Verifiers

General Info Individual Verifiers Accredited Certification Bodies Resources

Verifiers approved within the International EPD System (IES) carry out the third-party verification of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Verifiers in the IES can be either approved individual verifiers or accredited certification bodies.

Third-party verifiers must have the appropriate knowledge and experience relevant to the product type, industry, applicable standards, and geographical scope of the EPD. They must also have the language skills necessary to independently undertake and complete verification assignments, including proficiency in English and the language used in the LCA report, where applicable.

Contracted verifiers are responsible for reviewing the EPD in accordance with the General Programme Instructions (GPI) and a valid Product Category Rules (PCR) document. They must document the review in a verification report in English and inform their clients about the requirements related to the publication of an EPD.

For more detailed information about the responsibilities and obligations of verifiers, see General Programme Instructions (GPI).

Note: EPD verification may only be carried out by approved individual verifiers or accredited certification bodies within the International EPD System.

The verification process shall be carried out by an approved Individual Verifier or an Accredited Certification Body with knowledge and experience of the types of products, the industry, and relevant standards of the product covered by the EPD and its geographical scope.

There are two types of EPD verification procedures in the International EPD System as one of the steps in developing an EPD. Both procedures result in a third-party verified EPD that is in compliance with the referenced PCR and our General Programme Instructions (GPI):

Individual verification: verification of LCA-based data, additional environmental information, and other information presented in an EPD based on the GPI and a valid reference PCR. This shall be conducted by an approved Individual Verifier or an Accredited Certification Body.
Verification via EPD process certification: verification of an internal organisational process aimed to develop EPDs based on the General Programme Instructions and valid reference PCRs covered under the scope of the certification. EPD process certification shall be conducted by an Accredited Certification Body.

Individual Verifiers 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., the manufacturer and verifier arrange the process from contacting to signing of the contract for verification. The Secretariat recommends manufacturers to contact 2-3 independent verifiers when requesting a quote for verification.

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., the manufacturer and Accredited Certification Body manage the process from contacting to signing of the contract for verification resp. certification. The Secretariat recommends manufacturers to contact 2-3 Accredited Certification Bodies when requesting a quote.

Here we inform about the requirements your organisation will need to meet and the procedure.

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 seeking to gain expertise in EPD verification within our system, we offer a peer shadowing programme (Section 4.10.3.2 GPI 4.0). You can co-verify an EPD of an approved EPD Verifier.

Verifiers

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