General Terms and Conditions (GTC)

QualiCert AG, Seestrasse 32, CH-6375 Beckenried

Edition 01.09.2025

1 Introduction

1.1 QualiCert AG (hereinafter referred to as QualiCert) is an independent certification institution that issues health insurance-recognised certifications to customers such as fitness centres, course providers and instructors as well as climbing and bouldering facilities following a review based on clearly defined quality criteria. QualiCert checks conformity with the following standards and catalogues of requirements

  • Fit[Safe]
  • EMS[Safe]
  • Course[Active]
  • SN EN 17229
  • Climbing[Safe]

2 Certification of fitness centres, climbing and bouldering facilities

2.1 Fitness centres, climbing and bouldering facilities must successfully complete the initial certification process before they can be awarded certification. Certification is generally valid for one year, from 1 January to 31 December, and there is an annual evaluation of the criteria (re-certification) by QualiCert with extension of the certification for a further calendar year

2.2 Clients must fulfil the quality criteria without restriction. QualiCert reserves the right to reject an initial or re-certification of the client, even if the requirements/criteria are met, if there are indications that the client does not offer a guarantee of faultless service provision

2.3 If there is a justified reason, e.g. if deviations from the criteria are identified, QualiCert has the right to carry out further audits in addition to the regular audits for the purpose of quality assurance after consulting the client

Initial certification

2.4 The initial certification procedure comprises the following steps, which are described on the QualiCert website, and generally takes two to three months

  1. Application for initial certification and transfer of the application fee by the client
  2. The client decides whether to continue with certification after receiving the list of documents to be submitted and the contract
  3. Submission of the required information and documents as well as the signed contract and payment of the registration fee by the customer within 10 days of signing
  4. QualiCert analyses the submitted documents/documents after receipt of the analysis fee and prepares an analysis result, which states whether the client is ready for the final on-site audit in full compliance with the verified requirements or whether there is a need for further action
  5. If there is a need for action: Decision by the customer to submit the required corrections and additions until full conformity with the checked requirements is achieved or to cancel the initial certification procedure
  6. On-site audit by QualiCert with the result that the client is ready for certification in the case of full conformity with the reviewed requirements or the need for further action
  7. If further action is required: The customer submits further documents until certification readiness or decides to cancel the initial certification procedure
  8. Payment of the remaining fee by the customer
  9. Request for the ZSR number from the paying agent register and issuance of certification by QualiCert

Re-certification

2.5 Re-certification is the annual review of the criteria that must be met in order to renew the certification. The recertification fees must also be paid for the renewal. In the event of deviations from the criteria to be fulfilled, proof must be provided that the corrective measures set out in the audit report have been implemented

2.6 The recertification procedure comprises the following four steps each year

  1. Status and mutations with the seamless notification of the client to the health insurers, provided that the certification fee for the re-certification procedure still to be carried out has been paid (cf. section 7 below), as well as the request to the client to report staff mutations
  2. Evaluation information from QualiCert to the client
  3. Evaluations approximately in April to July and September to November or by agreement with the issue of a test report by QualiCert. If the audit report contains corrective measures, these must be implemented within the agreed deadlines
  4. Maintenance of certification after successful examination and payment of the annual recertification fee for the following recertification procedure with issue of the certification confirmation at the end of December

3 Certification of course providers and instructors

3.1 Both the legally responsible organisation as the course provider and the leading persons must be certified as course instructors

3.2 The procedure distinguishes between an initial certification procedure and a re-certification procedure. The initial certification is valid for a fixed two-year certification period (two full calendar years). The re-certification is also valid for two years

Initial certification

The initial certification process comprises the following steps and usually takes one to two months

  1. Registration for initial certification by the course provider or course instructor and then delivery of the necessary information and application forms by QualiCert
  2. Analysis by QualiCert after receipt of all necessary information, evidence and documents and payment of the initial certification fee by the course provider or instructor
  3. Issue of the certification confirmation for a two-year validity period (calendar year) after successful examination

Re-certification

  1. Request for re-certification in the 3rd quarter of the second year of the fixed two-year period by QualiCert with submission of the necessary documents and information by the course provider or instructor
  2. Evaluation by QualiCert after receipt of the necessary information and documents and payment of the recertification fee by the course provider or instructor. If necessary, the course providers or instructors are asked to take targeted measures
  3. Confirmation of certification after successful examination

4 Quality criteria

QualiCert provides information on its website about the quality criteria to be met and the examination standards applied

5 Obligations of the client

5.1 The Client shall grant QualiCert access to the premises and inspection of the documents to the extent necessary for certification and shall provide QualiCert with all necessary information and documents for analysing conformity with the standards. In addition, he is obliged to provide QualiCert with truthful information on all essential points required for the analysis of conformity with standards

5.2 The client shall inform QualiCert in writing within one month of any changes to his legal form, legal representation, name/company name and/or address

5.3 The client shall position the certificate and the quality seal on its website and in the form of a sticker in a clearly visible position in the reception and/or entrance area. The certificate and the seal of approval may only be used in connection with products and services that fall within the certified area

5.4 The customer undertakes to issue, free of charge, the training certificates required by health insurers and other institutions or companies that make prevention contributions to subscriptions and which are necessary for the receipt of prevention contributions from their members. This applies in particular to the confirmation of subscription and participation

5.5 The customer further undertakes to comply with the requirements of the standards and catalogues of requirements on an ongoing basis and to notify QualiCert within one month of any changes in terms of employees, (supervised) opening hours and number of training stations

6 Premature withdrawal or suspension of certification

6.1 QualiCert may withdraw or suspend certification in the following cases

  • Misuse of the certificate;
  • Non-payment of fees;
  • Breach of the obligations under section 5 above;
  • Corrective measures to remedy deviations from standards cannot be taken and implemented within the agreed period or the interim audits cannot be carried out within the required periods.
  • Other reasons that make it impossible for QualiCert to verify the client's quality requirements and/or that prevent the maintenance of certification.

6.2 In the event of suspension, QualiCert shall announce the duration and any further measures in writing

7 Fees

7.1 Certification fees ensure that ongoing conformity checks are carried out. These are examination fees, which as such must be paid in advance and irrespective of the examination result. They will not be refunded after the audit has been completed. This also applies if the decision on certification is negative. Separate fees must be paid for initial certification and annual recertification

7.2 The fees applicable for initial and re-certification as well as for other services can be viewed on the QualiCert website. The fees published on the QualiCert website at the time of conclusion of the contract or provision of the service are authoritative. The applicable fees form an integral part of the contract

7.3 Fees for fitness centres, climbing and bouldering facilities

7.3.-1 The client must pay a fee set by QualiCert for initial certification in accordance with the provisions of section 2.4 above. This fee consists of an application fee, an analysis fee and a residual fee. It also includes the fees for the ZSR number and travelling expenses. If the initial certification procedure is cancelled, the fees already paid up to the time of cancellation will not be refunded

7.3.-2 The recertification fee for fitness centres is calculated according to their size. The decisive factor is the number of separate training stations

7.3.-3 The recertification fee for climbing and bouldering centres is calculated differently for members of the Swiss Association of Bouldering and Climbing Centres (VSBK) and non-members of the VSBK. The details are governed by the agreement between QualiCert and the VSBK. For members of the VSBK, the annual invoice is issued by the VSBK

7.3-4 In the re-certification procedure, the fitness centre pays the annual fee for the following year in accordance with its size category in the year of invoicing by 16 December. If payment is not made, the fitness centre will receive a reminder and must pay the fee by 31 December at the latest. If payment is made on time, the fitness centre will be seamlessly registered with the health insurers at the beginning of the year, which is an advance payment by QualiCert AG. If payment is not made, the fitness centre is not entitled to be registered with the health insurers

7.3.-5 Climbing and bouldering facilities shall also pay the annual fee for the following year in the re-certification procedure by 16 December following invoicing. If payment is not made, the facility will receive a reminder and must pay the fee by 31 December at the latest. If payment is made on time, the facility is seamlessly registered with the health insurers at the beginning of the year. This is an advance payment by QualiCert AG. If payment is not made, the facility is not entitled to be registered with the health insurers

7.4 Course provider and course instructor fee

7.4.-1 The course provider and course instructor must pay a fee set by QualiCert in accordance with the provisions of section 3.2 above for the one-off initial certification in the first year and a reduced fee in the second year of the fixed two-year period of validity, as well as a recertification fee. The initial certification is valid until 31 December of the current two-year validity period

7.4.-2 A separate fee applies for initial and re-certification as an EMS centre

7.5 Should an additional, non-regular audit (see section 2.3 above) be necessary due to failures on the part of the client, QualiCert may invoice the expenses additionally

8 Confidentiality

8.1 During the certification phases and the period of validity of the certification, QualiCert processes the data provided by the Client insofar as this is necessary for the implementation of the certification procedure. QualiCert may keep copies of written documents provided to QualiCert for inspection and which are important for the implementation of the certification procedure

8.2 QualiCert processes personal data of the Client exclusively for the proper fulfilment of the order. Any further processing shall only take place with express consent or if there is a legal basis

8.3 QualiCert undertakes to treat all confidential information of the client, in particular business and trade secrets, confidentially and not to pass it on to third parties without authorisation or to use it for purposes other than those agreed. However, QualiCert is authorised to use the Client's name as a reference and to list it on its own communication channels without disclosing details of the contractual relationship

8.4 QualiCert is also expressly authorised to evaluate and analyse data of the client and its clients. The anonymised evaluation and analysis may also be transferred to third parties

8.5 Data that is important for health insurers and other companies that pay prevention contributions may be passed on by QualiCert to the health insurers or the companies concerned or to a central register in the form of a "Preferred Provider List". QualiCert ensures in separate data protection agreements that the third-party recipients may only use the client data for the purposes associated with the QualiCert quality label

8.6 For his part, the client undertakes to treat the documents and information produced by QualiCert confidentially and, in particular, not to pass them on to QualiCert's competitors

9 Ordinary cancellation

9.1 The contract may be terminated at the end of December by giving four months' notice. The ordinary contract term is at least one full calendar year, meaning that initial agreements can be terminated at the earliest on 31 December of the following year. Different cancellation periods and dates may be agreed between the parties in writing

9.2 Notice of cancellation must be given by registered letter

9.3 If the contract is not terminated on time, it shall be tacitly renewed on 1 January for a further calendar year

9.4 The fees already paid for the calendar year to which the cancellation relates will not be refunded. This covers the expenses that QualiCert has already incurred and will continue to incur up to the date of cancellation

9.5 After cancellation, the certification for the coming calendar year shall lapse and the client shall no longer be entitled to be registered with the health insurers again in the following year

10 Extraordinary cancellation

10.1 QualiCert has the right to terminate the contractual relationship without notice

  • if the fees are not paid. In this case, QualiCert's expenses will be invoiced additionally.
  • if the quality criteria for awarding or maintaining certification are no longer met due to changes in the client's quality standard or if corrective measures are not implemented within the specified deadlines.
  • for other reasons that make it unreasonable to maintain the contract (e.g. behaviour by the customer that damages its reputation, improper use of the certification, behaviour by the customer that is immoral in the industry, etc.).

10.2 In the event of termination without notice by QualiCert, there is no entitlement to reimbursement of the fees already paid

11 Duty of care and limitation of liability

11.1 QualiCert carries out the certification procedure with due care and to the best of its knowledge and belief

11.2 QualiCert is only liable for intent and gross negligence. To the extent permitted by law, any further liability is excluded. In particular, QualiCert cannot be held liable

  • if third parties do not recognise or only partially recognise the certification;
  • for any claims for damages by third parties, in particular by customers of the certified organisation due to non-fulfilment of their quality expectations;
  • if the certification documents are not recognised as evidence in (product liability) disputes.

12 Amendment of the contract

QualiCert has the right to amend the General Terms and Conditions in justified cases. QualiCert must notify its clients of the changes in advance and in an appropriate manner. Without written objection within one month, the amendments shall be deemed to have been approved. Silence shall be deemed acceptance of the amendments

13 Severability clause

Should provisions of this agreement be or become invalid or should there be a loophole, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. In such a case, the parties shall endeavour to find an amicable solution that comes as close as possible to the original objective

14 Applicable law and place of jurisdiction

14.1 This contract is subject to Swiss law

14.2 The parties agree that the place of jurisdiction shall be Stans (NW)

Beckenried, 01.09.2025

QualiCert AG

Form without signature

We use cookies to optimally design our website for you and to continuously improve it. You can find more information about cookies in our privacy policy.