How we stay fair
Fees buy the process, never the outcome
A seal is only worth something if no one can buy it. This page sets out the rules that keep HCC's seal from being sold, who signs every check, and what a business is owed before a seal comes off.
The fairness rule and the never-seal rule below are published word for word from HCC's Fairness Rule and Never-Seal Policy. Nothing on this page names a person. HCC describes the people behind every check by their role.
On every record
"Businesses pay HCC an application fee and annual dues. Payment never changes the outcome of a check."
HCC keeps dues only when a place passes, so HCC earns more when places pass. That is why no one who checks, reviews or decides is paid more for a pass, the check system cannot see payments, and every seal needs two signatures and a committee decision. Refunding dues on a fail also means HCC never profits from failing a place.
Part A · The fairness rule
The rule
HCC status is never sold with, bundled with or discounted for anything else a business buys, from anyone.
What it means
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One price list.
Every business pays the same published prices: a $150 application fee per location, and dues of $500, $997 or $1,997 a year by level. No private deals, and no negotiated rates. Second and later locations of the same business pay dues 20% off, and the application fee stays $150 for every location. That rate is published and the same for everyone.
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Nothing else changes a result.
A check's result depends only on the HCC Standard and the evidence. Buying an HCC Service, redeeming a partner's perk, buying a listing or an ad on any directory, or buying anything else from anyone never changes a result, a level, a timeline, a place in the queue or an appeal.
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No bundles.
HCC never packages a check, a seal, a level or a membership with anything else: not with HCC Services, not with a partner's perk, not with a directory listing, not with advertising, and not with any product or service from anyone. No one else may do it either.
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No discounts tied to other purchases.
No one may offer a discount on HCC fees for buying something else, or a discount on something else for buying HCC status.
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What membership includes is on the price list.
The seal kit, the record, the courses and the perks partners offer at their own cost come with every membership at a level, the same for everyone at that level. They are part of the published price, not something extra a business buys.
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Fees buy the process, never the outcome.
The application fee pays for the check, pass or not. Dues are refunded if a check does not pass. Paid dues never protect a seal: a seal can come off mid-year for cause, after notice and appeal.
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The people who check are kept apart.
Every check has a checker and a second reviewer. An imam joins whenever possible, and on every Keystone file and every religious question. A standards committee decides each seal. Anyone with a tie to the business, to a competitor or to a supplier steps out. The person who helps a business prepare never checks it.
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Pay never depends on a result.
No one who checks, reviews or decides a seal is paid more for a pass than for a fail.
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HCC's member has no say in any single seal.
HCC's member elects the board. It has no role in deciding, checking or reviewing any seal.
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Every record says how HCC is paid.
Each record carries the line: "Businesses pay HCC an application fee and annual dues. Payment never changes the outcome of a check." A record also notes any HCC Service the business used in the past year.
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No ranking.
The Register never ranks one business above another, and any directory that shows HCC status under HCC's license may not boost a place because of it, unless the user chooses an HCC filter.
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The numbers are public.
HCC's transparency page shows how many applications passed, did not pass, and were told "not yet", and how long checks and concerns take.
In practice
How HCC keeps the rule
A rule is only as good as the way it is kept. These controls are built into HCC's systems and policies, so the rule holds from several directions at once. Every breach and its outcome is logged: a staff breach leads to discipline, a perk partner's breach to removal, and a directory's breach to suspension of its license.
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One price list
No custom prices
Prices live in one published table. The checkout reads only that table. No staff member can enter a custom price.
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Nothing else changes a result
The check cannot see purchases
The check system does not read purchase, perk, listing or payment records, other than whether the application is paid. The check workbench never shows them.
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No bundles
Services on their own line
Services sell on their own checkout line, never in the same purchase as a check. The terms for perk partners and for directories that show HCC status forbid bundles and pay-for-status.
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Helpers and checkers apart
Blocked in the system
HCC logs who delivered each service. The check system blocks that person from being assigned to that business, or to any location under the same ownership, as checker, second reviewer, imam reviewer or committee member.
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Recusal
Ties declared before every check
Every checker, second reviewer, imam reviewer and committee member declares any tie to the business, a competitor or a supplier before each check, and steps out if one exists. The declaration is kept in the check file.
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Pay never depends on a result
Flat pay, any outcome
Inspectors will be HCC employees paid per visit, the same for any outcome. The second reviewer is paid a flat fee per file, and the imam's institution a fee per file, never by the hour and the same for any outcome. Committee members receive no payment tied to results, and directors serve unpaid.
Who signs
Two signatures on every check, and a committee that decides
Nothing is published until the people its level needs have signed. Every record shows who signed it by role: checker, second reviewer, and imam where he took part.
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The checker
Does the desk review and the visit, builds the file and proposes an outcome.
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The second reviewer
A different person who did not do the visit. Reviews every document, the recording or notes, and the proposed outcome, then signs or sends it back.
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The imam
Joins whenever possible, and always on every Keystone file and every religious question. He advises; he does not grant or withdraw seals.
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The standards committee
Decides every seal on the signed file, under the published Standard. In HCC's first year of checks, the full committee decides every one. The committee is being formed now, with HCC's board, and no seal is decided until it is.
Notice and appeal
Before any seal comes off
HCC will not publicly humiliate a business for honest mistakes that are corrected. It is firm, not theatrical. In many cases HCC monitors, warns or offers guidance first. No seal is withdrawn or lowered without these steps.
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Notice
HCC sends the business a written notice that says what HCC found, the evidence it relies on (without revealing a person who raised a concern and did not consent), the requirement involved, what would fix it, and what HCC proposes.
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A chance to respond and fix
The business has 10 business days to respond, send its own evidence, and fix what can be fixed. HCC may do a re-check or an unannounced visit during this time.
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Decision
The standards committee decides. The checker and second reviewer of the original file, anyone with a tie to the business, a competitor or a supplier, and anyone who helped the business prepare, step out. The decision may be: no action, a warning with a written fix, a lower level, or withdrawal. The business receives it in writing, with its reasons.
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Appeal to people who did not decide
The business may appeal within 10 business days. A panel of three decides: its chair is an independent director, or a named alternate, with no tie to HCC's member, and the other two are reviewers who had no part in the original check or decision. If the imam took part in the decision and a religious question is involved, a different qualified scholar joins the panel. The panel may order a fresh check by a different checker, and it decides within 20 business days with written reasons.
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When it takes effect
A withdrawal or a lower level takes effect only after the appeal period ends without an appeal, or after the panel decides. Until then the published status stays as it was, but a seal never shows past its "Good through" date.
Part C · The never-seal rule
No seal for HCC's own
HCC never gives its seal to a business under the same ownership or control as HCC's member, including a business of the spouse or household of a person who owns HCC's member, or to a business owned or controlled by an HCC director, officer or committee member while that person serves. A business stays under this rule for 24 months after its tie ends.
- Such a business never carries an HCC seal at any level, and HCC never runs a seal check or an event check on it.
- It can appear in the Register only if an outside certifier with no tie to HCC has certified it. Its entry shows that certification as the certifier's statement, names the certifier, links to the certifier's own record, and carries one line: "Affiliated with HCC. Not eligible for an HCC seal."
- It may buy HCC Services at the published price, like anyone, except an event check. The person who helps it prepare never checks anything about it.
- HCC keeps a private list of these businesses, and its systems refuse a seal application from any business on it.
When the problem is HCC
A concern about HCC itself
HCC's value depends on honest checking, and the people inside HCC, or those who deal with it, are often the first to see a problem. If you believe someone connected to HCC changed a result, skipped a visit, hid a tie to a business, sold a seal with something else, mishandled money or evidence, or recorded anyone covertly, tell us.
- This line opens when HCC's independent directors are seated, before the first check.
- A report does not need proof, only a reasonable, good-faith belief. You may report anonymously.
- Reports are acknowledged within 3 business days when the reporter can be reached, and reviewed by someone with no tie to the people involved.
- HCC does not allow retaliation against anyone who reports in good faith or helps with a review.
- Nothing stops anyone from reporting to a government agency or to law enforcement, and HCC does not require a report inside HCC first.
A concern about a business, not about HCC, goes through Share a concern. If you are unsure which applies, either route works. We will redirect it.
The same rules, for every place, every time.
Read the Standard every check is held to, or see the live counts.