CSA Policy Statement

This CSA Confidentiality Agreement (the "Agreement") is entered into as of the date of your acceptance (the "Effective Date") by and between you and Compliance Services and Assessments, LC. (CSA) of Greenbrier, Arkansas. By taking a CSA Assessment you agree to the terms of this Agreement. In consideration of the mutual covenants and promises contained herein, you and CSA agree as follows:

1. Definitions
   1. "Qualification(s)" indicates that the individual has successfully passed a test in the respective discipline as offered by CSA to demonstrate minimum competency as required by a respective jurisdiction.
   2. "Assessment(s)" means an Assessment offered by CSA under this agreement which CSA in its sole discretion may change from time-to-time without advance written notice.
   3. "Partner(s)" means CSA Business Partners who holds a current contractual agreement with CSA. In its sole discretion, CSA may change its Business Partners from time-to-time without advance written notice.
2. Qualification
   1. Qualification Requirements. To become CSA Qualified, you must successfully pass a written test demonstrating minimum competency in the respective field. If you meet these requirements, you will receive a certificate and ID card with designation of demonstrating minimum qualifications from CSA signifying your accomplishment. Requirements, including any pre-requisites, training recommendations, testing information, re-testing, candidate conduct policies, are available on the CSA website at www.CSAexams.com. CSA reserves the right to change the program without notice. Such changes may include, without limitation: adding or deleting available Assessments, modifying qualification requirements, recommended training courses, testing objectives, outlines and/or exams. You agree to meet the then-current requirements, as changed, as a condition of obtaining and maintaining your Qualifications.
   2. Qualification Revocation. CSA may at its sole discretion revoke any and all Qualifications you may have earned, and permanently ban you from earning future Qualifications, under any of the following circumstances:
      1. If you have falsely represented your qualifications;
      2. If you have tampered with or altered your CSA ID card or certificate; or
      3. If you breach any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement; or
      4. If CSA determines, in its sole discretion, that you have undertaken or participated in any action that could be considered as compromising the integrity and confidentiality of an examination, Qualification, or Assessment.
3. Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Ownership
   1. Confidentiality. You agree that the contents of the exam are confidential and that the disclosure of that information could compromise the integrity of the Assessment and of Qualifications. CSA makes exams available to you solely to test your knowledge of the exam subject matter for which you seek Qualification. You are expressly prohibited from disclosing, publishing, reproducing, or transmitting any exam and any related information including, without limitation, questions, answers, worksheets, computations, drawings, diagrams, length or number of exam segments or questions, or any communications, including oral communication regarding or related to the exam (known collectively as "Proprietary Information"), in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, oral or written, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the prior express written permission of CSA.
   2. Intellectual Property Ownership. CSA retains all rights, title and interest in and to all Assessments and related information, content, data, exams, materials, and all copyrights, patent rights, trademark rights and other proprietary rights therein. All rights not expressly granted by CSA to you are expressly reserved to CSA.
4. Term and Termination
   1. Term. The term of this Agreement is perpetual.
   2. Termination by CSA. CSA may, in its sole discretion, terminate this Agreement at any time if you breach any of the material terms of this Agreement, or if you violate or fail to meet any Assessment requirements, or if following a review CSA finds you at fault for any violation of these terms.
   3. Notice. CSA will provide you written notice of termination at your last known address. Termination shall be effective as of the date set forth in the notice. CSA, without waiving its right to immediately terminate this Agreement, may provide you with thirty (30) days to correct any default ("Cure Period"). If CSA permits such a Cure Period, your failure to cure any default within the Cure Period shall automatically cause the termination of this Agreement without further notice.
   4. Effect of Termination. Upon the termination of this Agreement, you shall immediately cease to represent yourself as CSA Qualified.
5. Limitation of Liability
   1. In no event shall CSA be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential damages, including lost profits, or any kind regardless of the form of action, whether in contract tort (including negligence), strict liability, or otherwise, even if the party has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation will apply notwithstanding any failure of essential purpose of any limited remedy provided herein.
   2. Although CSA has multiple systems in place to ensure servers, software, and computers are properly functioning, technical issues may arise outside of our control.  CSA is not liable for indirect, special, incidental, consequential damages, including lost profits, wages, travel expenses, or other expenses beyond the cost of an assessment due to technical issues.  If a participant is not able to complete a scheduled test due to technical issues with any of our systems or partners systems, one re-test will be provided at no cost for the respective test.
6. Privacy and delivery of qualification information to third parties
   1. CSA is a global company and may share your personal information with other CSA offices or Partners only as necessary to register and deliver your Assessments or to verify your Qualifications. CSA may provide limited information such as your name, company, Qualification(s), Qualification ID card number, date taken, expiration date, and contact information with an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) or an agent of your employer as indicated in our records in order that they may verify your qualification(s). All parties with which CSA shares your personal information are governed by this Agreement or are bound by appropriate confidentiality and data transfer agreements.
      1. CSA often receives requests from third parties such as an AHJ or employers, to verify an individual’s Qualification status. CSA may, but has no obligation to, provide such information about your Qualification status to others. In such situations, CSA will provide limited information in its possession and will depend on you to periodically verify that such information is correct. CSA shall have no liability for providing incorrect information to third parties in response to a proper request to verify your Qualification status.
   2. Your personal information will not be shared or sold to any outside parties for use other than verification of Qualification as outlined above without your permission.
7. Assignments
   1. You may not assign any rights, licenses or obligations received under this Agreement to anyone. Any attempted assignment in violation of this Agreement shall be null and void and without effect.
8. Miscellaneous
   1. Waiver and Modification. You waive any right to challenge the validity and enforceability of this Agreement on the grounds that it was transmitted and entered into electronically. You agree that entering into the Agreement electronically is equivalent to signing the Agreement. Failure by either of us to enforce any provision of this Agreement will not be deemed a waiver of future enforcement of that or any other provision. Any waiver, amendment or other modification of any provision of this Agreement will be effective only if in writing and signed by both you and CSA.
   2. Severability. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of this Agreement to be unenforceable, that provision of the Agreement will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as to affect the intent of the provision, and remainder of this Agreement will continue in full force and effect.
   3. Survival. Sections 3 and 5 shall survive termination of this Agreement.
   4. Controlling Law and Jurisdiction.
      1. This Agreement and any action related thereto shall be governed, controlled, interpreted, and defined by and under the laws of the Sate of Arkansas within the United States, without regard to its conflicts of laws provisions. Unless otherwise waived by CSA at its sole discretion, exclusive jurisdiction and venue of any action arising out of or relating to this Agreement shall be the Court of Arkansas for the County of Faulkner or the United States District Court for the District of Arkansas.
   5. Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and CSA with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter.
   6. Notices. All notices sent or required to be sent shall be in writing or be e-mail to the other party at address for the other party set forth below, or such other address as is provided in writing or via e-mail to the other. It shall be your sole responsibility to ensure that CSA has a current address for you.

CSA Assessment Refund Policy, Terms, and Conditions

By requesting a schedule authorization, or requesting to sit for an assessment, the participant or participants representative is agreeing to the terms and conditions outlined in this document, on the CSA web site, and by the proctoring agency such as ACT, Inc.  If a participants representative is processing the request, it is his/her responsibility to provide the participant with all applicable terms, conditions, instructions, study information, and guidelines for the assessment.

CSA recognizes that situations arise that require schedules to be changed.   However, we are also obligated to making sure that those needing to take an assessment quickly, such as when a project is being held up, are given the first available date.  On occasion we will have individuals that fail to properly prepare, don't schedule work activities, or decide at the last minute that they are not ready for an assessment.  These individuals will often try to reschedule at the last minute or will not even show up.  This results in an empty seat that could have been filled by another person needing to take an assessment.  In addition, CSA encounters various fees for individuals that are processed and then fail to show.   Therefore, we must take a strict stance on schedule changes and refunds.   Substitutions of other participants are not allowed.  While some testing organizations will require 30 or even 90 days notice to change a schedule without new payments if they will even allow changes, CSA only requires 3 business days notice for AHJ proctored assessments and 3 days for ACT assessments.

THIS CRITERIA IS FOR ASSESSMENTS PROCTORED BY A LOCAL JURISDICTION:

Changes to assessment schedules require minimum 3 business days notice.   Failure to provide three (3) business days notice will generally  require payment of a new assessment fee and completion of a new schedule request.  Any request to change a schedule MUST be emailed to us 3 business days in advance.  Requests by phone will not be accepted.  If you have received a schedule notice within 3 days of a scheduled assessment you must notify us of a change within 24 hours of the time/date indicated on your email notice.  The date/time of the email will serve as the official time of the notice.  Time zone changes will be credited in your favor.

Assessments scheduled through our automated scheduling service (ACT, Inc.) are bound by different criterion outlined within that services screens.

One schedule change request providing at least three (3) business days notice will be processed for each person without charge.  A second request to change the same assessment schedule may incur a $25 fee.  Additional requests will require a new fee of the full amount in addition to a new request being submitted via our web site (same as the initial request).

When assessments are proctored at a local code authority, exceptions for documented medical emergencies within the family or to the individual will be evaluated upon request with submittal of documentation for review.   Families are important to CSA and we will review doctors medical excuses if you have to miss to take care of sick children.  A doctors note is required for any medical emergency exception.  Other extenuating circumstances that cause you to miss an assessment will be reviewed on a case by case bases and all decisions of CSA are final.   Such review will general require documentation.  There will generally be no refunds issued if you did not at least email us with intent of missing an assessment prior to the scheduled assessment time.  Thus, if you will miss an assessment for a medical condition, please send us an email before your assessment time and then follow up with documentation.

National holidays, Saturday, and Sunday are not considered business days.

If a credit card payment is disputed and a chargeback is placed against CSA or a CSA partnering agency it will be investigated.  If the charge is found by CSA to be justified and all services where delivered per our policies then that individual and/or company at CSA's discretion may be denied from scheduling or sitting for any future assessments until the dispute is resolved and all debts have been paid in full including any additional service fees incurred in handling the dispute.  If an ID card and/or certificate has been issued and then a dispute is initiated, CSA reserves the right to demand return of the ID card and/or certificate until dispute is resolved and found in favor of the individual/company.  CSA reserves the right to require payment of an additional $30 investigation fee if it is found that all services where delivered in accordance with outlined policies and the chargeback was resolved in favor of CSA.   CSA will not be liable or responsible for delays incurred due to investigating, processing, scheduling, or other such activities.  CSA will not be responsible or held liable for construction or inspection delays of a project for failure to have a qualified person as required by a jurisdiction.

ASSESSMENTS ADMINISTERED AT ONE OF OUR CONTRACTED PROCTORING FACILITIES SUCH AS ACT, INC.:

Assessments paid and/or scheduled with one of our contracted proctoring facilities are also bound and regulated by their terms and conditions.  These will be indicated within their web site and email notices. 

If not specified otherwise by the proctoring agency you must schedule and take your assessment within 60 days of being notified that you have been approved to sit for an assessment.  You may make changes on-line up to three days before your scheduled assessment.  Once a payment is made there will be NO REFUNDS or substitutions. 

CHEATING OR MISREPRESENTATION

Some assessments, including all ACT proctored assessments, are video and audio recorded.  Any person caught, video taped, or appearing to conduct suspicious activities related to cheating or copying question information will be subject to administrative actions and review.  Participants caught cheating or conducting suspicious activities during the assessment may be asked to leave the assessment and the test center.  Following review by CSA staff and formal notification of findings to the participant or contact person, a person found to have conducted inappropriate activities may be disqualified from receiving a passing grade and may be banned from future CSA assessments.  Any payments will be forfeited.  A participant will have 14 calendar days from receiving formal notification of administrative action to appeal an administrative decision.  Appeals must be received by email at info@CSAexams.com or by certified mail at the address on the cover of this document or as provided on our web site.  If sent by email, it is the participants’ responsibility to ensure that we received and acknowledged receipt of the appeal.  Failure to follow the outlined procedures will forfeit the participants’ rights to an appeal.  No refunds will be issued. 

Assessment scores presented at the time of the assessment are preliminary scores and are not final until validated by CSA staff.  Receipt of an ID card and/or certificate will be final confirmation of a passing score.  Participants may challenge specific questions by following criteria outlined later in this document.  There may be additional charges to challenge questions.

CSA cards and certificates are the property of Compliance Services and Assessments, LC (CSA).  Misrepresentation of an individual’s qualification, use by another person, representation for other than demonstrating minimum qualifications through computer based assessments, or other inappropriate use of the card or certificate will be grounds for administrative action.  This may include recovery of the card, certificate, or other such documentation and revocation of qualifications.  A local AHJ, authorized agent, or CSA representative is authorized to take possession of such documents and return to CSA. 

On occasion CSA will receive complaints about an individual’s work ethics, quality of work, or failure to comply with minimum codes.  Such actions compromise the reputation and quality of any qualification body.  Upon such documented complaints CSA may initiate an investigation into the validity of such claims.  If it is found that the individual is not representing themselves in a professional manner or is performing work in violation of recognized codes, CSA reserves the right to take possession of CSA documents pending the outcome of a formal investigation.  During such formal investigation CSA will notify the individual in writing and provide the individual with the opportunity to defend the claims made against them.  The individual will be required to respond in the times outlined in the notification.

CSA qualification assessments have expiration dates which may vary by assessment and jurisdiction.  These dates will be indicated on the ID card and certificate.  Typical expirations are three years from the month the assessment was passed.  It is the individual’s responsibility to re-qualify prior to the end of the expiration month.  If the individual keeps their contact information up to date with CSA via email or our web site, we will attempt to notify the participant in advance.  However, we do not guarantee this as many people move around, change email addresses, or use spam filters that may block our emails.  To re-qualify the individual must take a new test with new fees.   Although yearly continuing education is important, to ensure that participants are up to date with the latest codes and requirements for the respective discipline, CSA requires new assessments to be taken and passed.

To ensure that you receive email notifications we suggest you add csaexams.com, info@csaexams.com, and ACT.org to your authorized sites or address books as directed by your email service providers guidelines.  Neither CSA nor ACT can be held responsible for blocked emails.  If you are expecting a notification and have not gotten it, please check your spam and/or junk folders.

Any checks or payments returned for insufficient funds will be assessed a fee equal to the amount charged CSA by a banking institution or one of our partners.  An additional processing fee of $30 may be charged for CSA time in handling the returned payment.

Questions about any policies shall be submitted to CSA in writing before accepting terms and processing a payment.  By processing you have agreed to these terms and conditions.

CSA

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