Verification is the step between a finished draft EPD and a published one. It is covered briefly as stage 4 of How EPDs Work. This page explains what verifiers actually check, who is allowed to verify, and how the process is changing.

Why verification exists

Under ISO 14025, independent verification is what separates an EPD from a claim a manufacturer makes about its own product. A self-declared claim, such as "contains 30% recycled content" under ISO 14021, needs no outside review. An EPD must be checked by someone who was not involved in producing it before a program operator will publish it. The 2006 edition of the standard called this kind of declaration "Type III". ISO 14020:2022 deprecated that term, and the 2026 edition of ISO 14025 drops it too, and defines an EPD directly as an independently verified, LCA-based statement (see below).

What a verifier checks

The verifier reviews both the underlying LCA (usually through the LCA project report) and the draft EPD document. Under ISO 14025 and, for construction products, EN 15804 or ISO 21930, this covers:

  • Conformity with the PCR. The correct functional or declared unit, system boundary, life-cycle modules, impact categories, and calculation rules for that product category. See Product Category Rules.
  • Conformity with the LCA standards. Whether the study follows ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, including allocation choices and cut-off rules.
  • Data quality. Whether the data meet the PCR's requirements for coverage, precision, completeness, representativeness, consistency, reproducibility, sources, and uncertainty, and whether background datasets were chosen appropriately.
  • Consistency between report and declaration. Whether the numbers and statements in the published EPD match the LCA they come from. ECO Platform's verification guidelines for EN 15804+A2 EPDs call this out explicitly.
  • Additional environmental information. Any claims outside the LCA results, such as content declarations or scenario descriptions, must also be supported.

Who can verify

ISO 14025 (in both the 2006 and 2026 editions) requires the verifier to be independent: not involved in carrying out the LCA or preparing the declaration, and free of conflicts of interest. For business-to-business EPDs, that independent verification may be internal (someone inside the EPD owner's organization who meets those conditions) or external. Business-to-consumer EPDs require third-party verification.

Program operators add their own requirements on top. Most keep a list of approved verifiers, and many accept either an approved individual verifier or an accredited certification body; the International EPD System's General Programme Instructions, for example, allow both. ECO Platform's quality management guidelines set approval and competence requirements for verifiers working under its member programs. Some procurement and certification schemes also give external verification more weight: LEED v4.1's EPD credit counts a product-specific EPD with external verification and external critical review as 1.5 products, rather than 1. See the Verifiers directory page and Program Operators for who administers this.

EPD verification vs. PCR review

The two are often confused. PCR review checks the rules themselves: under ISO/TS 14027, a panel (at minimum a chair and two members) reviews whether a draft PCR is consistent with the LCA standards and the program's instructions, and whether the data it calls for will describe the product's significant environmental aspects. EPD verification checks whether one specific declaration follows those rules. A third, separate process, the LCA critical review under ISO 14044, examines an LCA study's methodology and is required when a study supports a comparative assertion disclosed to the public. ISO 14025:2026 states explicitly that PCR review and EPD verification must be kept as separate processes.

Pre-verified EPD tools

Some programs let manufacturers produce EPDs with a software tool that has itself been verified. The tool's calculation logic, data, and fixed elements are checked once, so each EPD it produces needs only a simplified review of the inputs that change. The International EPD System operates three levels of this: pre-verified LCA tools and pre-verified EPD tools, where each EPD still gets a simplified verification, and fully pre-verified EPD tools, where individual verification is replaced by a periodic (annual) check of the tool and its output. Industry-association tools work the same way: in EPDs produced with the GCCA's cement and concrete EPD tool, items marked as pre-verified via the tool are not re-checked by the individual EPD's verifier.

ISO 14025:2026 brings this approach into the standard itself. It adds requirements for the independent verification of EPD tools and requires program operators to define how tool verification works.

Findings and sign-off

Verification is iterative. The verifier raises findings (errors, missing documentation, departures from the PCR, or requests for clarification), and the LCA practitioner corrects and resubmits. Several rounds are normal. Once the verifier is satisfied, they issue a verification statement or report, and the program operator registers and publishes the EPD. The published EPD names the verifier and states whether verification was internal or external. For EN 15804+A2 EPDs under ECO Platform programs, the statement also confirms that verification was done by an independent third party against EN 15804+A2.

What verification doesn't guarantee

Verification confirms that an EPD was prepared correctly. It does not:

  • Rate the product. A verified EPD with high impacts is just as valid as one with low impacts. An EPD is a disclosure, not an ecolabel.
  • Make any two EPDs comparable. Results are only comparable when the EPDs share the same PCR, functional or declared unit, and life-cycle scope. See EPD Standards, Simplified.
  • Re-test the data at source. Verifiers review the data, documentation, and calculations they are given for plausibility and traceability. They do not usually re-measure plant energy use or audit every supplier.
  • Last indefinitely. An EPD is valid only for its stated validity period, generally five years, and must be re-verified to stay current.

Changes in ISO 14025:2026

A revised edition of ISO 14025 was published on 30 June 2026, the first full revision since 2006. Changes that affect verification include:

  • The definition of verifier now reads "competent and independent" person or persons. The 2006 wording described only someone who carries out verification.
  • The definition of third party now lists the parties a verifier must be independent of. That list explicitly includes EPD tool developers, as well as the EPD owner, the program operator, and the LCA practitioner.
  • New requirements for verifying EPD tools, as described above.
  • PCR review and EPD verification must be separate processes, and ISO/TS 14027 (PCRs) and ISO/TS 14029 (mutual recognition between programs) become normative references.
  • The term "Type III environmental declaration" is deprecated in favor of "environmental product declaration (EPD)".

ISO 14025 is a voluntary standard. The new edition takes effect in practice as program operators update their general programme instructions, each on its own schedule, so EPDs verified under the 2006 edition will remain in circulation for some time.

Emerging: digital and AI-assisted verification

EPDs are increasingly published as machine-readable data alongside the traditional PDF, in formats such as ILCD+EPD (an XML format used by ECO Platform programs and European databases) and openEPD (a JSON format used by the EC3 database, among others). Structured data makes it possible to check an EPD automatically, for example for missing mandatory fields, unit mismatches, or results that fall far outside the range of comparable products.

The use of artificial intelligence in this process is being discussed at industry events, including the ACLCA 2026 conference, whose program included sessions on AI in LCA practice. Published research has proposed using AI and machine learning to flag errors, inconsistencies, and outliers in life cycle inventory data, and to help program operators audit verifiers' work as EPD volumes grow.

As of this writing, these approaches remain at the research and early-development stage rather than an established part of program operators' published verification procedures. Two points constrain how they can be used:

  • The verifier is a person. ISO 14025:2026 defines the verifier as a competent and independent person or persons. Automated checks, as currently described, support that verifier's review rather than replace their judgment and sign-off.
  • Independence applies to tools too. The 2026 edition's definition of third party includes EPD tool developers. Any automated checking used in verification would need to meet the same independence requirements as the people using it.

The closest established precedent is the pre-verified tool model described above, in which rule-based software is checked once so that individual EPDs need less manual review.

Frequently asked questions

Is EPD verification the same as an LCA critical review?

No. A critical review under ISO 14044 (with procedures in ISO/TS 14071) examines an LCA study's methodology and results. EPD verification under ISO 14025 checks the LCA and the finished declaration against the applicable PCR and program rules. Some green building credits, such as LEED v4.1's EPD credit, distinguish between EPDs whose LCA was internally or externally critically reviewed.

Can a manufacturer's own employee verify its EPD?

ISO 14025:2006 allows independent verification to be internal or external for business-to-business EPDs, provided the verifier was not involved in the LCA or the declaration and has no conflict of interest. Third-party verification is required for business-to-consumer EPDs. In practice, many program operators and certification schemes require or reward external verification.

How do I find out who verified an EPD?

The EPD itself names the verifier, or the certification body, and states whether verification was internal or external. EN 15804+A2 EPDs carry a verification statement, typically on the cover or in the program information section.

Does a verified EPD mean the product is environmentally preferable?

No. Verification confirms that the EPD was prepared according to its rules and that the reported results reflect the underlying LCA. It makes no judgment about whether the results are good or bad relative to other products.

Can AI verify an EPD?

Not under current standards. ISO 14025:2026 defines a verifier as a competent and independent person or persons. Automated and AI-assisted checks are being researched and discussed as support for that person's review, for example by flagging data inconsistencies, but not as a replacement for the verifier's judgment and sign-off.

How much does verification cost and how long does it take?

It varies by program operator, product complexity, and verification route (individual verification or a pre-verified tool). EPD Central has not yet published sourced figures. See the Verification Cost Benchmarks page in the Data section, which is pending real data.

Sources

  • ISO 14025:2006, Environmental labels and declarations — Type III environmental declarations — Principles and procedures (clause 8, verification; clause 8.1.3, independent verification)
  • ISO 14025:2026, Environmental statements and programmes for products — Environmental product declarations (EPDs), published 30 June 2026
  • EPD International, "ISO 14025:2026 is published!" (news release, 2026)
  • EPD Australasia, "ISO 14025:2026: Updated requirements for EPD programmes" (July 2026)
  • ISO 14020:2022, Environmental statements and programmes for products — Principles and general requirements (deprecation of Type I/II/III terminology)
  • ISO/TS 14027:2017, Environmental labels and declarations — Development of product category rules (PCR review)
  • ISO 14044:2006, Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Requirements and guidelines (critical review)
  • EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, Sustainability of construction works — Environmental product declarations — Core rules for the product category of construction products (clause 9)
  • ECO Platform, Verification Guidelines for ECO EPD Programme Operators, Version 8.0 (December 2024)
  • ECO Platform, Quality Management Guidelines for ECO EPD Programme Operators, Version 2.0 (2025) — verifier approval and competence
  • EPD International, General Programme Instructions for the International EPD System, Version 5.0.1 (February 2025) — verification and pre-verified tools
  • U.S. Green Building Council, LEED v4.1, Materials and Resources credit: Environmental Product Declarations
  • Building Transparency, openEPD data format documentation
  • Martin Echazarreta, J. and Peña, C., "Toward Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain-Enabled Frameworks to Improve Critical Review Control and EPD Verification Process," in Life Cycle Management from Global to Local (Springer)
  • ACLCA 2026 Conference program, San Diego, 15–17 September 2026