ISO 50001 certificates

^{(COFRAC management systems certification accreditation n°4-0006, scopes available on www.cofrac.fr)}

ISO 50001:2011 relates to energy management and is a voluntary, internationally recognised standard, which outlines the requirements for an energy management system (EnMS). The structure of this standard is similar to ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, which should support implementation, as well as its integration into existing management systems.

ISO 50001 is relevant to organisations of all shapes and sizes but is of particular interest to those operating in energy intensive environments.

Key requirements:

• Continual improvement of energy performance
• Creation of an energy policy
• Prioritisation of issues affecting energy use and efficiency
• Supporting the reduction of costs and Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by setting objectives and targets for the identification of saving opportunities
• Formalising control systems and monitoring processes, Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) approach
• Evaluation of compliance with legal and other requirements
• Systematic review of the EnMS by top management
• Assists organisations in making better use of existing energy consuming assets

Benefits for your company:

• Promotes a focus on energy as a valuable and costly resource
• Improves and drives energy performance and efficiency – improves the way energy is managed
• Demonstrates energy management best practises to stakeholders and others
• Provides a better understanding of energy use
• More conscious energy design and procurement practices
• Straightforward integration with other management systems, i.e. ISO 9001 & 14001 as it has common elements across the management system standards
• Maximises use of energy sources and energy related assets – could reduce energy cost and consumption
• Reduces GHG emissions and other environmental impacts
• Supports the growing demand within industry to gain international recognition

Communication on the transition from ISO 50003:2014 to ISO 50003:2021

The ISO 50003:2021 standard, relating to the requirements for bodies carrying out the audit and certification of energy management systems, was revised in May 2021, replacing the 2014 version. UTAC Certification is committed to transition process and will apply the requirements of the new standard no later than November 30, 2023, 30 months after the date of its publication.

Parties concerned:

Although ISO 50003 is aimed directly at accreditation bodies and certification bodies, the normative transition has an impact on companies that are currently certified according to ISO 50001 (Energy management systems - Requirements and recommendations for implementation), as well as candidate companies wishing to obtain initial certification according to the ISO 50001 standard.

Any certification issued to ISO 50003:2014 will no longer be valid or will be withdrawn at the end of the transition period.

New requirements:

The ISO 50003 standard has recently been updated to allow better compatibility with the ISO/IEC 17021-1 standard used for the accreditation of all ISO management systems. Enhancements also include clarification of audit day calculations, application of requirements to multi-site organizations, and technical proficiency for those associated with energy management system audits. As an indication, they are the following, but not limited to:

• the definitions have been updated to include the audit time, the duration of the audit and terms related to multi-site audits;
• the phrase “maintained documented information” has been used to represent procedures, work instructions or other forms of documents that provide the who, what, when, how or why information;
• the phrase “retained documented information” or “record of audit evidence” has been used to represent records that demonstrate or provide evidence of the execution of a requirement;
• the structure has been updated to align with ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015;
• the phrase “man-days” has been changed to “audit days”;
• for audit day calculations, the number of energy types have been changed to those that comprise at least 80% of total consumption;
• the weighted values for complexity have been modified;
• the sampling requirements for multi-site EnMS have been updated;
• the use of IAF MD documents as they relate to Annexes A and B has been clarified;
• the information on EnMS effective personnel has been clarified in A.2
• Tables A.3 and A.4 have been modified from audit duration to audit time;
• technical areas have been removed and requirements for technical competency added; and
• related to energy performance improvement the following have changed:
  1. The definition in 3.6 of ISO 50003:2014 for “Energy performance improvement” has been removed, but the term is defined in ISO 50001 which is a normative reference
  2. For surveillance audits the focus has switched for an organization to be required to demonstrate “implementation of actions for energy performance improvement” rather than to demonstrate “achievement of energy performance improvement”