for Approval
2.1 The Rating Agency desirous of operating under this Scheme shall meet the criteria
as prescribed in clauses 3 and 4 of this document.
3. General Requirements
3.1 Legal Entity: The Rating Agency shall be a legal entity, or shall be a defined part of
a legal entity, such that it can be held legally responsible for all its Certification
activities. A governmental certification body is deemed to be a legal entity on the
basis of its governmental status. A Rating Agency, that is part of an organization

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 involved in functions other than certification, shall be separate and identifiable within
that organization.
3.2 Integrity: The Rating Agency and its personnel shall maintain integrity at all times.
The Rating Agency shall implement adequate measures to ensure integrity.
3.3 Impartiality
3.3.1 The Rating Agency shall be impartial.
3.3.2 The Rating Agency shall be so structured and managed as to safeguard impartiality.
3.3.3 The Rating Agency and its personnel/ staff shall not engage in any activities that
may conflict with their Impartiality.
3.3.4 The Rating Agency shall act impartially in relation to its applicants and clients rated
or certified by it.
3.3.5 The Rating Agency shall have a process to identify, analyze, evaluate, monitor, and
document the threats to impartiality arising from its activities including any conflicts
arising from its relationships, on an ongoing basis.
a) This shall include those threats that may arise from its activities, or from its
relationships, or from the relationships of its personnel. Where there are any
threats to impartiality, the Rating Agency shall document and demonstrate how
it eliminates or minimizes such threats and document any residual risk. The
demonstration shall cover all potential threats that are identified, whether they
arise from within the Rating Agency or from the activities of other persons, bodies
or organizations.
b) Top management shall review any residual risk to determine if it is within the level
of acceptable risk. When a relationship poses an unacceptable threat to
impartiality, then certification shall not be provided.
c) The risk assessment process shall include identification of and consultation with
appropriate interested parties to advice on matters affecting impartiality including
openness and public perception.
NOTE 1 Sources of threats to impartiality of the Rating Agency can be based on
ownership, governance, management, personnel, shared resources, finances,
contracts, training, marketing and payment of a sales commission or other
inducement for the referral of new clients, etc.
NOTE 2 One way of fulfilling the consultation with the interested parties is by the use
of an impartiality committee.
3.3.6 The Rating Agency shall not undertake rating of a client on which it has provided
consultancy.

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3.3.7 The Rating Agency shall not undertake rating of a client on which it has carried out
internal audits or in-house training for a minimum of two years following the
completion of internal audits / in-house training
3.3.8 The Rating Agency shall not use personnel in audits /inspections or other rating
activities if they have been involved in consultancy towards the client.
3.3.9 The Rating agency shall have no commercial relationship with a client other than
third party conformity assessment.
3.4 Liability and financing
3.4.1 The Rating Agency shall be able to demonstrate that it has evaluated the risks
arising from its rating activities and that it has adequate arrangements (e.g.
insurance or reserves) to cover liabilities arising from its operations in each of its
fields of activities and the geographic areas in which it operates.
3.4.2 The Rating Agency shall evaluate its finances and sources of income and
demonstrate that initially, and on an ongoing basis, commercial, financial or other
pressures do not compromise its impartiality.
3.5 Organizational Structure
3.5.1 The Rating Agency shall define and document the duties, responsibilities and
reporting structure of its personnel and any committee and its place within the
organization. When the Rating Agency is a defined part of a legal entity,
documentation of the organizational structure shall include the line of authority and
the relationship to other parts within the same legal entity.
3.6 Publicly Available Information
3.6.1 The Rating Agency shall maintain a website for providing information about the
Scheme.
3.6.2 The Rating Agency shall maintain and make publicly available information describing
its rating related processes for this Scheme and geographical areas in which it
operates.
3.6.3 The Rating Agency shall make publicly available its processes for handling
complaints.
3.7 Confidentiality: The Rating Agency shall ensure confidentiality of information
obtained in the course of its rating activities by having a suitable system.
3.8 Responsibility for evaluation results
3.8.1 The Rating Agency shall be responsible for its assessment results even if it uses
empaneled resources or outsources any part of the activity.
4. Technical Requirements
4.1 Personnel
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4.1.1 The Rating Agency shall have, as part of its own organization, personnel, either
employed or on contract, having sufficient competence for rating the organizations
under the Scheme.
4.1.2 The Rating Agency shall have competent resources for all 10 ZED disciplines as
defined at clause 3 of Annex- A of this document
4.1.3 Any external / freelance assessor shall empanel with only one Rating Agency at a
time, except for assessors with maturity model experience, who may be empaneled
with maximum three Rating Agencies.
4.1.4 The Rating Agency shall have defined processes for selecting, training, and formally
authorizing and monitoring the performance of personnel involved in carrying out the
various inspection/evaluation activities and for selecting technical experts, if needed,
as per the requirements of the Scheme.
4.1.5 Competence of Assessors
4.1.5.1 The Rating Agencies shall ensure that the ZED Rating Team has the
competence in the application of the ZED principles and requirements for that
particular industry sector.
4.1.5.2 The Rating Agencies shall qualify its assessors as per Competence criteria
defined in Annex A. The competences of assessors shall be recorded for each ZED
Competency Discipline and industry sector.
4.1.6 Personnel records
4.1.6.1 The Rating Agency shall maintain up-to-date personnel records, as per
requirements of the Scheme, of each of its personnel involved in ZED rating activities
like updated CV, education, training and experience certificates, audit logs and
assessment records.
4.2 Rating Process
4.2.1 The Rating Agency shall manage the process of rating as per the documented
‘Rating Process’ prescribed under the Scheme.
4.2.2 The Rating Agency shall submit the Rating report to the ZED Rating Committee in
QCI.
4.2.3 The Rating Agency shall maintain records to demonstrate that the rating process is
effectively conducted and to enable an evaluation of the assessment results given
by it.
4.2.4 The Rating report shall be traceable to the ZED rating assessor(s) team that
performed the assessment.
4.2.5 The Rating Agency shall ensure the requirements of the Scheme are met with at any
point in time.

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4.2.6 The Rating agency shall have a process to handle complaints from the users of the
services of the Rating agency or any other stake holder.
5. Approval Process
5.1 Application
5.1.1 Any organization interested in approval as a Rating Agency for the purpose of this
Scheme may apply to NABCB in the prescribed application format along with the
prescribed application fee. The applicant shall also enclose the required information
and documents as specified in the application form.
5.1.2 The filled in application form for approval shall be duly signed by the CEO/ authorized
representative/s of the Rating Agency seeking approval.
5.1.3 On receipt of the application form, it will be scrutinized by the secretariat at NABCB
and those found complete in all respects will be processed further.
5.2 Assessment Process
5.2.1 After review of the application for completeness, an assessment team comprising a
team leader and member(s)/technical expert(s) will be nominated by NABCB for the
purpose of assessment at applicant’s office and other locations, if required. Under
normal circumstances, the assessment at Head Office will be for a total of two man
days including the TE. In case the applicant Rating Agency already holds an
accreditation as a CB/IB from NABCB, the assessment duration may be reduced.
5.2.2 The names of the members of the assessment team along with their CVs will be
communicated to the applicant Rating Agency giving it adequate time to raise any
objection against the appointment of any of the team members, which will be dealt
with by NABCB on merits. All evaluators/technical experts nominated by NABCB
have signed undertakings regarding confidentiality and conflict of interest.
5.2.3 NABCB may decide based on the report of office assessment or otherwise, to
undertake witness assessment(s) of actual evaluation or any part of the rating
process by the applicant Rating Agency.
5.2.4 The assessment team leader shall provide an assessment plan to the applicant in
advance of the assessment.
5.2.5 The date(s) of assessment shall be mutually agreed to between the applicant Rating
Agency and the NABCB/assessment team.
5.2.6 The Office assessment will begin with an opening meeting for explaining the purpose
and scope of assessment and the methodology of the assessment. The actual
assessment process shall cover review of the documented system of the
organization to assess its adequacy in line with the assessment criteria as specified.
It will also involve verification of the implementation of the system including scrutiny
of the records of personnel competence and other relevant records and

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 demonstration of personnel competence through means like interviews, etc. In short,
it will be an assessment for verifying technical competence of the applicant Rating
Agency for operating under the Scheme.
5.2.7 At the end of the Office assessment, through a formal closing meeting, all the
nonconformities and concerns observed in the applicant’s Rating Agency system as
per the assessment criteria and the assessment team’s recommendation to NABCB,
shall be conveyed to the applicant Rating Agency.
5.3 Decision
5.3.1 Based on the report of assessment, and the action taken by the applicant on the
nonconformities/ concerns, if any, CEO, NABCB shall take a decision on whether to;
a) undertake witness assessments(s) of actual assessment or any part of the rating
process by the applicant prior to granting of provisional approval or
b) grant provisional approval to the applicant as Rating Agency under the Scheme.
6. Validity of Approval
6.1 The provisional approval shall be valid for a period of one year.
6.2 The Rating Agency shall obtain formal accreditation as Type A inspection body as
per ISO 17020 from NABCB within one year of provisional approval.
6.3 NABCB shall witness at least one rating assessment during the period of approval.
This may be waived of in case a witness to NABCB is offered to seek accreditation
or scope, if already accredited.
6.4 Based on the request of Rating Agency and review of previous performance, it may
be decided to extend the period of validity; in such a case, the Rating Agency shall
be assessed covering both office and witnessing on site, as decided by NABCB,
prior to such an extension.
6.5 The approval shall be subject to suspension/withdrawal with due notice of 15 days
in the event of any noncompliance to the requirements of the Scheme.
6.6 The approved Rating Agency shall inform NABCB without delay about any changes
relevant to its approval, in any aspect of its status or operation relating to;
a) Its legal, commercial, ownership or organizational status,
b) The organization, top management and key personnel,
c) Main policies, resources, premises and scope of approval, and
d) other such matters that may affect the ability of the Rating Agency to fulfill
requirements for approval
6.7 NABCB shall examine such information and decide on the issue on merits with or
without an on-site verification.

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7. Fee
7.1 The following fee structure shall apply:
a) Application fee - INR 25,000 (includes fee for document review; any iteration may
be charged extra)
b) Manday charges - INR 30,000
c) Travel / stay - On actuals
7.2 QCI/NABCB at its discretion may revise/ levy any other fee necessary with due
notice to the Rating Agency.

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 Annex A
Resource Competence Criteria for ZED Trainings

1. ZED Industry Sectors

The ZED Maturity Model is applicable for the following sectors of manufacturing industry as
per the sector (with NIC code) list available on website link
http://udyogaadhaar.gov.in/UA/UAMRegistration.aspx:
NIC Sector NIC Sector NIC Sector

Code Code Code

10 Manufacture of food 16 Manufacture of 22 Manufacture of rubber

products wood and products and plastics products
of wood and cork,
except furniture;
manufacture of
articles of straw
and plaiting
materials

11 Manufacture of 17 Manufacture of 23 Manufacture of other

beverages paper and paper non-metallic mineral
products products

12 Manufacture of 18 Printing and 24 Manufacture of basic

tobacco products reproduction of metals
recorded media

13 Manufacture of 19 Manufacture of 25 Manufacture of

textiles coke and refined fabricated metal
petroleum products products, except
machinery and
equipment

14 Manufacture of 20 Manufacture of 26 Manufacture of

wearing apparel chemicals and computer, electronic
chemical products and optical products

15 Manufacture of 21 Manufacture of 27 Manufacture of

leather and related pharmaceuticals, electrical equipment
products medicinal chemical
and botanical
products

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NIC Sector NIC Sector NIC Sector

Code Code Code

28 Manufacture of 31 Manufacture of 35 Electricity, gas, steam

machinery and furniture and air conditioning
equipment n.e.c. supply

29 Manufacture of 32 Other
motor vehicles, manufacturing
trailers and semi-
trailers

30 Manufacture of 33 Repair and

other transport installation of
equipment machinery and
equipment

2. Education
The assessors shall be either Graduates in Engineering/Diploma (3 years) or Masters
(in Science or Technology) qualification.

3. Technical Skills as per ZED Disciplines:

The assessor shall have the following knowledge/expertise in the following minimum
3 ZED Disciplines (At least one from each Group ::

ZED
Group Area of Knowledge /Expertise
Disciplines
Quality Management System: Experience in design, implementing,
QMS auditing, maintaining and improving QMS. Including Maturity model
implementation and assessment expertise.
A
Environment Management System: Expertize of implementing,
maintaining, auditing and improving EMS. Aspects & Impacts
Environment
Analysis and Environment Initiative implementation. Natural
Management
Resource Management (NRM) techniques. Maintenance of
environment /NRM equipment.
Best Business Practices: Balanced Score Card, Periodic
Management Review, and Cross Functional Practices for NPD,
B Best Business Waste Reduction, Improvement initiatives and customer complaints
Practices etc.
Maintenance planning/Autonomous maintenance/Improvement in
MTTR/MTBR etc.

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 ZED
Group Area of Knowledge /Expertise
Disciplines
Best Manufacturing Practices: Knowhow of best business practices
like Lean Six Sigma / TPS, TQM, TPM, FMEA, SPC, MSA, NPD
(APQP & PPAP), Producing Zero Defect, Poka yoke / mistake
Best Manufacturing
proofing, Product and Process Validation Methodologies etc.
Practice
Know how, control and improvement expertise of different
manufacturing processes.
Supplier initial evaluation / assessment, feedback and continual
development monitoring expertise in manufacturing domain.
Supply Chain
Supply Chain Management, Material Management, Inventory
Management
Management, JIT, Material Movement, Storage, Traceability,
Packaging and Delivery management. Disposal after use.

Hands on experience in diagnostic / gap analysis study to identify

scope of improvement and roadmap preparation and facilitation for
Continual implementation.
Improvement Problem Solving (In-house Rejection, Customer Line / Field &
Warranty Rejection, Customer complaints), Contingency Planning
and Continual Improvement.
Energy Energy management and energy saving techniques :
Management Implementation, auditing and improving energy efficient techniques
C
Intellectual Property Rights: Safe guarding innovation & Creativity
IPR
(Trademark, Patents, Copyright etc.)

Human Resource Development, Competency Mapping, TNI, OJT,

HRM
Multiskilling, Employee Engagement Techniques experience

Finance
Financial Management, MSME Financial Matrix System
Management
Note:
Certifications/Training course(s) should be recognized by the industry (and its
stakeholders) as being appropriate and relevant. The applicants are required to provide
their appropriate training certificates or relevant details related to Practical Experience
along with their resumes.

4. Soft Skills
To qualify as a ZED Assessor, the resource shall have the following soft skills:

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 Category Specific
 Oral communication skills
 Written communication skills
 Data interpretation & analysis skills
 Ability to comprehend collated and tabulated information, and detect trends
and patterns
 Planning assessments based on audit / time resources
Assessor  Ability to ask logical, sequential probing questions in an assessment
situation
 Ability to unambiguously conclude on maturity status through logical audit
trails and synthesis of information collected
 Ability to handle IT tools used for assessments

5. Working Experience

To qualify as a ZED Assessor the resource shall have the following work experience:
Category General Specific
a) Minimum 5 years (8 years in Participated in at least one maturity
case of Diploma holders) of post assessment model assessment or
qualification work experience one complete ZED on-site
and including assessment as an observer.
Assessor having any maturity
b) at least two years of work in model assessment experience with
the relevant ZED industry ZED Assessor Training may be
sector in appropriate activities considered suitable for onsite
assessment.
Or

Min. 50 man-days of
Assessor consulting/certification auditing/maturity
model assessment/accreditation
assessment experience in any of the
ZED relevant sectors.

For granting any ZED industry sector

(NIC code):

Min. one year of work experience in the

ZED Competency Discipline or 15 man-
days of inspection/
audit/consulting/accreditation

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 Category General Specific
assessment/maturity model assessment
experience in the industry sector.
Or,
four Rating assessments under the
supervision of a qualified assessor in
the new ZED Competency Discipline.

6. Training Experience
To qualify as a ZED Assessor the resource shall have underwent following trainings as
appropriate:
Category General ZED Specific

Trained in a recognized maturity model

assessment /consulting/ implementing like The Rating Agency shall
CMM/CII-EXIM Company Bank Award/ ensure that Assessors have
EFQM/ Baldrige Award /Any other Maturity successfully completed the 5
Assessment Model (Tata, NTPC, BHEL, days ZED Assessor Training
Assessor
etc.) approved under the ZED
Certification Scheme.
Or,

Trained in auditing/inspection as per ISO

17020/ ISO 17021/19011 requirements

7. Assessment experience
To qualify as ZED assessor, a person shall have participated in at least one maturity
assessment model assessment as listed at clause 6 above or one complete ZED
on-site assessment as observer. Assessors having any maturity model assessment
experience with ZED assessor training may be considered suitable for onsite
assessment.
8. Maintaining Assessor Qualification
For maintaining the qualification of the assessor, the Rating Agency shall ensure
that assessors have performed either a minimum of five assessments or ten
assessment days per year, under the ZED Maturity Model.

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9. Record
The Rating Agency shall record competences of assessors for each ZED Discipline
competency and industry sector.
10. Exemption from Requirements:
In case an applicant feels that his application is suitable to apply for training for
Assessor, but is not fulfilling some requirements as specified, then he/she may apply
with suitable evidence and seek consideration. This would be examined by an
internal committee (QCI) and decided. The same needs to be emailed along with the
applicant’s resume to zed-tp@qcin.org.

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 Amendment Sheet

The history of changes are as below:

Page No./
Sl. Date of Clause No.
Amendment details
No. Amendment

1. 15.03.2017 Annex-A, “Exemption from Requirement” clause added

(Issue 2) Cl.11
2 4.1.2 -Requirement on “empanelment of assessor with
03.05.2017 RA” added.
Annex-A, Cl. 3 - ZED-discipline requirements revised
(Issue 3) Annex-A, Cl. 5 - General – work experience requirements
Annex-A, Cl. 8 elaborated
- Previous clause 8.1 & 8.2 included in present
clause 5

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