The Certified Sip is a community-driven standard. Two things hold it up. The first is that businesses earn the badge — they don't buy it, and they aren't enrolled by editors. The second is that the badge is enforceable. If a business stops holding the standard, the badge comes off. If the slip continues, the listing comes down.

What follows is the public version of how all of that works. Every owner who applies for the badge agrees to this in writing. Every customer who reports a concern is told this in advance. Nothing about the process is secret.

The pledge

The Certified Sip pledge is the thing every owner signs. The short version:

I commit to an exceptional quality of service and an exemplar inclusivity standard at my place of business. I understand the listing is reviewed annually, can be paused on credible complaint, and revoked if the standard is no longer met. I will not retaliate against any customer or staff member I believe filed a report.

The full pledge — including the response window, renewal cadence, and the retaliation clause — appears on the self-certification form. Owners can read every line before they sign.

Two paths to the badge

Customer-Selected

Five customers who don't know each other write in to nominate the same business — each describing a specific experience, each verifying their email — and the business is considered. We confirm the nominators are independent (no employees, no relatives, no competing-business owners), the nominations span at least 60 days (so a friend-blast doesn't count), and that at least one of them describes service to someone in a non-routine situation. The owner is then notified, given the anonymized summary, and offered the badge. They can accept, decline, or request to also go through the self-certification process.

Self-Certified

The other path is for owners who want to put themselves forward. The form is long. It asks five open-ended questions about how the business actually treats people, including one about where you've fallen short. It asks for written policies, training records, customer reviews, photos of physical accommodations, and three references — at least one of which we call. The form isn't designed to be hard for the sake of it. It's designed so that the badge means something. Generic answers signal generic service.

Both

A business that has been customer-nominated may also choose to add the self-certification process on top — earning a "both paths" notation. Customer-Selected businesses keep their badge either way; this isn't required. It's just available for owners who want to go further.

Reporting and accountability

A "Report a concern about this badge" link sits at the bottom of every Certified Sip listing. The form asks for a verified email, a date, a category, and a description (200 words minimum, because specifics are what separate concerns from venting). Bad- faith reports — the patterns are visible — are dismissed and logged.

Reports stack the way water on a stone stacks: slowly, and with increasing weight. Here's what the stack looks like.

• First and second verified reportThe owner is notified privately. The report is logged. No public action.
• Third verified report within 90 daysThe badge is suspended. The listing stays visible. A public-facing panel appears showing each report's date, category, and an anonymized 1–2 sentence summary the editor writes. The owner has 14 days to publish a formal response alongside each report.
• Two more reports during the six-month watch periodFull delisting. The business is removed from the active directory. Re-application is permitted after 24 months. (A verified ownership change can reduce the wait — different owners, different standard.)
• Twelve months without further reportsThe badge is automatically restored. A small historical note stays on the listing — the suspension was real and shouldn't be erased — but the badge is back.

The math is intentional. Three reports in 90 days is a pattern, not an unlucky day. Five reports across two windows is a standard the business is no longer holding. Twelve months clean is enough to demonstrate that the slip wasn't permanent.

How reporters stay anonymous

The default is anonymous. When you file a report, the owner never sees your name unless you explicitly uncheck the "Keep my identity anonymous" box. The public summary that appears on the listing is anonymized further — stripped of identifying details, condensed to 1–2 sentences, written by the editor. No reporter has ever been outed by this process and none ever will be.

One related rule the pledge requires: the owner agrees not to retaliate against any customer or staff member they believe filed a report. Retaliation is itself a category of report and accelerates the accountability process. This protects you for telling us the truth.

Bi-annual renewal

Every two years, the owner submits a renewal form — lighter than the original self-certification, but enough to confirm the standard is still being held. Lapsed renewals archive the listing. The badge isn't a one-time award; it's an ongoing commitment.

One last thing

The point of this process is the promise that comes with the badge: when you walk into a Certified Sip business, you do not have to brace yourself. That's it. That's the whole thing. If we ever find ourselves protecting the badge instead of the customers it exists for, we should rethink the badge.