Sustainability paperwork for floors

At a glance

Standards were read as BSI listings and previews only. Ask each supplier for the document and check it.

Start from the claim, then ask for the document

Client requirements arrive as claims: low carbon, responsibly sourced, low emission, certified timber. Each needs a different document, and one document cannot stand in for another. An EPD says nothing about whether the timber is legal, and a chain of custody certificate says nothing about emissions. The drawing lists the six documents most floors need.

The Competition and Markets Authority’s Green Claims Code, published on 20 September 2021, sets six principles for environmental claims: they must be truthful and accurate, clear and unambiguous, and must not omit or hide important information; comparisons must be fair and meaningful; the full life cycle must be considered; and claims must be substantiated. The CMA says the guidance covers claims between businesses as well, though less fully than claims to consumers. For a specifier the practical reading is simple. If you repeat a supplier’s claim in a schedule, a tender or a client report, keep the document that substantiates it in the project file.

Ask at tender, not at handover. Documents are easiest to get before the order, while the supplier is still choosing the product, and the product named in the order has to be the product the document covers.

Reading an EPD: six checks

An environmental product declaration reports a product’s environmental impacts across its life cycle in a standard format. For construction products the core rules are in BS EN 15804. The edition BSI lists as current, BS EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 (shown as under review on 5 November 2026), sets out the indicators to declare, the life-cycle stages to include and the conditions under which products can be compared; BSI lists the earlier A1 edition as withdrawn. An EPD is a report of impacts. It is not a certificate that a product is low impact.

The drawing marks six lines to check on the first page of an EPD. We read one flooring EPD (an engineered parquet range from a UK supplier, issued in November 2025) to see how they appear in practice, and it follows the same pattern.

• 1. Standard and edition. Look for EN 15804+A2. An EPD written to the A1 edition was prepared under older rules.
• 2. Programme and number. The EPD names a programme operator and a registration number. Look the number up in the operator’s register instead of trusting a copy of the PDF.
• 3. Verification. The EPD should say who verified it and whether the verification was independent. The example EPD gives a choice between internal certification and external verification: check which is ticked.
• 4. Valid until. Stone Federation Great Britain’s page says an EPD is usually valid for five years, and the example runs five years from its issue date. Check the date against the order and the delivery.
• 5. Products covered. An EPD often covers a range, not one board. The example covered four product groups of one maker (oak on pine or plywood, lacquered or oiled, each with a thickness range), reported results for the thinnest and thickest board of each group, and gave a rule for the sizes between. Check that your species, construction, thickness, finish and factory sit inside the scope.
• 6. Declared unit and modules. The unit in the example was 1 m² of installed flooring. It declared modules A1 to A3 (raw materials, transport, manufacture), A4 (transport to a warehouse) and C1 to C4 and D (end of life and beyond), and marked A5 and B1 to B7 (assembly and use) as not declared. A figure for A1 to A3 only is not the same quantity as a figure that includes more.

EN 15804’s scope says it defines the conditions under which construction products can be compared; the rest of the standard was not read. The example EPD carries its own warning: EPDs of construction products may not be comparable if they do not comply with EN 15804 and if they are not compared in a building context. So do not rank two floors on one number from two documents. For a longer walk-through, with worked examples, see how to read an EPD.

Timber and stone: origin documents

Timber. Certification and legality are separate questions. Ask for the chain of custody certificate code and the claim on the invoice, and for the species and country of harvest. The FSC and PEFC sheet sets out the claim types, what the invoice must show, how to check a certificate, and why certification alone does not satisfy the UK Timber Regulations. Our sustainable wood flooring guide covers the law in brief. This sheet does not repeat either.

Stone. We did not find a chain of custody scheme for stone on the FSC pattern, so the documents differ. Ask for the quarry and country, the stone’s petrographic name, and where it was cut and finished. Ask whether an EPD exists for the stone you are specifying. Stone Federation Great Britain’s page links ten EPDs for UK stone products, mostly masonry, walling or paving, and few decorative interior stones appear on it, so for many floors the honest answer will be that none exists. If a client needs one, say so early.

A responsible sourcing certificate, such as BES 6001 (cited in one stone supplier’s specification clause), is a different document with a different scope: ask which scheme and level, and check it in the issuer’s register. For the stone itself, see natural stone flooring specification, and for dust and silica, engineered stone and silica guidance.

Performance marks and emissions reports

Declaration of performance and the mark. For a product covered by a designated standard, the maker declares its performance and marks the product. GOV.UK’s guidance on the Construction Products Regulation in Great Britain (published 1 September 2020, last updated 21 May 2025) says the CE mark continues to be available for construction products in Great Britain and that the UK mark (UKCA) can also be used, so either may appear on a floor. A UK mark is followed by the year it was first affixed, the manufacturer’s name and registered address, the product-type code and the reference number of the declaration of performance. That reference is what you match to the product.

Wood flooring and parquet have a standard of their own, BS EN 14342:2013, which BSI lists as designated. Its scope covers wood flooring and parquet with or without paint, varnish, lacquer, wax or oil, and does not apply to bamboo, laminate, or products made from plants such as cork, so those floors will not carry a declaration against it. Wood-based panels, such as plywood used as floor decking, fall under BS EN 13986:2004+A1:2015, also designated. Whether a natural stone product needs a declaration depends on its product standard and its scope: confirm with the stone workshop.

Emissions. ‘Low VOC’ and ‘low emission’ mean nothing until they have a method, a number and a requirement behind them. The horizontal reference method for measuring emissions from construction products into indoor air is BS EN 16516:2017+A1:2020 (BSI: current). It is a test-chamber method for volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds, very volatile aldehydes and ammonia. Ask for the test report, not a logo, and check three things: the sample was the finished floor, with its finish (and its adhesive where it is fixed that way), not a bare board; the laboratory and the date; and the requirement the results are judged against, which is set by the client or the scheme the project is registered under. We give no emission limits for that reason.

For wood-based boards and engineered cores ask for the formaldehyde class and the test method as written on the declaration. The classes and limits sit in the board standards, which we have not read, so none is given here. For site-applied oils, lacquers, sealers and adhesives, ask for the safety data sheet and technical data sheet of the exact product named in the specification, and for its VOC content as the maker states it.

Project schemes and the evidence file

Project schemes decide which of these documents earn credit, and in what form. BREEAM’s New Construction page (read 5 November 2026) presents Version 7.1 and lists material selection among its emphases. Credit names and numbers change between versions, so do not work from a credit code remembered from an older manual: ask the project’s assessor which version the project is registered under and which documents they will accept. WELL, and a client’s own ESG reporting, set their own rules, and we have not read them for this sheet.

Keep one evidence file per floor: the schedule reference, the document, its issue date, its valid-until date and the date you checked it. It is the file to open when a client, an assessor or a tender question asks where a claim came from, and it is what the CMA’s ‘claims must be substantiated’ principle comes down to in practice. The FF&E schedule is the natural home for the references, and the sustainability documents a tender will ask for covers the same ground for furniture and joinery. Say in the order, not only at tender, which documents travel with each delivery.

[Supplier] is to provide, with the tender return, an EPD for [product, range reference] to BS EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, independently verified and in date, stating programme operator, registration number, declared unit [1 m2 installed] and modules declared [A1 to A3 as a minimum]. The EPD is to cover the product offered, including [construction, thickness, species and finish]; an EPD for another product from the same maker is not accepted.

Claims as clause [FSC and PEFC clause reference]. [Supplier] is also to state the species (common and scientific name) and country of harvest, and to confirm in writing which party is the operator under the UK Timber Regulations.

For [wood flooring to BS EN 14342 / wood-based panel to BS EN 13986 / other: [ ]], the declaration of performance and CE or UKCA marking information, with its reference on the label or delivery documents. A BS EN 16516 test report for the floor as supplied, including finish [and adhesive], with laboratory, date and results against [the client or project scheme requirement]. Formaldehyde class and test method for any board or core.

Each document is to be issued before the order, filed under the schedule reference and re-checked for validity at delivery. No environmental claim is to be made about the works unless its document is on the file.

Standards and sources

• BS EN 15804:2012+A2:2019: core rules for EPDs. BSI listing and scope read 5 Nov 2026; current, under review; text not read.
• BS EN 14342:2013, BS EN 13986:2004+A1:2015, BS EN 16516:2017+A1:2020: wood flooring; wood-based panels; emissions into indoor air. BSI listings read 5 Nov 2026; texts not read.
• GOV.UK: Construction Products Regulation in Great Britain: updated 21 May 2025; read 5 Nov 2026.
• CMA: Green Claims Code: 20 Sep 2021; read 5 Nov 2026.
• Stone Federation Great Britain: natural stone EPDs: ten EPD links; read 5 Nov 2026.

Questions we are asked

Does every floor need an EPD?

No. A client or a project scheme may ask for one. Many floors, and most decorative stones, have none, and an EPD usually covers a range of products, so a made-to-order floor may sit outside its scope. If one is needed, ask at enquiry, not at handover.

Can I compare two EPDs?

Only with care. The two must use the same edition of EN 15804, the same declared unit and the same modules, and cover comparable products. EN 15804's scope says it defines the conditions for comparison, and one EPD we read warns that EPDs may not be comparable if they do not comply with EN 15804 and are not compared in a building context. Do not rank two floors on a single number from two documents.

What is the difference between an EPD and an FSC certificate?

An EPD reports a product's life-cycle impacts. An FSC or PEFC certificate shows that a business is certified to handle certified timber, and the claim on the invoice says what is being sold. Neither proves that timber was legally harvested on its own. See the FSC and PEFC sheet.

Is the CE mark still accepted on UK projects?

GOV.UK's guidance, updated on 21 May 2025, says the CE mark continues to be available for construction products in Great Britain and the UK mark can also be used. It describes the longer-term future of CE marking as conditional on wider reforms, so check the current guidance when you specify.

What does 'low VOC' mean in a specification?

It has no single meaning in the sources we read. Ask for a method (BS EN 16516 is the horizontal reference method for construction products), a result for the finished floor, a date, and the requirement it is judged against.

Will Make Bespoke Studio supply these documents?

The studio coordinates manufacture through partner workshops, and which documents exist depends on the product and the workshop. Say at enquiry which documents you need, so each partner can be asked for what it holds. This sheet does not say what any partner holds.