NVIR-O-CERT

Home  ›  NVIR-O-CERT

NVIR-O-CERT

NVIR-O-CERT has been developed by the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) and is supported by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and the leading environmental professional body, the Institute of Environmental Management and  Assessment (IEMA).

The scheme provides a route for smaller construction companies to achieve environmental accreditation whilst helping larger companies to distinguish themselves as environmental leaders. The scheme aims to keep paperwork to a minimum and instead focuses on good environmental performance in practice. We have also structured the fees to provide excellent value for money.

Get registered

There are two routes to NVIR-O-CERT certification:

  • Full Audit for companies that are not operating ISO 14001
  • Crossover Audit for companies that are operating ISO 14001

NVIR-O-CERT is an environmental management system and auditing scheme which is:

  • Construction specific
  • Low cost
  • Focused on what you do on site, rather than on paperwork
  • Supported by NIEA (the regulator) and IEMA (the professional body)
  • Creating standardised Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for environmental performance in construction
  • Designed to benefit companies of all sizes but with a particular focus on SMEs
  • Proportionate to the size and risk profile of a company
  • Based on continuous improvement

Promoting the environmental knowledge and skills of staff.

How it works?

For a company to become certified an NVIR-O-CERT auditor must visit a company’s construction site and verify that the company has processes in place to ensure that they protect the environment and that those processes are being followed in practice.  Companies are required to monitor their performance and continuously improve.

The scheme also provides proof to clients that the construction company is protecting the environment.  The annual fees for companies undergoing a full NVIR-O-CERT audit and using all the NVIR-O-CERT  template documentation are dependent on the turnover of the company as follows:

Current fees 

Turnover         Standard Rates     25% discounted rate for companies with Safe-T-Cert

£0-£1m              £640 + VAT       £480 + VAT
£1m-£5m       £1,060 + VAT        £795 + VAT
£5m-£15m     £1,460 + VAT     £1,095 + VAT
£15m-£30m  £2,340 + VAT     £1,755 + VAT
£30m+           £2,840 + VAT     £2,130 + VAT

50% of the annual fee is payable in the first year to proceed with your application to join NVIR-O-CERT.

The remaining 50% is payable just in advance your audit.

Apply for an audit:

A registered company is required to apply for audit within nine months of registration. NVIR-O-CERT will carry out an annual audit operating on a 3 year cycle of full audit, verification audit, verification audit.

The audit consists of three parts:

  • documentation audit
  • management interviews
  • site audit

The firm’s compliance with environmental legislation and best practice is audited.  For the 'Full Audit' the company must provide the required documentation to the auditor for review in advance of the audit day. The audit will last approximately one day (potentially longer for larger companies, shorter for very small companies).

Send an enquiry: