Statement on the Qualitop Relaunch 2021

IG Fitness Schweiz informed on 11 November 2020 about the new orientation of the Qualitop label. Due to the information about the Qualitop Relaunch 2021 we have been confronted in the past weeks with various allegations in connection with the reorientation of Qualitop. For this reason, we comment on the following allegations.

IG Fitness is trying to bring unrest into the world of training and courses under the name “Qualitop”.

There can be no question of a cover. The fact that IG Fitness Switzerland is the sponsor of the “Qualitop” label has always been made transparent. For example, every paper says “Qualitop, by IG Fitness” and in our written offer to customers it is emphasized that the owner of the quality brand “Qualitop” is IG Fitness Switzerland. Qualitop’s homepage also transparently explains who is behind Qualitop (see FAQ, question “Who is behind Qualitop?”). And anyway: what interest should IG Fitness Switzerland have in acting as an alleged troublemaker?

If you stay with QualiCert AG, there will be no change for you.

This statement is false. The QualiCert AG is hiding the fact that from 01 January 2021 it will no longer be entitled to award the “Qualitop” label. The corresponding certification agreement (contract between IG Fitness and QualiCert AG) was already terminated in June 2020. Conclusion: QualiCert AG will no longer be able to certify you under the “Qualitop” label from 01 January 2021.

If you choose the procedure of Qualitop (IG Fitness), you would have to go through a complex admission procedure.

This statement is false. All you have to do is sign our offer form in which you accept the conditions (which is a matter of course in business transactions).

QualiCert AG advises that a right of withdrawal should be exercised vis-à-vis Qualitop because Qualitop is not contractually capable.

This statement is doubly false. First, there is no general right of withdrawal. And secondly, Qualitop is contractable in so far as the organisation Qualitop can enter into contracts in its field of activity for IG Fitness. If it is important to you that IG Fitness Schweiz confirms this legal fact specifically, we can send you an additional confirmation. QualiCert AG will attempt to induce you to breach the contract, which is unfair and may also be punishable by law.

QualiCert AG claims that all the money you pay in connection with certification goes to IG Fitness or even to the coffers of the chain operators.

Most of the money goes to the certifiers, who do the main work. Only a small part is intended for the Qualitop organisation to cover its general costs. IG Fitness is also organised as an association and as such is not profit-oriented. Our aim is to enable fitness providers to obtain certification at attractive conditions.

QualiCert AG criticises that IG Fitness (as the owner of the Qualitop standard) would define the criteria of the standard itself and then test the standard itself.

It is not true that IG Fitness sets the criteria of the standard itself. The standards are developed by standardization committees with the involvement of industry representatives, both member companies of IG Fitness and non-members (cf. FAQ, question “What standards are there? Is there an official Swiss standard (SN)?
It is also not true that IG Fitness would test the standard itself. In the past, QualiCert AG has taken over this task and in the future several independent certifiers will do so. Apparently QualiCert AG is only now becoming annoyed by this division of tasks because it is no longer one of the certifiers and has lost its monopoly position.

QualiCert AG claims to be the legal successor to Qualitop and still exists today as a joint stock company.

This allegation concerns only the pure company name and has nothing to do with the Qualitop standard – which is the subject of this case. Today’s QualiCert AG was originally founded decades ago (1997) as an association with the name Qualitop. However, since 2009 QualiCert AG is no longer entitled to the Qualitop standard in any way. We cannot therefore see what QualiCert AG is trying to say with its formally not incorrect (but irrelevant) assertion. Two different things are probably deliberately simply mixed together.