Method
Third-party verification
Also: independent verification · EPD verification · external verification
The independent check, required by ISO 14025 for EPDs, that a declaration and its underlying LCA conform to the applicable standards and Product Category Rules, performed by a verifier independent of the declaring organisation.
Third-party verification is the step that turns an LCA study into a declaration that others can rely on. A verifier, approved by the programme operator and independent of the manufacturer and the LCA practitioner, checks the declaration against the standard and the PCR.
What is verified
The verifier confirms that the LCA was performed according to ISO 14040/44 and the PCR, that the data are plausible, representative and complete, that calculations and impact methods are correct, and that the declaration presents the results and their limitations as required. The verifier signs off, and the programme operator registers the EPD.
What verification does not do
Verification confirms that a study followed its own rules. It does not by itself establish that two studies are comparable, nor does it certify that a product is environmentally preferable. Those depend on shared PCRs and appropriate use of the results.
The capacity problem
Verification is manual, expert work, and the number of qualified verifiers has not kept pace with the volume of declarations. Sampling and fatigue are the predictable consequences.
Where Verdatir fits
Verdatir runs the applicable checks before a verifier opens the file, flags the items that need judgment, and records the verifier’s decisions with reasoning, so verification becomes faster without becoming shallower.
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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