March 15, 2016

ADCI Informational Update 2016 - 5

ADCI Existing Member Audit Initiative
60 Day Comment Period (15 March – 15 May 2016)

In 2006, the Association of Diving Contractors International formally required that all new General Members and Associate Member School applicants submit to a formal audit, as part of the application process. The purpose of the audits are to ensure compliance with the ADCI Consensus Standards. Currently, the only other requirement for submitting to a formal audit comes via the Membership Review Process. The Membership Review Process is initiated when there is major incident or fatality with an existing member, where operational or equipment deficiencies cannot be ruled out.

While clients and regulators have applauded the ADCI for holding all members accountable to the International Consensus Standards for Commercial Diving and Underwater Operations, the question that these stakeholders often pose is why we haven’t required the auditing of all existing members. Clients, regulators, underwriters, as well as General Member applicants have all expressed the benefits of submitting to an ADCI Commercial Diving Contractor Audit. While being able to market the successful completion of a formal audit is certainly advantageous to all parties involved, undergoing an audit allows the contractor or school to know exactly where they stand in terms of compliance and overall adherence to industry standards. This type of client confidence in a contractor or school is invaluable from a credibility standpoint and opens doors to new contracts and lowering overhead costs, such as insurance premiums.

The ADCI Board of Directors has spent the last year examining the merits of auditing existing members who have not previously gone through a formal ADCI audit. Detailed and careful study was undertaken, as part of a Board sanctioned action item for 2015, to focus on such variables as the:

rationale behind such an initiative
timelines for completion
designated 3rd party auditors
anticipated costs to existing member contractors and schools who have not gone through a formal ADCI audit
remediation and consultation (before and after the audit)
recommended revisions to the existing audit reports
Audit Review Committee to examine comments and findings

Additionally, the ADCI Board of Directors is firm in its conviction that all projected costs associated with any proposed audit initiative be structured to account for only those costs required to perform the audit and that all efforts will be made to keep projected costs to a minimum.

The ADCI is currently holding a 60 Day Comment Period (15 March – 15 May 2016) on the proposed ADCI Audit Initiative. The Association is soliciting input on the above bulleted items. The ADCI will then examine the comments and input to determine the best path forward to meet the needs of industry, the membership, and the mission of the ADCI.

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