Certification scheme conditions

The scheme is open to any public or private organisation engaged in a construction, renovation or development project, or operating an existing asset, willing and able to comply with the requirements of the standards. Admission rests on transparent, fair and non-discriminatory terms: no exclusivity, no discretionary selection and no prior membership of any network condition access to the scheme.

Continued entitlement to use the label depends solely on meeting the performance requirements set out in the standards, as verified by the certification body.

Access to the scheme is open to any operator meeting the eligibility criteria, on financial terms that are identical for all applicants in the same situation. No preferential treatment is granted, whatever the applicant's membership of a network, grouping or professional body.

The fee scale is set according to the nature of the standard and the area of the project. It is communicated on request, before any commitment, by the certification body.

Instances of non-compliance identified during assessments and surveillance checks are notified to the holder by IRICE, the certification body, together with a deadline for implementing corrective action. Where non-compliance is established, the certificate is suspended pending the implementation of corrective action.

Failure to close out the non-compliance within the deadline leads to suspension and then withdrawal of the certification and of the authorisation to use the label, pronounced by IRICE. The holder must then immediately cease all use of the sign and remove any reference to it. The detailed arrangements are set out in Article 10 of the trademark usage rules.

Any party may lodge a complaint concerning the certification process, and any applicant or holder may appeal a certification decision. These procedures fall to IRICE, the certification body, in accordance with ISO/IEC 17065: they are handled in a documented manner, by persons who did not take part in the contested decision.

The full procedure is published on the complaints and appeals page of the IRICE site.

Comments on the content of the standards themselves, as opposed to a certification decision, are collected through the calls for comments described in §8.

The standards are available to any certification body accredited under ISO/IEC 17065 for a scope covering the certification of products, processes and services, and meeting the published conditions: a valid accreditation issued by a body signatory to the EA or IAF recognition arrangements, the conclusion of an application agreement with NORMATYS setting out the rules for using the standard and for reporting back, and compliance with the rules on the use of the signs.

This openness is not required by the directive, but it strengthens the demonstration of the scheme's independence. Interested bodies may send their request through the contact form.

The requirements are developed and revised by NORMATYS in consultation with experts and stakeholders, brought together in a scheme committee, the Biodiversity Standard Council. That committee is made up of three colleges with equal voting rights: project owners, experts, designers.

The revision process is documented: technical work, examination by the committee, a public call for comments, traceable handling of the comments received, then publication of the settled version. Only the version in force is authoritative; its date of entry into application appears on the page of the standard concerned.

The operational management of the committee on behalf of NORMATYS (calls for applications, review of files, convening of meetings, management of terms of office) is carried out by IRICE. Decisions on the content of the standards rest with NORMATYS.