Get your food business verified
What is a verification?
A Verification is when an appropriately recognised verifier visits your premises to make sure your food business is selling safe food and following good food safety practices. Verifiers will check a range of topics depending on what a business is doing and what plan or programme they are operating to. There are some topics that need to be checked at every verification and others that will be checked over successive verifications.
All registered food businesses need to be checked (verified) by a recognised verification agency. Council is accredited under ISO 17020 for verification services and can check businesses registered under Template Food Control Plans (tFCP) or National Programmes (NP).
A verification usually includes:
- an on-site check of your food business by the Verifier
- a report completed by the Verifier of their findings and any recommendations or corrective actions
- a close-out of the verification if the verifier did identify corrective actions
Frequency of verifications
For a new food business, the first verification will be carried out within the first six weeks of registration and operating your business. One of our Environmental Health Officers will be in contact to make an appointment to come and do this.
After your initial verification, the frequency of subsequent verifications will depend on the complexity of your food processes, the types of food you sell, and how well you manage food safety. Verification may be needed as often as every 3 months or just once every 18 months.
Cost of verifications
An invoice will be sent to you after each verification and must be paid by the allocated due date. Verifications are charged out at a set fee amount which covers 2 hours of the verifiers time. If the verifier spends longer than 2 hours on your verification, their subsequent time will be charged in half hour blocks. The size of your food business and the complexity of your processes can affect how long your verification will take.
If you have corrective actions that you need to address as a result of your verification, you may receive a further invoice for additional time spent by the verifier.
Click here to view our current verification fees.