Gold Standard asked for more information at preliminary review. How long do we have?
Fourteen days from receiving the request. In the completeness check pathway, Gold Standard checks your submission within 14 days of the documents and fee arriving. If it asks for more, a late reply means the whole request is rejected and you must file a new preliminary review request.
The completeness check, four steps
- Gold Standard runs a completeness check within 14 days of your submission and fee payment. If it passes, the project goes straight to step 4.
- If information is missing, you reply within 14 days of the request. Late replies are rejected outright.
- Gold Standard tells you within 7 days whether the reply is complete. If not, you can send more at any time and it reviews as capacity allows.
- The project is listed on the Gold Standard Impact Registry, or not listed with reasons.
The other pathway takes longer
Gold Standard may instead send early users of a new project type, methodology or product through a detailed preliminary review of 4 weeks. If it asks for expert stakeholder input during review, you have two weeks to respond, with the same rejection for late replies.
What a rejection can cost
- You file a new preliminary review request.
- If delays pass one year, documents must be updated to the latest standard and methodology, with new validation or verification where needed.
- Retroactive projects must make their first submission within one year of the start date. Ask Gold Standard in writing whether a new request keeps your first submission date before you rely on it.
Reply in one pass
Answer every point in a numbered table that quotes the question, gives the answer and names the attached file. Issues on eligibility principles must be settled before listing; other findings can be carried into validation.
Example: a submission in February
- Documents and fee received: 2 February
- Gold Standard request for information received: 12 February, inside its 14-day check
- Your reply due: by 26 February
- Gold Standard verdict on completeness: within 7 days of your reply
Dates are an example.
What Senseible does here
Senseible keeps the fuel and electricity records behind your baseline figures linked to their source files, so a request for supporting data can be answered the same day. It does not prepare or submit Gold Standard documents.
- Gold Standard one-year rule
- Gold Standard stakeholder meeting rules
- How long until credits are issued
- Carbon credits
Sources: Gold Standard, Principles & Requirements v2.1: 4.1.49 and 5.1.3 to 5.1.6
Last reviewed 2026-11-03. Principles & Requirements v2.1 (published 31 January 2025) listed a planned update for 5 December 2025; check Gold Standard for a newer version before relying on these timelines. Gold Standard also points to a Rule Update on preliminary review documents; check it.