EPD Timeline: Clocking Every Step to Publication
Bid windows keep shrinking, yet a verified Environmental Product Declaration rarely appears overnight. Knowing which tasks swallow time lets you organise resources, keep sales teams in the loop, and sidestep deadline drama. Below we unpack the typical calendar, flag the stages that most often slip, and share benchmark numbers pulled from program-operator FAQs and 2025 market surveys.
Why the Stopwatch Matters
Every week an EPD is late, specifiers may shift to a rival product that has one. Contractors on LEED v5 jobs already ask for digital declarations at tender stage, not six months later.
The Six-Stage Clock (Industry Average)
- PCR scouting and project scoping: 1–2 weeks. Selecting the rulebook and setting functional unit.
- Plant data collection: 4–12 weeks. Utility bills, material inputs, outbound transport. This is the stage that drags when data live in forty spreadsheets.
- LCA modelling and drafting: 2–4 weeks with an experienced practitioner.
- Internal review and adjustments: 1–2 weeks to align marketing, compliance, and R&D.
- Third-party verification: 8–26 weeks. IBU now warns applicants to budget about six months because verifier capacity is stretched (IBU FAQ, 2024). Some North-American operators still average 8–10 weeks.
- Registration and publication: 1–2 weeks once the verifier signs off.
Total: 16–48 weeks end-to-end. A 2025 market scan found most firms still land in the 24–36 week band (Blue Marble Guide, 2025).
Data Collection: The Black Hole
Roughly 60 percent of project hours hide here according to a January 2025 survey of 42 construction-product manufacturers (NMD, 2025). ERP exports seldom match PCR needs, staff turnover leaves knowledge gaps, and suppliers answer emails on their own timetable. Shaving even two weeks at this stage often means automated data pulls or a white-glove team chasing utility invoices so engineers can stay on the production line.
Verification Queues Are Growing
Demand is up, verifiers are not. IBU’s current backlog pushes ideal eight-week reviews to half-year waits (IBU FAQ, 2024). North American operators report similar pinch points around year-end when many companies rush to publish before budget cycle close. Building a buffer into launch plans is now non-negotiable.
Digital EPDs Trim Days, Not Months
Moving from static PDFs to machine-readable XML can cut the final publishing step from a week to less than 24 hours in the International EPD System’s new portal, live since May 2025 (IES News, 2025). The gain is welcome but will not rescue a project that stalled three months during data wrangling.
How Fast Can It Get?
Specialist consultancies focusing on process automation advertise 12-week door-to-door timelines (Metsims, 2024). That speed is real only when three conditions line up:
- The product already fits an existing PCR.
- Plant data are centralised and QA-checked.
- A verifier is booked before modelling starts. Miss one and the schedule stretches like pizza dough.
Timetable Toolkit
Small tweaks stack up: lock PCR choice in week one, assign a single data owner per plant, ask your verifier to pre-screen functional unit choices. Then watch the gantt chart breathe. We hope the breakdown above helps you hit the submit button before the bid clock blinks 00:00. Our team is here whenever you want the heavy lifting off your plate, happy to chat.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should we plan for the data-collection phase of an EPD?
Plan at least four weeks for a single-line facility with good ERP exports and up to three months for multi-site or vertically integrated products. Surveys show this phase consumes about 60 percent of total project time (NMD, 2025).
Is third-party verification always the slowest step?
Not by design. Verification can be eight weeks when verifier capacity is available, but current backlogs at IBU push this to six months (IBU FAQ, 2024). Data collection often ties or exceeds that when plant records are scattered.
Can a digital EPD speed the overall timeline?
Yes, but it mainly accelerates the publishing step, cutting a week down to one day in the International EPD System portal (IES News, 2025). Upstream phases remain unchanged.
What if our product lacks a PCR?
Writing a new PCR adds 8–10 months before LCA work can even begin (Environdec PCR FAQ, 2024). Most firms instead adapt to a neighbouring PCR to avoid the delay.
What part of an EPD project usually eats up most calendar days?
Primary data collection across sites, shifts, and suppliers—often two to three months—outweighs modelling or verification (IBU, 2024).
Can verification really take half a year?
Yes. IBU warned in 2024 that limited verifier capacity had stretched reviews from the usual 8 weeks to roughly 6 months for some product groups (IBU, 2024).
About the Author
John brings a clear, research-driven perspective on the EPD, LCA and HPD space and keeps a close pulse on environmental trends and standards in North America, helping clients understand where the industry is heading and how to get there.
