Senseible

How does the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) test that a project considered carbon credits before it started, and what counts as the start date?

The ICVCM wants proof that carbon credits were considered before the project began, or a cap on the time between start and validation. The start date is the date you committed to the activity, for example when you signed the equipment contract or first spent money, so keep the purchase order and the early meeting records.

What counts as the start date

The Core Carbon Principles (CCP) definitions give it as the calendar date on which the project owner committed to implementing the activity, for example the date contracts for the purchase or installation of equipment were executed or the date the first expenditures are incurred. If the activity involves no expenditure, it is the date the first physical actions were taken.

Our reading: for a factory this usually means the purchase order date for the boiler, motor or burner, not the date the machine is switched on.

Approach A: documented evidence

  1. The program shall require publicly available documented evidence that carbon credits were considered, for example stakeholder consultations, dated before the start date. A validation and verification body (VVB) and/or the program assesses it during validation.
  2. The program shall require the evidence to reach it no later than one year after the start date.
  3. The program shall limit the time between the date on that evidence and the later date of registration to a reasonable period, and/or it may accept publicly available or credible third-party attested evidence that credits were considered before the start date.

Approach B: a time limit instead

The framework also lets a program set a reasonable maximum period between the start date and validation or submission for registration, taking into account the time needed for documents. It gives two to three years as an example, depending on the type of credit. Consideration of carbon credits may be shown by Approach A and/or Approach B.

What may change

The framework says the ICVCM may exclude Approach B and part of Approach A in a later version, so that programs build their own prior-consideration rules. Check the program you plan to use, because the exact limit is the program's own.

Our reading for a small factory

This part is our reading, not the framework's wording. If credits may ever matter, write it down before signing the purchase order: a dated note, board minute or meeting record that says carbon credit income was part of the decision. Keeping the quotation and order date together with it answers both approaches.

Dates for a purchase order signed on 14 March 2026

The dates are an example. The framework's two to three years is its own example, and each program sets its own limit.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, which gives a project its own fuel and power history. Credits are issued by the program's registry and checked by an independent verifier, not by Senseible's own check. Senseible does not fix your start date. Keep the dated purchase order and quotation yourself, along with a note that credits were considered.

Sources: Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, Core Carbon Principles Assessment Framework, Section 4, January 2024, version 1.1 (criterion 8.3 and table 8.11), Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, Core Carbon Principles Definitions, Section 5, January 2024, version 1.1

Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Based on Assessment Framework version 1.1 (January 2024). The Integrity Council's August 2026 rule architecture says Interpretations and Technical Notices may affect how criteria are assessed, so check icvcm.org for any in effect before you rely on a detail. India's offset scheme has its own start-date rule, so read that page too.