Actor
Programme operator
Also: EPD programme operator · program operator · EPD program
The organisation that runs an EPD programme under ISO 14025: it publishes the general programme instructions, develops and maintains Product Category Rules, manages verification and registers and publishes EPDs.
A programme operator is the institutional backbone of an EPD system. ISO 14025 defines it as the body that conducts a Type III environmental declaration programme, and it is the entity that gives an EPD its formal standing.
Responsibilities
Programme operators publish general programme instructions, develop PCRs through open consultation, maintain lists of approved verifiers, review or oversee the verification of each EPD, register and publish declarations, and manage the validity period and any updates. Examples include The International EPD System (EPD International), IBU in Germany and EPD Norge in Norway.
The scaling challenge
The number of EPDs has grown rapidly, driven by procurement rules, green building schemes and regulation. Programme operators must keep verification consistent across many verifiers and many PCRs while reviewer capacity is limited. Our article on verification infrastructure argues that this infrastructure is the real product of any programme.
Where Verdatir fits
Verdatir gives programme operators a structured verification workflow: consistent rule application across verifiers, evidence-bound sign-off and an audit trail that supports mutual recognition and regulatory scrutiny.
Sources and further reading
In practice
Verdatir turns the rules behind this term into automated checks with a reviewer in the loop.
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