LANĪDA Certification Centre
The Certification Centre (hereinafter referred to as CC) of the Latvian Real Estate Association is an independent authority that has the duty of providing services of the highest quality, and is independent of persons to be certified as well as examination and certification experts, curators and educational establishments.
The operations of the CC are based on the Charter of the Certification Centre endorsed by the LANĪDA Board of Directors as well as the System of Certification of Real Estate Agents and Assistants endorsed by the head of the CC, requirements on the persons to be certified and procedures developed within the framework of the management system. The operations of the CC are supervised by the head of the Certification Centre appointed by the LANĪDA Board of Directors.
LANĪDA Board of Directors has the right to review, and decide on, the work of the CC head, but it does not influence the operations of the CC in any way, provided that the head of the CC does not exceed his/her authority, observes laws and regulations and the Charter of the CC. LANĪDA Board of Directors has no right to control the assessment of the suitability of persons who are to be certified.
The LANĪDA Certification Centre is accredited with the Latvian National Accreditation Bureau (State Company with Limited Liability “Standardization, Accreditation and Metrology Centre”) pursuant to the requirements of the standard LVS EN ISO/IEC 17024; the CC received accreditation certificate No. LATAK-S3-427 on 11 October 2010. From 22 February 2011 the Certification Centre has the authority to certify persons in the following field: Certification of Real Estate Agent Assistants and Real Estate Agents.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Latvian and European standard LVS EN 15733:2010 “Services of real estate agents – requirements for the provision of services of real estate agents”, the certification procedures and regulations of the CC are to permanently ensure that certified estate agent assistants and certified estate agents meet the following criteria:
- Adherence to Latvian an international standards in their professional work
- High professionalism and know-how level
- Constant further training and education
- Adherence to the principles of professional ethics
The key principles of LANĪDA CC in the certification process include independence, personal disinterest and consistent requirement of high quality standards from all applicants and certified agents. The certification authority places great emphasis on the disinterest of the CC structure so as to prevent the domination of certain interest groups and to ensure equal treatment of all applicants and certified specialists.
LANĪDA CC must always have full information on certificate holders; information on certificate holders must be available to the public upon request. The Certification Centre must inform certificate holders without delay about any changes to the certification system that they may be affected by.
Certification services provided by the Certification Centre are available to all persons applying for certification. On the other hand, certificate holders are supervised by the CC for entire duration of their certificates. Any objections or complaints from third parties must be registred, they are to be considered as important criteria in further evaluation of a given certified person’s professional work.
The CC has set up an Expert Council (EC) with the aim to guarantee objectivity and involvement of all parties to the process of certification of estate agents and assistants, as well as to supervise certification of persons and define the principles of the certification policy. The EC offers advice on matters that deal with the certification procedure and certain business areas, as well as applicants for certification and co-operation with other organisations. The composition of the Expert Council guarantees that no interest group will be able to dominate, and members of the EC represent the parties to the certification process without extending any privileges to any of these parties.
The CC has set up a Certification Procedure Commission (Scheme Committee), which represents parties involved in personnel certification in a given area and is responsible for the development and upgrading the certification procedures in the respective areas.
