Validation and Verification Bodies (VVBs)

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SECTIONS

• About Validation/Verification Bodies (VVBs)
  • What is a Validation and Verification Body?
  • What is the scope of approval of VVBs?
  • Are there any VVBs in my country?
  • Are all auditors to be approved by Gold Standard?
• Becoming a Gold Standard-approved VVB/auditor
  • How does an auditor become Gold Standard-approved?
  • Can I be approved with Gold Standard as an individual auditor?
  • How does my organisation become a Gold Standard-approved VVB?
• Trainings
  • Does Gold Standard provide training for VVBs?
• Common Certification Questions
  • Can VVBs conduct a remote audit on a project?
  • If a project combines Design Certification and the first Performance Review, does the VVB have to supply two different audit teams?
  • Can the same VVB perform validation and verification of multiple aspects of a project?
  • Can members of the validation team, including the technical reviewer and local experts, participate again in the verification team?
  • What are the requirements for VVBs that have previously performed validation or verification activity for a project?
  • Does the Validation / Verification team require two different individuals as Team Lead & Validator / Verifier?

About Validation/Verification Bodies (VVBs)

What is a Validation and Verification Body?

Validation/Verification Bodies (VVBs) conduct audits of projects throughout the Gold Standard Certification Cycle. VVBs are typically established auditing companies with ample experience in GHG validation/verification, which are accredited by an Accreditation Body (please refer to clause 7.4 of the Validation & Verification Body Requirements) under one of several accreditation schemes recognised by Gold Standard.

What is the scope of approval of VVBs?

Geographical Scope:

VVBs are approved for a global geographical scope. This means that as long as they comply with the VVB Requirements on team composition and competence around country-specific knowledge, they may conduct an audit in any country. VVBs are encouraged to work with country experts and trained interpreters to conduct audits where the audit team is not local and/or does not speak the local language or understand the local laws or culture.

Sectoral Scope/Project Types:

Under Gold Standard, VVBs are approved under specific certification pathways. You can find a list of these Annex A of Validation & Verification Body Requirements.

Each certification pathway corresponds to a number of project types that the VVB is approved to audit. VVB approval is not the only condition for auditing a specific project or project type. Within the certification pathway, the VVB may, for example, lack auditor or technical reviewer expertise for a specific sector or topic. For example, even if a VVB is approved for renewable energy projects, a lack of adequate finance expertise would preclude the VVB from performing validations that require a thorough additionality assessment.

Are there any VVBs in my country?

Gold Standard-approved VVBs provide audit services globally. You should select a Gold Standard approved VVB for your project from our list of approved VVBs based on project type.

Some countries have very few certified projects, and having auditors and VVBs based in these countries would not ensure the volume of work required for auditors to maintain their competence. This is why auditors work in a variety of countries, often using country experts to support the audit and technical review teams.

It is extremely rare for a project to be unable to find a qualified VVB to conduct an audit, although audit prices may vary. Should you have any issues, please contact us at vvb@goldstandard.org.

Are all auditors to be approved by Gold Standard?

Each audit is different and presents specific challenges in forming a competent audit team and technical review team.

To provide flexibility and enable VVBs to form competent teams, the Validation & Verification Body Requirements document states that the team as a whole shall have all the necessary competences to conduct the audit. If the VVB cannot find one person that combines all competences needed for the audit, it proposes a team instead.

Each audit team and each technical review team shall contain at least one person approved as a Gold Standard auditor. This ensures that the teams have the necessary competence on Gold Standard-specific requirements and procedures. The other team members may be VVB staff, or sub-contracted technical or country experts.

Becoming a Gold Standard-approved VVB/auditor

How does an auditor become Gold Standard-approved?

A Gold Standard-approved VVB may name auditors for Gold Standard approval either during their approval process, or at any time during the validity of their approval.

To be approved, an auditor must:

1. Have specific competences in technical areas assessed by the VVB according to its accreditation and quality management system. The VVB’s quality management system requires VVBs to provide training to their auditors and ensure their competence for the work they do. 
2. Have passed the online GS4GG exam within 4 weeks of application for approval of the VVB or of the auditor. Guidance to the exam can be found on the Become a VVB page. Auditors should reach out to vvb@goldstandard.org to request for a link to the exam.
3. Comply with technical update training requirements.

Can I be approved with Gold Standard as an individual auditor?

Gold Standard does not work with individual auditors. You can approach any of our approved VVBs to seek affiliation with them.

How does my organisation become a Gold Standard-approved VVB?

VVBs seeking approval to conduct validations and verifications for projects and programmes under GS4GG and earlier versions of Gold Standard, need to:

1. Follow the Validation/Verification Body Requirements and ensure among others:

• the organisation’s quality management system, policies and processes are aligned with GS4GG requirements 
• the organisation is accredited by a recognized accreditation body and standard 
• the organisation has the capacity and sufficient competent staff to comply with GS4GG requirements for the expected size of the portfolio of audits

2. Provide a completed VVB application and all relevant documentation as per Annex C of the Validation & Verification Body Requirements to Gold Standard at vvb@goldstandard.org. Our templates help to ensure the readiness of your application:

• VVB application form
• Auditor Competence & Technical Knowledge
• VVB Quality Management System in-depth Review Checklist

3. Ensure that all named auditors have passed the Gold Standard auditor examination within 4 weeks applying for approval as GS-VVB.

Trainings

Does Gold Standard provide training for VVBs?

Gold Standard holds monthly VVB trainings, based on specific GS4GG requirements and with the aim to calibrate between different auditors.

To keep up to date with any rule updates and training opportunities, sign up to the Gold Standard VVB newsletter.

Common Certification Questions

Can VVBs conduct a remote audit on a project?

Site visit requirements and guidance for projects can be found in the Site Visit and Remote Audit Requirements and clauses 6.3.5 to 6.3.12 Validation and Verification Standard.

In general, validations and verifications, except where a physical site visit is required to comply with minimum site visit requirements, may be carried out remotely. The project developer shall request a remote audit, and the VVB shall assess the feasibility of a remote audit according to current site visit requirements. The VVB will then determine whether to conduct a site visit or use remote audit techniques. 

If a project combines Design Certification and the first Performance Review, does the VVB have to supply two different audit teams?

Please refer to

• 5.1.53 of Principles and Requirements
• 6.8 of Validation and Verification Standard 

The requirement to have different audit teams does not apply to combined Design Certification with first Performance Certification for a given project. The same audit team may perform both validation and verification for combined Design Certification and first Performance Certification for a given project.

Can the same VVB perform validation and verification of multiple aspects of a project?

The same VVB may undertake the Validation/Inclusion, Verification, Crediting Period Renewal, or Design Change review for a given project seeking GS4GG certification, irrespective of:

• Project, programmes, or interventions
• Certification types and pathway (e.g., Gold Standard Certified Impact Statements or Products)
• Project scale (e.g., micro or other scales)

Requirements related to validation and verification by the same VVB can be found in section 6.8 of the Validation and Verification Standard.

Can members of the validation team, including the technical reviewer and local experts, participate again in the verification team?

As per paragraph 6.8.1.c of the Validation and Verification Standard (VVS), the exception applies only to the appointed technical reviewer of the validation audit. This means:

• The validation appointed technical reviewer may also serve as the verification appointed technical reviewer.
• Other members of the validation audit team (including auditors and technical experts) cannot rotate into the verification technical review team, unless they are formally appointed as the verification technical reviewer in line with paragraph 6.8.1.c.
• Local/host country experts who supported the validation audit are not restricted from participating again in the verification team, provided that:
  1. They are not appointed as lead auditor, auditor, or technical reviewer in both validation and verification; and
  2. Their role is clearly disclosed in the verification report, in line with paragraph 6.8.1.b.

What are the requirements for VVBs that have previously performed validation or verification activity for a project?

If the same VVB wishes to perform verification of a given project activity for which they have performed validation (including the Inclusion of Voluntary Project Activity (VPA)/Component Project Activity (CPA), Crediting Period Renewal, Design Change), the VVB shall ensure that the integrity and impartiality of the verification audit are maintained. In such cases, the VVB shall meet the following requirements:

• The VVB shall ensure that the entire verification audit team, including the lead auditors, auditors and sectoral experts, are different from the team that performed the validation activity (including the inclusion of VPA/CPA, renewal of crediting period, design change review).
• The VVB shall transparently disclose in the verification report that the same VVB has performed validation activity (including the Inclusion of Voluntary Project Activity (VPA)/Component Project Activity (CPA), Crediting Period Renewal, Design Change) for the given project. The VVB shall disclose the details of the audit team, including names of all the team members and their roles in the previous audit performed by the same VVB.

Full details can be found in clauses 6.8 and 12.16 of the Validation and Verification Standard.

Does the Validation / Verification team require two different individuals as Team Lead & Validator / Verifier?

The validation/verification team may be composed of one person, as long as the VVB can demonstrate that all the competence requirements are covered by that one person. The validation/verification team (collectively) shall have the skills required by section 7.6 of Validation and Verification Body Requirements.

The audit report must evidence that the individual / team has covered all the competence requirements.

For any remaining questions, please contact us at vvb@goldstandard.org.