A score is only worth what the process behind it can withstand. This policy is modelled on the impartiality principles of ISO/IEC 17021 and 17065 and on the published practices of established private standards.
1.1 Two-person rule. Every verification involves at least two people: a reviewer, who examines evidence and interviews the firm, and a certification officer, who confirms the score and level. The reviewer never confirms their own review.
1.2 Sales firewall. The certification officer holds no sales, marketing or account-management role and receives no compensation that varies with the number of firms verified, the levels awarded or revenue.
1.3 No consult-and-certify. Where noboxAI, LLC or any AboveBoard personnel have provided remediation advice, training design or policy drafting to a firm within the preceding twelve months, that firm's verification is performed by a reviewer and certification officer with no involvement in that work. Off-the-shelf Academy courses and templates are not consulting for this purpose.
1.4 Conflicts. Reviewers and officers declare conflicts (prior employment, family, financial interest, competitor relationship) before assignment and are reassigned where a conflict exists.
1.5 Published rubric. The AboveBoard Standard is published in full. Firms are scored against the version in force when their review begins.
1.6 Standards advisory panel. An advisory panel of independent members reviews the Standard at least annually, hears appeals, and reviews impartiality complaints.
2.1 Verification covers a firm's AI governance practices as evidenced at the time of review. It does not test, validate or warrant any AI system, model, vendor or output, and it is not a guarantee that a firm complies with any law, regulation, professional rule or contract.
2.2 AboveBoardAI is a private, voluntary standard. It is not an ISO/IEC certification, not a CPA audit, attestation or assurance engagement, and not legal advice.
3.1 Maintain the practices evidenced at review; notify AboveBoard within 10 business days of a material change (loss of the accountable owner, withdrawal of the AI policy, a reportable AI-related incident).
3.2 Use the badge only under the badge terms.
3.3 Do not represent verification as covering AI outputs, as regulatory compliance, or as an endorsement by NIST, ISO, any regulator or any association.
4.1 A credible report of an AI-related incident at a listed firm (data exposure, sanction, regulatory action, published harmful output, misuse of the badge) triggers a review within 10 business days.
4.2 The review asks one question: did the firm's governance practices operate as evidenced? A firm whose controls worked (the incident was detected, escalated, disclosed and remediated under its own procedures) keeps its listing. A firm whose evidenced practices did not exist or were not followed is suspended pending remediation.
5.1 Grounds: failure of incident review (4.2); material misstatement in the assessment or evidence; badge misuse; non-payment; failure to notify under 3.1.
5.2 Effect: the registry entry shows "Suspended" with the date; the badge image served from aboveboardai.com is replaced with a suspended mark; the firm must remove static copies within 5 business days.
5.3 Duration: up to 90 days to remediate and re-submit evidence. Suspension is lifted on the certification officer's confirmation.
6.1 Grounds: fraud or knowing misstatement; failure to remediate within the suspension period; repeated badge misuse; conduct that brings the Standard into disrepute.
6.2 Effect: the listing is marked "Revoked" for twelve months, then removed. A revoked firm may re-apply after twelve months as a new applicant. Fees are not refunded on revocation.
7.1 Verification is valid for twelve months from the sign-off date. Firms are notified 90, 60 and 30 days before expiry. Expired listings are marked "Expired" for twelve months, then removed.
8.1 Anyone may complain about a listed firm, a reviewer, an officer or AboveBoardAI itself by writing to complaints@aboveboardai.com. Complaints are acknowledged within 3 business days and answered within 20 business days.
8.2 Complaints about a listed firm's AI practices are handled under Section 4. Complaints about AboveBoardAI's own conduct are escalated to the standards advisory panel.
9.1 A firm may appeal a score, level, suspension or revocation within 20 business days of notification by writing to appeals@aboveboardai.com with the grounds and any additional evidence.
9.2 Appeals are decided by a certification officer not involved in the original decision, or by the advisory panel, within 30 business days. The appeal decision is final within the AboveBoard process.
10.1 Assessment answers, evidence and reviewer findings are confidential to the firm and AboveBoardAI, retained for the verification period plus three years, and never published. Only the registry fields (firm, industry, location, level, score, dates, status) are public.
10.2 Aggregated, de-identified data may be used for benchmarks and research.
Questions about this policy: hi@aboveboardai.com. AboveBoardAI, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia.