Procedure for Obtaining IMCA Diving Contractor Membership for an Affiliate Company

This Information Note supersedes Information Note 1529 (originally IMCA D 28/20) Extension of Diving Contractor Membership to an Affiliate in Another Region, which is withdrawn.

1 Introduction

An Affiliate Member of IMCA is an entity that owns, is owned by, or is under the same common ownership as an IMCA Member. IMCA Diving Contractor Members sometimes find it beneficial to establish affiliate companies located outside of the country where the Diving Division Member company has its base.

Affiliate Membership is available to affiliate companies of current IMCA Members that would like to:

• obtain IMCA Membership for an affiliate company based outside the Members’ home country or region (extra-national);
• obtain IMCA Membership for an affiliate company based within the Members’ home country (intra-national);
• apply for an additional category of membership.

Applications for Affiliate Membership are handled in the normal way using IMCA’s standard online Membership application form, but there is an additional process for affiliate companies seeking IMCA Diving Contractor Membership.

Affiliate Membership is charged at a reduced rate with the standard online Membership application fee and the basic Membership fee being waived, and only the divisional fee being applicable should the application be successful.

This Information Note is intended to set out the procedures to be followed by an existing Diving Division Contractor Member seeking to obtain Affiliate IMCA Diving Contractor Membership for one or more affiliate companies, either based outside the Member’s home country or region (extra-national) or based within the Members’ home country (intra-national).

Henceforward, this document will refer to such IMCA Diving Contractor Members as ‘Existing Members’.

2 Obtaining IMCA Diving Contractor Membership for Extra-National Affiliate Companies

1. Submit a standard IMCA Membership online application for Affiliate Membership in the name of the extranational affiliate company. See Apply for Membership – IMCA (imca-int.com) for details.
2. Prepare a declaration confirming that:
   a) the extra-national affiliate company has obtained professional advice from an insurance broker and that the insurance purchased by the company is considered appropriate;
   b) the extra-national affiliate company will regularly review the level of cover to ensure that it remains appropriate; and
   c) the extra-national affiliate company will maintain adequate insurance cover throughout the duration of its membership of IMCA.

Note:
Appendix 1 provides guidance on insurance from IMCA.
Appendix 2 is a Director’s Insurance Declaration Form that may be used for the purpose of satisfying this requirement.

The above declaration must be signed by a director of the Existing Member company and sent to [email protected] in electronic format.

3. Submit a Letter of Confirmations to IMCA satisfying the requirements set out in Appendix 3, Table 1. The template letter included in Appendix 3 may be used for this purpose. The letter must be signed by a director of the Existing Member company and sent as a PDF document to [email protected].
4. Provide IMCA with copies of the supporting documentation listed in Appendix 4, Table 2. The supporting documentation must be sent to [email protected] in electronic format.

Upon receipt of the above material, IMCA will issue a desktop audit invoice (see Appendix 5 for details). Upon receipt of payment IMCA will then undertake a series of administrative and technical reviews. IMCA will not begin considering the submitted material until the required desktop audit fee has been received. Incomplete submissions will be rejected. Only the specific material requested should be provided. The provision of poorly targeted or
irrelevant material will delay completion of the process.

Timescales for the completion of Affiliate Membership desktop audits will vary depending on the IMCA secretariat’s workload at the time when payment of the desktop audit invoice is received. Processing times can be up to two or three months.

During the course of the administrative and technical reviews:

• the standard IMCA Membership online application for Affiliate Membership in the name of the extra-national affiliate company will be subject to due diligence checks by the secretariat;
• the Director’s Insurance Declaration (Appendix 2) signed by a director of the Existing Member company will be reviewed;
• the Letter of Confirmations (Appendix 3) signed by a director of the Existing Member company will be reviewed;
• the Supporting Documentation (Appendix 4) will be reviewed for adequacy and completeness.

Once the full desktop audit has been successfully completed, IMCA reserves the right to undertake a formal onsite audit of the extra-national affiliate company should it consider this appropriate. If an on-site audit is to be undertaken:

• the reasons behind IMCA’s decision to undertake an on-site audit will be discussed with the extra-national affiliate company;
• a date will be agreed and the scope of the audit will be provided;
• the auditor(s) will visit the extra-national affiliate company and provide a written report to the IMCA Secretariat of their findings.

On successful completion of the above process, a recommendation will be made for the IMCA Operations Committee to consider the extra-national affiliate company for approval as an Affiliate IMCA Diving Contractor Member – this is a standard 2-week process. No commercially sensitive information will be distributed to the Operations Committee.

If the Operations Committee gives its approval, an invoice (pro-rated from the month of approval) for IMCA Diving Contractor Membership will be issued to the extra-national affiliate company. As noted previously, Affiliate Membership is charged at a reduced rate with the basic fee being waived and only the divisional fee being applicable.

Once payment is received, the affiliate company will receive its Membership certificate.

3 Obtaining IMCA Diving Contractor Membership for Intra-National Affiliate Companies

Very occasionally, Existing Members seek Affiliate IMCA Diving Contractor Membership for an affiliate company based within the same country. In such circumstances both the Existing Member and its affiliate company will be operating under the same national regulatory regime, should have excellent communications with one-another, and therefore the affiliate company should have no difficulties operating fully in accordance with the Existing
Member’s business management systems.

An Existing Member seeking Affiliate IMCA Diving Contractor Membership for an intra-national affiliate company will need to complete the following process.

1. Submit a standard IMCA Membership online application for Affiliate Membership in the name of the intra-national affiliate company. See Apply for Membership – IMCA (imca-int.com) for details.
2. Prepare a declaration confirming that:
   a) the intra-national affiliate company has obtained professional advice from an insurance broker and that the insurance purchased by the company is considered appropriate;
   b) the intra-national affiliate company will regularly review the level of cover to ensure that it remains appropriate; and
   c) the intra-national affiliate company will maintain adequate insurance cover throughout the duration of its membership of IMCA.

Note:
Appendix 1 provides guidance on insurance from IMCA.
Appendix 2 is a Director’s Insurance Declaration Form that may be used for the purpose of satisfying this requirement.

The above declaration must be signed by a director of the Existing Member company and sent to [email protected] in electronic format.

3. Submit a Letter of Confirmations to IMCA satisfying the requirements set out in Appendix 3, Table 1. The template letter included in Appendix 3 may be used for this purpose. The letter must be signed by a director of the Existing Member company and sent as a PDF document to [email protected].

Note: Intra-national Affiliate Membership is not charged a Membership fee. The standard online Membership application, the basic Membership and the divisional fees are waived. In addition, IMCA will not charge a desktop audit fee for intra-national Affiliate Diving Contractor Membership.

Upon receipt, IMCA will review the above material. Timescales for the completion of Affiliate Membership desktop audits will vary depending on the IMCA secretariat’s workload at the time. Processing times can be up to two or three months.

During the course of the review:

• the standard IMCA Membership online application for Affiliate Membership in the name of the intra-national affiliate company will be subject to due diligence checks by the secretariat;
• the Director’s Insurance Declaration (Appendix 2) signed by a director of the Existing Member company will be reviewed;
• the Letter of Confirmations (Appendix 3) signed by a director of the Existing Member company will be reviewed.

On successful completion of the above process a recommendation will be made to IMCA management for approval of the intra-national affiliate company as an Affiliate IMCA Diving Contractor Member.

If approval is received, a certificate of Membership will be issued to the intra-national affiliate company.

Please access the Information Note link to view Appendices.

For any additional information on the matters covered in this Information Note, please contact [email protected].