Verification Timeframes and Formal Notices
GSQA-PRG-008
Normal period
A specific request for further information or an outcome is normally issued within three to six months of first formal submission. The unique receipt and snapshot establish submission; drafts, individual uploads, enquiries and external payments do not start the clock. General progress updates do not replace a specific request or reasoned result.
Six-month deadline
At six calendar months after the first formal submission, if neither a substantive document request nor an outcome has been issued, record a procedural expiry without an award and generate a formal notice. Retain the original date and reasons. Procedural review may be requested. The outcome does not establish technical nonconformity.
Additional documents and subsequent responses
The usual response period is 20 calendar days. One extension, normally no longer than 20 calendar days, may be requested before expiry. After complete additional material is received, state the next response date, normally within three months. Repeated generic notices must not reset the clock indefinitely.
Delivery and failures
The applicant centre retains the full notice, annexes, number, time and status. Email transmission and its outcome reflect actual records; no successful record means no delivered label. Missing or inaccessible notices, access disputes and system failures are documented and examined, not resolved by an automatic success message.
The clock starts at formal submission
Time runs from the unique formal-submission receipt. Drafts, uploads and enquiries do not start the clock. Retain the first submission time, scope, rule version and document snapshot.
Specific requests for additional documents
A response is normally due within 20 calendar days after receipt of the notice. With reasonable grounds, one extension, normally no longer than 20 calendar days, may be requested before the deadline. After complete additional material is received, state the next response date, normally within three months.
No substantive response for six months
If six calendar months have elapsed since the first formal submission without a specific document request or outcome, create a procedural-expiry record without an award and provide a formal notice. This is not technical nonconformity and does not create a public blacklist.
Progress updates do not replace a formal response
Automatic receipts, generic progress updates and repetition of the same question cannot reset the first submission date. Once a genuine document request has been issued, the next specific response date must still be met. Waiting cannot be extended indefinitely.
Reviewing procedures and decisions
System failures, missing notices and procedural expiry may be raised for procedural examination. Formal decisions affecting the party may be challenged under GSQA-REV-002, normally within thirty calendar days of receipt and without charge. Disputed receipt or late causes are examined on the facts, not used as unilateral labels eliminating other rights.
Further information, extensions and next response
The normal reply period is twenty calendar days after receiving a specific request. A reasoned extension may be requested before expiry once, normally for no more than twenty calendar days. After complete additional information, a specific next date is given, normally within three months. Remaining deficiencies are identified precisely; repetitive general notices cannot reset the clock indefinitely.
Dates and procedural outcomes
Retain actual dates and versions for first submission, specific notices, additional information, extensions, completeness and outcomes. Six calendar months without substantive further-information requirements or an outcome produces a procedural-expiry non-award record and notice stating reasons and a review route. This is not technical nonconformity or a brand blacklist and must not invent an earlier substantive reply.