Governance and Board Charter

ASF is a French association governed by the Law of 1 July 1901 (Loi 1901), declared to the Préfecture de Police de Paris on 18/06/2020, registered RNA W751257030, SIRET 88807681700012, APE 9499Z. Owner: Chair, International Standards Council.

Governance arrangements

Full Council composition (minimum 7 members, required disciplines, mandatory lay seat), term and renewal rules (3-year terms, renewable once), the appointment process, quorum and voting rules, and the current named roster with declared conflicts are published on Standards Development, Section 01 — the authoritative, continuously updated source. This policy does not duplicate that detail; it governs the Council’s authority and conduct. The Council currently operates without standing subcommittees; where one is formed (e.g. for a specific standards revision Panel), its terms of reference are recorded in that standard’s version history. Accountability lines external to the Council run to French regulatory authorities as a Loi 1901 association and, where relevant, to the government or ministry of health in a country where ASF accredits a facility.

Council authority

The Council holds and documents sole authority to:

• Oversee ASF’s strategic planning process (ASF-POL-50)
• Develop and approve ASF’s accreditation standards, through the Five-Stage Development Process
• Make, or delegate to the ADC, decisions on accreditation and certification, including appeals (ASF-POL-22, Standards Development Section 06)
• Ensure ASF meets its legal and regulatory requirements as a French association
• Approve every policy in this Manual and ensure it is followed (ASF-POL-46)

Financial authority

The Council is accountable for ASF’s financial sustainability and holds authority to approve the annual budget (ASF-POL-50), ensure ASF is adequately resourced to meet its objectives, and approve major transactions (capital investment, major equipment, significant contracts) — exercised in practice through the delegation and dual-signature structure in ASF-POL-32 and the financial controls in ASF-POL-19.

Council member orientation

A new Council member completes an orientation covering ASF’s standards, services, the firewall between standard-writing and accreditation, the Conflict-of-Interest Policy, and confidentiality obligations, before participating in their first Revision Panel or decision. Ongoing education — briefings on new standards, ISQua developments, or governance changes — is provided at Council meetings.

Stakeholders and communication

ASF’s stakeholders are: accredited and prospective facilities; certified Coordinators, Monitors, and Surveyors; patients and residents at accredited facilities; donors and partners; and the public. The Secretariat is delegated authority for day-to-day stakeholder communication, with the communication strategy itself — what is published where, and how feedback is sought — set by the Council and implemented through Transparency and Public Disclosure (ASF-POL-30) and Public Health Communication (ASF-POL-47).

Management of ethical concerns

An ethical concern — about ASF’s own conduct, a Council decision, or a facility’s conduct during assessment — is raised through Feedback, Complaints and Incident Management (ASF-POL-21) and, where it concerns a Council decision specifically, escalated to the Council Chair for independent review, excluding any member with a declared interest. This process is communicated to every Secretariat staff member, Coordinator, and Monitor at induction (ASF-POL-51).

Separation of accreditation from consultancy

ASF’s ISO 9001 Ready and ISO 15189 Ready documentation packs are a separate educational product line, developed with the Public Health Institute of Georgia and field experts in response to facility demand: standardised, purchasable or downloadable templates and guidance documents that help any facility prepare for ISO certification issued by a separate, accredited ISO certification body — ASF does not itself certify to ISO. The same product is sold to every purchaser; it is not bespoke advice, and is never a precondition or shortcut for ASF accreditation. Where ASF makes experts available to support a facility using these documents, that support stays within the product — applying the same published templates and guidance — rather than producing a client-specific solution outside them. No individual who has advised a facility through ISO Ready then serves as that facility’s Coordinator, Monitor, or Surveyor, or sits on its ADC decision. This separation is communicated to staff, Coordinators, Monitors, and facilities. Advising facilities on how to understand and interpret ASF’s own accreditation standards, or delivering ASF-run training, is not consultancy under this policy either, provided it stays generic rather than giving one facility a client-specific solution.