Frequently Asked Questions 1. What is UKAS? UKAS is the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, and is the sole national Accreditation Body recognised by government to assess against internationally agreed standards. Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates that the Kennel Club has been assessed against internationally recognised standards to demonstrate its competence, impartiality and performance capability. More details can be found on the UKAS website (www.ukas. com) 2. What does UKAS accreditation mean? The Kennel Club is recognised by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) as a certification and inspection body and, as such, is able to issue UKAS accredited certificates to members of its Assured Breeder Scheme. It is a level of quality assurance which means that the Kennel Club is checked and audited by UKAS in a similar way to the way that breeders are checked during a visit by the Kennel Club, to ensure that the rules of the scheme are followed. This gives confidence to puppy buyers that ABS members are part of a robustly run scheme where breeders are monitored to ensure that they adopt the good practice set out. As such puppy buyers will have the best possible chance of buying a well reared and healthy puppy. 3. What difference will it make to me as a breeder? As a member of the scheme you will have already been adopting the good standards that you signed up to. Over the past 10 years, the scheme has developed significantly and so our protocols and our ways to ensure good practice is being followed have been improved. One vital element to these mechanisms is our visit process, which since the beginning of 2013 has conformed to strict auditing procedures and protocols agreed by UKAS. Every member of the scheme will now be visited prior to receiving accreditation, and thereafter at least once every three years. The changes to the inspection process and UKAS recognition of the Kennel Club means that the scheme of which you are a part is unique and has even more credibility, leading the way when it comes to improving the standards of dog breeding.
4. Will all ABS members receive UKAS certification? All active members of the scheme will receive UKAS accredited certification once they have undergone a successful visit. UKAS accredited certificates will be offered to those breeders who have been visited using the new processes that were implemented in 2013. If you received a successful visit during 2013 then you will shortly receive a new UKAS certificate, and will not need to be visited again in the immediate future. If you have not received a visit during 2013 then you will need to be inspected by a Standards Assessor before you will receive UKAS accredited certification. The Kennel Club will be prioritising visits to those breeders that are expecting litters and aim to visit everybody before they breed their next litter. 5. The Kennel Club received UKAS accreditation in April 2013. Why are UKAS accredited certificates now being issued? Certain provisions needed to be in place before the Kennel Club could begin issuing UKAS accredited certification, which included updating scheme literature and enabling the mechanisms to mark those who have been inspected since UKAS accreditation was granted, on the website. These provisions will be in place from January 2014. 6. Will all ABS members now be visited? Any active member of the scheme will need to be visited. A number of breeders have already been visited in 2013 and going forward the Kennel Club will initially prioritise those who have litters planned. We encourage breeders to let us know when their litters are planned for so that we can work out a visiting schedule. The Kennel Club will then roll out a plan to visit other members of the scheme, but as the average member only breeds every 2-3 years, this can take place over a period of time. 7. What if I received a visit in 2013, but I still have some improvements to make? As soon as we receive your improvements and they have been confirmed as meeting our requirements, then we can issue your UKAS certificate. You are given 60 days to complete these improvements and this is usually ample time as the most commonly required improvement is simply additions to paperwork. 8. What if I was visited before January 2013? You will still remain a member of the scheme, but will not receive UKAS accredited certification until you have been visited again. Therefore we would urge you to let us
know when you plan to have your next litter so we can visit you and have your accreditation in place in plenty of time. 9. What if I am not actively breeding? You can still remain a member of the scheme, but will not be visited until you have a litter. We recognise that there are many supporters of the scheme who do not breed regularly but have signed up to the principles of the scheme and fully intend to adopt them even though they only breed the occasional litter. We want to have these breeders as members of the scheme but recognise that until they actually breed there is little point in visiting them and that UKAS accreditation may be less important until they actually have a litter. 10. So when can I expect a visit? We recognise that everyone will want to receive a visit as soon as possible so that they may use their UKAS accreditation, but obviously we cannot visit every member of the scheme overnight. We feel that it is important that breeders receive certification when they have puppies available, so that they can provide that additional assurance to puppy buyers, so we are asking all members of the scheme to try and give us an indication of when they intend to have their next litter so that we are able to plan our visits accordingly. 11. What if I don t plan to have a litter within the next year or so? That s no problem; you will still remain a Kennel Club Assured Breeder, but you just won t have UKAS accreditation and will not be able to use the UKAS logo. But do try and give us as much notice of your next litter as you can as we want to ensure that accredited certification is in place in plenty of time. 12. What should I do if I am planning a litter and I have not yet been visited? Please let us know as soon as possible so that we can plan to come and visit you; from the time that you mate your bitch, you will have approximately 17 weeks until your puppies are due to go so we should be able to plan a visit within that window. But do please give us as much notice of your next litter as you can as we want to ensure that accredited certification is in place in plenty of time. 13. Do I have to have puppies at the time that a visit is being carried out? Definitely not. Very few breeders have puppies available at all times so we don t always expect to see puppies, though of course as dog lovers themselves our
assessors love to see puppies! We just need to be sure that you are able to meet the scheme requirements and that can be confirmed regardless of puppies being available. 14. What if I have not yet been visited and I have a litter now that I wish to advertise and sell? Let us know as soon as possible and we will schedule a visit. We are able to hold off registering your litter for a small amount of time until your visit has been completed so that your puppies can be registered as being bred by an Assured Breeder. 15. How long after the visit will it take to register my litter and have my puppies on the Find a Puppy service? Providing that the visit is successful then we aim to activate your certification as soon as possible. What will also help reduce delays is that you send us the information that you give to puppy buyers so that this can be checked before you have your visit. Our staff can discuss this with you when you call. 16. What if I am not prepared to have a visit? It has always been a scheme requirement that breeders must be prepared to accept a visit. If you are not prepared to accept a visit, then unfortunately we will need you to leave the scheme. We do understand that some breeders are anxious about accepting a visit; there is lots of information about the process in the ABS web pages and we would urge you to contact the ABS department who can answer any questions you may have. You could also talk to other breeders who have had a visit, particularly within the last year; many breeders tell us that they find the whole process interesting and informative. 17. How do I know that the assessor who will be visiting me is competent? As part of our accreditation process, all of our assessors have undergone extensive training to ensure that they are fully trained to carry out a formal inspection process. Additionally, most of them are experienced dog breeders themselves and all have experience of being in and around dogs.
18. How often can I expect to be visited? Under the terms of our UKAS membership we are committed to visit every breeder at least every 3 years. Some breeders may be visited more frequently. 19. Why do the membership fees need to increase? The cost of maintaining the average member for 3 years, including the cost of a visit is well over 200. The Kennel Club will continue to subsidise the cost of the scheme, but the costs have increased significantly now that every member is to be visited. 20. So how much will I have to pay? New joiners - The application fee for new joiners is 20. New joiners will also need to pay the Full Annual Membership fee of 30, which will include the cost of an Assessment Visit (which will be due on joining the scheme and every three years thereafter). This annual fee will increase incrementally over the next two years, costing 45 from 1st January 2015 (applicable from when your annual membership renewal is due) and 60 from 1st January 2016 (applicable from when your annual membership renewal is due). Existing members - The new Full Annual Membership fee has increased from 10 to 30, which will include the cost of an Assessment Visit and will be paid by direct debit. Current members will not pay this new membership price until whichever month they are due to renew their membership in 2014. This Annual Full Membership fee will increase incrementally over the next two years, costing 45 from 1st January 2015 (to be paid when membership renewal is due) and 60 from 1st January 2016 (to be paid when membership renewal is due). There is also an option to pay just a 12 annual Associate Membership fee, instead of 30, but this does not include the cost of an inspection, which will cost 167 each time. Once a visit has been made certification lasts for three years. 21. That seems a big increase? Yes it is, but the membership fees have remained at an artificially low level for a number of years and have not been increased since the scheme commenced nearly 10 years ago. The Kennel Club does not make any money from the scheme and the price rise is necessary to cover the costs of running the scheme and of inspections. There is now a whole raft of benefits available to members of the scheme which total 300 per annum to the average member. These include discounts on health screening tests from the Animal Health Trust as well as the major laboratories including Optigen and Laboklin, discounts on veterinary treatment from a major chain, and on a number of everyday products used by dog breeders.
Already these discounts outweigh any increase in fees and we are expecting these benefits to be added to, so for most breeders being a member of the scheme will more than pay for itself. 22. When will I be inspected and what will the cost be? Cost of inspection - If you are on the Full Annual Membership option of 30 then you do not need to pay for the inspection visit. If you have not renewed your membership yet in 2014, and are still on the old fee structure, then you will not have to pay for a visit, if you are due one before your membership is up for renewal. However, you will be required to change over to the 30 direct debit option when your membership renewal is due. If you prefer, there is a second option available, which will cost just 12 annual membership a year but if you choose to go for this option at membership renewal time then you will need to pay 167 for the cost of an inspection. Time of inspection - All Assured Breeders now need to be inspected. Those who have been inspected since January 2013, when UKAS standards were in place, will not need another visit for three years. But all other members of the scheme will need a visit and those with litters of puppies currently will be prioritised so that their certification is in place in good time for when they sell their litters. All Assured Breeders are urged to inform the Kennel Club if they have litters planned so that inspections can be scheduled. Once you have UKAS certification it is valid for three years. 23. Can I opt to pay the 12 Associate Membership fee at a later date, after I have paid the 30 direct debit option? Unfortunately not. This 12 Associate Membership option is only available for existing members and anyone wishing to opt into the Annual Full Membership is required to set up a direct debit instruction and will be unable to revert to the 12 annual membership fee if returning to the scheme after a breeding break. 24. I don t breed very often, so why do I have to pay this extra money? We are offering two payment options for existing members, which includes a lower annual membership fee of 12 and a one-off inspection cost of 167, if this is preferable to very low volume breeders. It was clear that our members and also the puppy buying public felt that they would receive greater assurance if every member of the scheme was visited prior to acceptance and every three years thereafter and the price increase, which is the first for ten years, was necessary to cover this cost. The current benefits have been calculated as being worth more than 300 to our membership and we are hoping to add even further to these so most breeders will find that there is a cost benefit to being a member.
25. What if my partner and I are both members of the scheme, will we have to pay twice? In most cases membership is tied to an address and provided we only have to carry out one inspection then only one fee will apply. However, if you breed from more than one address or have partners that breed from another address then we will require you to be visited at both premises and maintain dual memberships. However, we do recognise that there are many different combinations of breeding arrangement so we will look at complicated cases on an individual basis. 26. I don t want to pay by Direct Debit, can t I send you a cheque each year? If you are a current member then you may, but you need to opt for the affiliate membership choice, which would entail paying a visit fee of 167 plus an annual membership of 12. We have not offered this arrangement to new members because we are anxious to keep the cost of membership to a minimum and it is far more cost effective to collect fees by direct debit. We do understand that some people are cautious about direct debits but the direct debit guarantee does provide significant safeguards and of course you are completely in control as we are obliged by law to inform you if we intend to increase any of our fees, and of course you are able to cancel the arrangement at any time.