The time required by a certification institute for a certification audit depends on various factors and is determined on a case by case basis.
For part B of the CSR Performance Ladder, the time needed depends on the number of employees and complexity of the organization. Any combination with the certification of other Management Systems (environment, quality, working conditions, energy) will lead to a reduction in the time required. Below, you can find the five options that increase or reduce the complexity:

  • Do the organization's activities cover more than one professional field?
  • Import / outsource: Is a substantial part of the activities formed by means of delivery of parts and/or resources from abroad?
  • Does the organization have multiple branches (number)? During the audit, the root formula (√n) is used to randomly test the branches.
  • Does the organization under certification have more management systems under ISO 17021 that can be proved with certificates (or equivalent documents)?
  • Is there a GRI report on the organization under certification that is not older than one year prior to the audit that contains a recommendation for the CSR Performance Ladder certificate?

The certification scheme contains a time table that is used for this purpose. The certification institute charges their own rates for the certification audit.
Moreover, the organization owes annual contribution fees per certificate. These contribution fees are used for the management and development of the certification scheme.

Currently the fees are € 460,- for each main certificate and € 105,- for each subcertificate.
The standard itself is free and can be downloaded from this website along with the certification scheme.