Evidence that withstands scrutiny
A Type III declaration under ISO 14025:2006 — what it contains, which standards govern it, who issues it, and where it stops. An explanatory reference, not a service page.
An Environmental Product Declaration is a Type III environmental declaration under ISO 14025:2006. It reports quantified environmental information about a product across its life cycle, using parameters set in advance, so that one product can be compared with another of the same function — provided both were developed under the same product category rules.
Three things make it a Type III declaration rather than a marketing statement. The underlying data comes from a life-cycle assessment carried out to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006. The parameters, boundaries and calculation rules are fixed by product category rules, not chosen by the manufacturer. And the declaration is independently verified, then registered and published by a programme operator — the body that runs the programme and keeps the public record.
An EPD does not state that a product is good for the environment. ISO 14025:2006 is explicit that a Type III declaration presents quantified information; it sets no threshold and it does not rank.
| Part | What it fixes | Who holds it |
|---|---|---|
| The programme | General programme instructions: rules of procedure, verification requirements, publication and validity | Programme operator |
| Product category rules | Functional unit, system boundary, cut-off rules, data quality and the indicators that must be declared | Programme operator, developed with stakeholders |
| Life-cycle assessment | The calculation itself, to ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006, inside the product category rules | The manufacturer, or the practitioner it appoints |
| EPD verification | Independent check of the assessment, the data and the declaration against the product category rules | A verifier approved by the programme operator |
| Registration and publication | The EPD number, the published document and the public record | Programme operator |
| Validity | How long the declaration may be used, and when it must be revised | Fixed by the programme, not by the standard |
Environmental labels and declarations — Type III environmental declarations: principles and procedures. It defines the programme, the operator’s role, the product category rules process and the verification requirement.
Principles and framework, and requirements and guidelines, for life-cycle assessment. Every EPD rests on an assessment built to these two.
The core product category rules for construction products in Europe. Where it applies it fixes the life-cycle modules and the indicator set the declaration must report.
Core rules for environmental product declarations of construction products and services — the international counterpart to EN 15804.
Carbon footprint of products: requirements and guidelines for quantification. It covers one impact category — climate change — where an EPD reports many. A product carbon footprint is a narrower output, not a smaller EPD.
Environmental statements and programmes for products — principles and general requirements. The umbrella above the Type I, Type II and Type III declaration standards.
An Environmental Product Declaration is a published declaration issued through a programme operator against product category rules. A verification statement addresses a defined assertion, period, boundary and level of assurance, and is issued by a validation and verification body against ISO 14064-3:2019. The two are related — verified data usually sits behind a declaration — but neither replaces the other, and describing one as the other is a claim we would decline to make.
Five confusions account for most of the trouble:
Tell us what must be relied on, who will rely on it and by what date. We will confirm the correct programme, evidence requirement and responsible entity — or tell you it is outside our scope.
