Accredited Certification Bodies

Accredited Certification Bodies

The listed Accredited Certification Bodies can be mandated by the manufacturer to conduct

  • EPD verification (identical to independent verifiers)
  • for EPD Process Certification.
    EPDs developed in a certified EPD process shall be considered as equal to a third-party certified EPD.

Only Accredited Certification Bodies currently listed on this page are approved by EPD International AB to carry out EPD verification and EPD Process Certification to The International EPD System.

Accredited Certification Bodies work independently and without the direct involvement of the Secretariat in seeking out assignments; the Secretariat is independent and not involved in this market transaction. I.e. manufacturer and Accredited Certification Body manage the process from contacting to signing of the contract for verification resp. ceritification. The Secretariat recommends manufacturers to contact 2-3 Accredited Certification Bodies when requesting a quote.

When you want to get the contact details for the Accredited Certification Bodies, please log-in to our EPD Portal. For guidance, refer to our FAQ section: "How do I get in touch with a verifier?"

Go to EPD Portal

Accredited Certification Bodies

Name

Accredited by

Interested to register as an Accredited Certification Body at The International EPD System?

To get the details, please read the information on this page and in our GPI (section 4.10 ff.) with care. Amongst others, here we inform about the requirements your organisation will need to meet and the procedure.

General information (more details in our GPI)
The verifier (i.e. an individual or a team of individuals within a certification body) shall be independent and have the following competencies.

General product certification competencies:
The general requirements regarding competence for certification bodies are specified in ISO/IEC 17065:2012 "Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services", Sections 6.1 and 6.2.

Specific competencies related to EPD and verification, including:

  • general knowledge of industry and product-related environmental matters,
  • good process and product knowledge, including relevant standards, within the product sector in which the verifier intends to perform verifications,
  • in-depth knowledge and/or experience of LCA methodology, including ISO 14040/14044,
  • in-depth knowledge of the relevant standards in the field of environmental labelling and declarations, including ISO 14020 and ISO 14025,
  • in-depth knowledge of the International EPD System, including the General Programme Instructions,
  • knowledge of ISO/TS 14071 LCA Critical Review Process and Reviewer Competencies, and ISO 19011 Guidelines for Auditing Management Systems,
  • knowledge in the overall regulatory framework in which the concept of EPDs has
  • been introduced, and
  • experience in reviewing LCAs verification of EPDs, or the equivalent.
  • Sufficient proficiency in English to read and understand the General Programme Instructions, PCR, and EPD and to document the verification in a verification report in English.

Specific competence requirements for certification bodies
In general, the team of personnel carrying out the verification in a certification body should have:

  • at least three years of experience with audits in the specific sector of activity, and
  • at least three witness audits in verifying EPDs with a more experienced verifier.

In case the verifier is a body that lacks the necessary competence among its own employees, they shall have such competence at the management level that makes it possible:

  • to determine the extent of sufficient competence (as described above) needed for carrying out the verification,
  • to recruit or contract competent personnel for carrying out reviews and to ensure that they receive adequate training and introduction, and
  • to ensure that review and verification are carried out in a correct manner.

Shadowing Program for you who are LCA experts, but need verification experience:
For LCA experts that need to gain expertise in EPD verification in our system we offer the peer shadowing programme (section 4.10.3.2 GPI 4.0). You can co-verify an EPD of an approved EPD verifier.

Accreditation Bodies

Approval of certification bodies shall be made by accreditation bodies that shall to take part in international cooperation and follow multinational agreements such as EA or IAF MLA (Multinational Agreements). There is also a standard for accreditation bodies related to such activities (ISO/IEC 17011).

The accreditation bodies currently known accrediting certification bodies for EPD verification and/or EPD Process Certification, or expressing interest in doing so are listed below:

America

Europe

The listed accreditation bodies may be able to perform their services in other countries as well.