Qualiopi certification will be mandatory for certain organizations by 2022. But which organizations are concerned, and what is the certification for?
Article Summary:
- What is Qualiopi?
- What does the national quality certification framework contain?
- Who is concerned?
- For what purpose?
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is Qualiopi?
Qualiopi is a certification which attests to the quality of the training provided by the OPACs[1] within the following action categories:
- Training actions,
- Skills assessments,
- Validation of acquired skills,
- Training actions through apprenticeship.
Mandatory from 1er January 2022 for certain organizations, it is issued by an accredited body or an authorized labeling body, on the basis of criteria defined by decree and a national certification framework.
In addition, a guide is provided for auditors and service providers. It specifies the requirements to be met and is updated regularly. It is therefore part of the OPAC monitoring framework.
Its obligation will be applied to all actors who wish to benefit from public or mutualized funds (OPCO, Caisse des Dépôts, Region, Pôle Emploi, etc.). If this is your case, you will therefore have to obtain and maintain certification.
On private funds, it is questionable whether this certification will not also be a prerequisite for group purchases, particularly via calls for tender. Furthermore, a arrested provides for the publication of the list of certified organizations, as of 1er January 2022.
[1] OPAC: Organizations providing actions contributing to the development of skills
What does the national quality certification framework contain?
The national benchmark sets 32 indicators for assessing Quality criteria, including 10 indicators specific to training, assessment, VAE and apprenticeship actions (read the reading guide of the reference).
These indicators are grouped into criteria common to all stakeholders in vocational training which can be schematized as follows.
Please note that criterion 7 is applicable throughout your cycle. Since the reference guide is regularly updated, it must therefore be integrated into your monitoring system (criterion 6).
Who is concerned?
This concerns all organizations and establishments which carry out skills development actions financed by public or mutual funds (State, Region, Pôle emploi, Agefiph, CDC, OPCO and Transitions Pro): training, VAE, skills assessments, actions provided by apprenticeship, actions supported by the OPCO under the conventional or voluntary contributions paid by employers.
These organizations and establishments must have an activity declaration number or be in the process of registration (New Entrant). For organizations located on several sites, certification covers all sites.
What about subcontractors and independent contractors?
As regards subcontractors, the National Quality Framework is not mandatory. However, the service provider holding the agreement is advised to check that the subcontractor complies with the applicable criteria and indicators. It is the organization's responsibility to guarantee the quality of its service and its compliance with the national quality framework.
Qualiopi certification is mandatory for independent trainers. As for training organizations, as soon as the independent trainer or consultant contributes to the development of skills and benefits from public or mutualized funds for the CPF, apprenticeship or training intended for companies with fewer than 50 employees, he must then be compliant.
On the other hand, certification is not mandatory for trainers employed by a training provider.
Employers who provide internal training or who do not use public or joint funding are not subject to compliance with the Quality criteria and certification. However, the DGEFP advises them to draw strong inspiration from them.
Public higher education institutions accredited by the Minister responsible for higher education as well as certain private higher education institutions are deemed to have satisfied the Quality certification requirement.
For what purpose?
The purpose of Qualiopi certification is to certify that a training organization complies with the quality requirements of the standard. Thus, in addition to providing access to public and mutualized funds, it is a reassuring quality indicator for certain clients (excluding mutualized/public markets).
It is also important to note that the law of September 5, 2018 calls for the pooling of controls by financiers. Thus, financing organizations must:
- carry out checks to ensure the quality of the training provided. Their checks may be shared (via Datadock?).
- make any useful and substantiated report on the quality of the actions to the minister responsible for vocational training who may inform the organization or body which issued the certification.
- ensure the financial adequacy of the services purchased to the training needs, the educational engineering deployed by the service provider, the innovation of the means mobilized and the prices practiced under comparable operating conditions for similar services.
Beyond that, they will continue to set their priorities and support criteria as well as contractual clauses, particularly in terms of service provided: certification is therefore not a guarantee of financing.
Finally, and unlike Datadock, Qualiopi is based on a logic of proof: you must prove to the auditor that you comply with the requirements, by showing them various documents, records or procedures and their applications. Examples of proof for each indicator are mentioned in the reference document. Note, however, that these are examples and that you can meet the requirements in various ways.
Frequently Asked Questions
I am an independent trainer and I am a subcontractor for a training organization that uses public and mutual funds. Do I have to pass the Qualiopi certification?
No, if you do not directly invoice a public or mutualized financer such as an OPCO, the CPF or Pôle Emploi for example, you are not obliged to be certified. Only the training organization for which you subcontract must obtain Qualiopi. You will, however, have to respect the procedures put in place by the organization and participate in compliance with quality requirements.
I do not charge public or mutual funds at the moment but may do so in the future. Is it in my interest to pass the certification now?
It depends on your situation. Passing the certification has a cost that remains not insignificant, and it can be a shame to pass it and ultimately not use public or mutual funds. If you are certain to use them from 2022, it is on the contrary preferable to obtain Qualiopi.
Finally, you may choose to get certified solely for the quality mark it represents, and to potentially attract customers more easily. In this case, it is up to you to carefully analyze the costs and benefits of certification in order to decide whether it is worthwhile to get it.
