How does the International EPD System relate to EN 15804?

EN 15804 refers to the European standard EN 15804:2012+A2:2019/AC:2021, “Sustainability of construction works - Environmental product declarations - Core rules for the product category of construction products”. This standard was developed to function as a “core PCR” to harmonize environmental product declarations (EPDs) of construction products across programme operators. EN 15804 is complementary to ISO 14025, which provides rules on how to operate an EPD programme.

The International EPD System is actively working towards complying with this standard, through the General Programme Instructions and the relevant PCRs. As the International EPD System has both a geographical scope and scope of product categories that is larger than construction products in Europe, the compliance with the standard is defined on a case-to-case basis for PCRs. EPDs and PCRs for construction products shall state their compliance or non-compliance with EN 15804. 

There are three types of PCRs currently available for construction products: 

• PCR 2019:14 for Construction products. This document is the main option for EPDs compliant with the present version of EN 15804 (EN 15804:2012+A2:2019/AC:2021). Using this document, any construction product may be declared using a declared unit. A complementary PCR (c-PCR) shall be used if a functional unit is to be used. 
• Complementary PCRs (c-PCR) for more specific product categories, to be used together with PCR 2019:14. If there is an applicable c-PCR, it shall be used. If there are several applicable c-PCRs, one or several can be used. 
• On a case-to-case basis, external PCRs not compliant with EN 15804 may be used if required in a specific legal context, e.g., for public procurement. Please contact the Secretariat for more information. 

The International EPD System is a founding member of the ECO Platform to collaborate with other programme operators for alignment with EN 15804. The system also has mutual recognition agreements with the several other EPD programmes for construction products, where EPDs of these programmes are accepted mutually without further verification. With an additional registration fee, the owner of such an EPD may carry the logotype of both programmes.