IAF ConsultancyOpen nonconformities travel with the certification. They stay with the system, whichever body holds the file. A transfer proceeds when those findings are closed, or when the accepting body has reviewed the evidence and accepted the closure itself.
Which findings matter most?
Major nonconformities matter most. A major finding means a required part of the system is missing or has broken down. Accredited bodies do not issue a certificate across the top of one that is still open. Minor findings need a plan and evidence as well. A set of minors that all point at the same broken process is judged by that pattern.
The simplest route is to close the findings with the current body before the transfer decision. That body wrote them and knows the evidence it asked for. If it will not close them because you are leaving, keep the evidence and give it to the review. The accepting body can accept the closure when the evidence is enough. When the evidence is thin, the offer includes the visit or the audit required to see the process.
What fails?
A transfer started in order to abandon a finding fails. A certificate suspended because of the finding cannot be transferred. A certificate the current body has warned it may suspend, for the same reason, cannot be transferred either. Those rules are in suspended or expired certificates.
A procedure rewritten in the week of the application, with no record that anyone used it, is weak evidence. The review looks for the correction the last report asked for, dated, and traceable to the process.
How should you present them?
State the open items, or state that there are none, in the scope notes on the application. Choose Transfer from another body. Have the reports and the closure evidence ready when the quote is prepared. The offer accounts for open majors in the timing and the price.
IAF Consultancy reviews the file. SMG issues the certificate once findings that block certification are accepted as closed. The wider review is in what a pre-transfer review checks.