1. What is verification?
Verification ensures that your facility accurately completed all parts of the Higg FEM – giving their self-assessment the credibility and accuracy required to share it publicly.
Verification of the FEM self-assessment is conducted by a third- or second-party Cascale-approved verifier. The verifier is selected and hired to review a facility site. The verifier is the only person responsible for validating the accuracy of the assessment.
What is the difference between FEM verification and a traditional audit?
The Higg FEM is not a pass/fail audit. It is simply a means to verify the facility understood and answered the FEM self-assessment correctly. Verified data and scores provide trusted information on facility environmental performance, reducing the need for multiple proprietary audits.
For full description and information on the verification process, please visit our FEM verification page here.
2. Approved Verifier Bodies
Find the full list of Cascale-approved verification bodies here.
3. Verification Process
A high-level overview of the verification process that the facility will have to go through to complete and post the vFEM.
- The facility completes and posts their self-assessment, and purchases the vFEM.
- The facility selects a verification body from the available options.
- The verification body confirms and assigns a verifier.
- The verifier and facility arrange a time for on-site or off-site verification and complete the verification process, including the verifier filling in the vFEM.
- vFEM is completed, and the facility has 14 days to review and dispute anything in the vFEM assessment, before it is finalized and posted. The vFEM status will change to VRF, and then the information will be available for brands to view.
4. vFEM Results Reports
Flagged Questions
This report highlights answers that are not in line with legal requirements.
Verifier Notification
This report shows questions where the verifier feels the self-assessed answer is inaccurate, or there is no response. This report shows the refID, question, self-assessment response, as well as the verification selection and verifiers corrected response and data.
