Make a complaint

We hope you never need to reach this page to raise concerns about the conduct of an IEMA member, but if you do then it’s important you have all the information you need to proceed.

How to make a complaint and what to expect

It can be difficult to know whether something is worth reporting or not, but essentially, if you have any concerns about an IEMA member’s conduct, please get in touch with us. If it doesn’t go anywhere because the nature of the complaint is not covered by a disciplinary process, we won’t progress things any further. If there is a legitimate case to investigate, you will have done the right thing in bringing it to our attention and we will begin an investigation.

Not sure whether you have a complaint about a member? Contact us to talk it through – we can help you decide.

How to make a complaint

Download and complete the complaint form and e-mail it to Professional Standards. Please note, this form is only for reporting breaches of IEMA member conduct – this isn’t where you complain about IEMA, a member of staff, our customer service, or a company that you are unhappy with.

IEMA Complaints Process Diagram

What happens next?

Once we have received your complaint, the process below will be triggered:

  • A member of the Professional Standards Team will contact you within two working days to acknowledge that we have received details of your complaint.
  • If the complaint is valid and upheld by our Professional Standards Committee, there are various sanctions that could be placed on the member. You can read all about it in our Disciplinary Procedure.

What if someone complains about my conduct?

When someone makes a complaint about your conduct to us, the IEMA Professional Standards team will review the complaint to see whether it is within the scope of IEMA’s Disciplinary Procedure. We look to see if it is a legitimate complaint that needs further investigation. If it isn’t then the complaint will be dismissed and no further action taken.

If the complaint needs to be investigated, we will contact you and provide details of the complaint, and ask you to provide your account of what happened and provide any supporting evidence. If the investigation determines that there is a case to answer, we will then organise a disciplinary hearing. The purpose of which is to enable a Disciplinary Panel to establish the facts of the complaint. You will be invited to the hearing to make your case. The Panel will then deliberate in private to reach a decision on whether, on the balance of probabilities, misconduct has occurred.

If the Panel decides misconduct has taken place, you will have a further opportunity to present a statement of mitigation before they determine what sanction to enforce. See the Disciplinary Procedure for more information.

You will have the opportunity to appeal any decision that is made. See the Disciplinary Procedure for more information.

Disciplinary Procedure
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