General Programme Instructions Version 3.0 published

21st Dec 2017

Version 3 of the General Programme Instructions (GPI) has been published, setting a new set of rules for operation and management of the International EPD® System according to ISO 14025.

The update was made to stay relevant and up-to-date following developments in methodology, standardisation, research and applications of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). They enable organisations in any country to communicate the environmental impacts of their products in a quantitative, credible, comparable and understandable way based on international standards.

New features

Some of the new features of the new GPI are:

• New EPDs for all product categories will now have a 5 year validity, if they are based on a PCR that has been updated
• The EPD format is now aligned with best practices, and further alignment of environmental information between construction products and non-construction products
• Product Category Rules (PCR) contents and development process aligned with the latest standards and practices
• Updates to LCA methodology and indicators
• A procedure for approval of pre-verified EPD tools has been added
• Many editorial changes for consistency and clarity

Transition period

A transition period will be applied to allow a smooth transition to the new rules:

• The publication of the new version of the GPI does not affect the validity of already-published EPDs, which will remain published with the same validity date as before. Surveillance of EPDs during their validity is based on the same version of the PCR and GPI that was used for the verification of the current valid EPD.
• If a valid PCR based on version 3.x of the GPI does not exist, EPDs may be published and updated based on valid PCRs that are based on version 2.x of the GPI during the transition period.
• Version 3.0 of the GPI will be implemented step-by-step into existing PCRs when they are due for update, or during their validity.
• PCRs that are currently under development should be aligned with the new programme instructions. Exceptions are allowed for cases where the development is already far progressed. The Secretariat and Technical Committee are currently updating the PCR Basic Modules to act as a template for new and updated PCRs.

The transition period will last for at least 18 months, and the end of the transition period will be announced six months before it ends.

Work has also started to update the website, templates, etc., which will be introduced gradually.

DOWNLOAD VERSION 3 GENERAL PROGRAMME INSTRUCTIONS