Critical Review, Verification and Quality Assurance
Review types under ISO 14044 §6
- Internal expert review - a reviewer inside the commissioning organisation, independent of the study author.
- External expert review - an independent expert from outside the organisation.
- Review by interested parties - a panel including stakeholders affected by the results: industry, NGOs, regulators, trade bodies, optionally chaired.
For comparative assertions disclosed to the public, review by interested parties is required (ISO 14044 §6.3). Reviewers must be independent of the commissioner and have access to the full data; confidentiality is handled through agreed non-disclosure rather than withholding data from the reviewer.
What the reviewer checks
Methods are consistent with ISO 14040/14044; methods are scientifically and technically valid; data are appropriate and reasonable relative to the goal; interpretation reflects the identified limitations; the report is transparent, consistent and complete. The review statement, reviewer names and comments, and the responses must appear in the final report. Reproducibility is the practical test: could an independent expert repeat the calculation from the documented functional unit, boundary, dataset versions, LCIA method version and software?
Worked example
A concrete EPD is verified against EN 15804+A2 and the relevant PCR. The verifier checks module A1–A3 data against plant records, confirms the declared GWP matches the model, reviews cut-off disclosure and module D treatment, then issues a verification statement that must be published with the declaration.
Traps
Calling an academic peer review an ISO critical review; omitting the reviewer statement; commissioning review after publication; using a reviewer employed by the same business unit; failing to document software and database versions so nobody can reproduce the result.