VALIDATION AND VERIFICATION

ICMQ is an accredited body for ethical claims of responsibility for sustainable development in accordance with UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17029:2020 and UNI ISO/TS 17033:2020, UNI/PdR 102:2021, and for validation and verification of environmental claims, in accordance with UNI CEI EN ISO/IEC 17029:2020 and UNI EN ISO 14065:2022.

Validation and verification, as conformity assessment activities, are intended as a confirmation of the reliability of information declared in assertions (claims). Other terms used for the objects assessed through validation and verification are "statement" (declaration), "claim" (assertion), "prediction" or "report". The two activities are distinguished by the time frame of the assertion under assessment. Validation applies to assertions regarding an intended future use or a prospective outcome (confirmation of plausibility), whereas verification applies to assertions concerning events that have already occurred or results that have already been achieved (confirmation of veracity).

As conformity assessment activities, validation and verification include a decision on confirmation of the assertion. The decision on whether or not the assertion conforms to the initially specified requirements is therefore issued by the validation/verification body as a validation/verification statement.

Services in this area include verification/validation of the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) — for the EPDItaly® Program Operator and for the International EPD System® Program Operator — of the Product Carbon Footprint and the Organisation Carbon Footprint and certification of the CFP Systematic Approach, of the Product Circularity Index and of greenhouse gas emissions communications (Emission Trading), under the recognition granted by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.

This area also includes verification of embedded emissions for the purposes of the CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism).

ICMQ also offers certification against the Get It Fair scheme.

ICMQ is also the operator of the Italian Program Operator EPDItaly.