Terms & conditions

An assessment under the Sustained Travel Framework is an independent review of an operator’s practices across five areas, conducted against the Framework’s published methodology. It produces a rating that reflects the evidence submitted and reviewed at a specific point in time. It is not an endorsement of the operator as a whole, and it does not extend to activities, locations, or brands outside the scope the operator declared when the assessment was opened.

Every piece of evidence an operator submits — a written answer, a policy document, a dated record — is warranted by the submitting person to be genuine and accurate. This means the operator is representing that the evidence reflects an actual practice, actually in place, actually described the way it is described. An assessor reviewing that evidence is entitled to rely on this warranty without independently re-verifying every underlying fact.

Results are private by default. An operator’s rating, and the evidence underlying it, is visible only to the operator and to the personnel involved in producing and reviewing the assessment. Nothing about a result is made public, referenced externally, or shared with any third party as a result of the assessment process itself.

A result stays confidential until the operator purchases a Publication Licence covering that specific result. Completing an assessment and receiving a rating does not, by itself, create any right to display, publish, or refer to that rating. The licence is what converts a private result into one the operator may use.

Without a current Publication Licence for the result in question, an operator must not display it, refer to it, or use it in any commercial context — on a website, in marketing material, in a proposal, or anywhere else a third party might see it. A licence purchased for one result does not extend to a different result from a later or earlier assessment.

If evidence submitted for an assessment is found to be false or materially misleading, the assessment may be suspended pending inquiry. Where the finding is confirmed, any rating already issued from that evidence may be voided, and any Publication Licence built on it may be terminated. Termination on this basis carries no refund of any fee already paid.

An operator affected by a suspension, a voided rating, or a terminated licence may appeal the decision. An appeal is reviewed by someone who was not party to the original finding, and the operator will be told the outcome and the reasoning behind it.

The assessment evaluates the evidence an operator provides, at the time it is provided. It does not promise any particular rating, and a rating obtained in one assessment cycle is not a fixed entitlement in the next — each cycle is assessed on its own evidence.

Nothing in these terms creates an ongoing obligation beyond what is described here. Where a specific arrangement with an operator says something different, that arrangement governs for the matter it covers.

This document is pending solicitor review. It reflects the Sustained Travel Framework's operative policies as drafted.