Appeals

The IBT
Appeals Process

IBT provides a formal appeals process for businesses that believe a procedural error affected their certification outcome.

What Can Be Appealed

Three valid grounds. One firm limit.

IBT accepts appeals on three specific grounds. The statistical outcome of an assessment — the mathematical pass/fail result — is explicitly not appealable. The math is the judge.

Ground 1
Procedural Error

IBT demonstrably failed to follow its own published procedures during data collection or decision-making.

Ground 2
Identity Verification Error

A documented error in the identity verification process caused a legitimate response to be excluded or an illegitimate response to be counted.

Ground 3
Undisclosed Conflict of Interest

An IBT staff member or Committee member had an undisclosed financial or personal relationship with the business under assessment.

Not Appealable
Statistical Outcome

The mathematical pass/fail result derived from client responses is not appealable. IBT will not re-run the statistics with a different formula or reconsider results based on a business's characterization of their client relationships.

Timeline
Day 0Certification decision issued
Day 30Filing deadline for appeals
Day 75Impartiality Board review completed
Day 75+Decision issued — final, published anonymized

Need to file an appeal?

Contact IBT within 30 days of your certification decision.

Contact IBT