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Accreditation Appeals Policy

Purpose

To outline the accreditation appeal process for an Applicant or Accredited Entity under the Accreditation Terms and Conditions (T&C).1

Filing an Appeal

First, an Applicant/Accredited Entity must have agreed to the T&C and be eligible for appeal under Section 7 of the T&C. The status of the Applicant/Accredited Entity is pending during the disposition of the appeal, unless otherwise noted in the T&C.

After an Applicant/Accredited Entity has been issued a Notice of Cancellation, the Applicant/Accredited Entity has 30 calendar days following the Notice of Cancellation to submit to NABP, in writing, a Notice of Appeal and provide $5,000 in advance to cover the costs of the appeal. NABP will invoice Applicant/Accredited Entity for NABP’s appeal costs in excess of $5,000. If an Applicant/Accredited Entity fails to file a Notice of Appeal within 30 calendar days, the right to appeal has been waived.

Standard on Appeal

A Cancellation decision will only be overturned if the Applicant/Accredited Entity, which has the sole burden of proof, shows that NABP:

  1. Did not follow its established policies and/or procedures and/or made a substantive error, such as factual error, mistake, or misinterpretation; and
  2. That NABP’s failure to follow its established policies and/or procedures and/or substantive error affected the outcome of the Accreditation decision.

The Notice of Appeal must include all the facts upon which the appeal is based. The Notice of Appeal cannot exceed 25 pages of double-spaced paragraphs and 12-point font text. No new information or materials will be considered on appeal. No witnesses may be called on appeal. Attempts to include new information or present witnesses will be considered violations of the T&C.

Within 30 calendar days following the Notice of Appeal, NABP will provide to the Applicant/Accredited Entity a date for the appeal hearing. The appeal hearing will be virtual, either by phone or video conference at NABP’s choosing. The Applicant/Accredited Entity may choose to waive the hearing and proceed only through a written appeal.

Appeal Hearing

The hearing will be conducted by the Appellate Committee. The Appellate Committee will consist of an NABP Associate Executive Director, and two qualified individuals chosen by the NABP Executive Director/Secretary. No member of the Appellate Committee will have had prior involvement in the Cancellation decision. 

At the hearing, both the Applicant/Accredited Entity and the accreditation representative from NABP will be given 15 minutes to present their arguments, with the Applicant/Accredited Entity going first. The Appellate Committee may ask questions after each presentation. Prior to the end of the hearing, the Appellate Committee will ask both parties if they have any specific objections to the information or materials that were presented. If any information or materials presented by Applicant/Accredited Entity during the hearing are new or outside of the Cancelation decision, this information will not be considered, and its inclusion will represent a violation of the T&C.

If the hearing is waived by the Applicant/Accredited Entity, the Appellate Committee will convene to review and discuss the written appeal through consideration of the following documents:

  1. Notice of Pending Cancellation
  2. Applicant/Accredited Entity’s response to the Notice of Pending Cancellation
  3. Notice of Cancellation
  4. Notice of Appeal

Upon completion of the hearing or the written appeal, the Appellate Committee will provide its final written decision to the Applicant/Accredited Entity within 14 calendar days. All decisions of the Appellate Committee are final.

Final Decision

If Cancellation is affirmed on appeal, the Applicant/Accredited Entity may reapply no sooner than 30 calendar days after the date of the appeal decision and must provide NABP with acceptable documentation that it has remedied the issues underlying the Notice of Cancellation. If Cancellation is overturned on appeal, the prior status of the Applicant/Accredited Entity will be restored.

1 – Please see the Accreditation Terms and Conditions definitions for certain terms used in this policy such as Applicant and Accredited Entity.