What is the Foundational Environmental Performance (FEP) module in the Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM), and which 12 months does it cover?
FEP is a shorter, standalone version of the Higg FEM, built from a defined subset of Level 1 questions, from the FEM2026 cycle. It covers the 12 months before you complete it, not a calendar year. A first-time user who starts verification as FEP cannot upgrade that year.
What it is
- Foundational Environmental Performance is the minimum baseline of environmental management, legal compliance and critical risk controls that the protocol says all facilities in the consumer goods industry are expected to meet.
- FEP questions are a defined subset of Higg FEM Level 1 questions.
- From the FEM2026 cadence (calendar year 2027) it is available as a standalone module, for both self-assessment and verified assessment.
- The protocol expects FEP to need less verification time than the full form.
Which 12 months
The scope is the previous 12 months from the time you complete FEP. The protocol's example: complete FEP in May 2027, and verification looks at May 2026 to April 2027. All FEP questions are verified against current conditions, the Current category in the Verifier Field Guide.
A limit to know
A first-time Higg FEM user who chooses FEP cannot upgrade to the full FEM once verification has been initiated on Worldly. They can do the full FEM only in the next cycle.
An April to March bill year
- Complete FEP in April 2027: the previous 12 months are April 2026 to March 2027 (our reading of the protocol's May example)
- That is the same 12 months as an Indian financial year, once the March bill is in, so your existing monthly bills fit
- Complete it in May 2027 instead: May 2026 to April 2027, and April 2027 bills join the year
The whole example is our reading, moved one month from the protocol's May example.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so each month's bills are on file. The self-serve product does not fill in the FEP, and its records are not FEM-verified.
- Higg FEM year: January or April start?
- Higg FEM energy and GHG data
- Buyer carbon questionnaires: what your bills answer
Sources: Cascale, Higg FEM Verification Protocol, version 1.7 (September 2026), Cascale, Higg FEM Verifier Field Guide, version 1.3 (September 2026)
Last reviewed 2026-11-07. From the verification protocol version 1.7 (section 3.4, effective 1 January 2027) and the Verifier Field Guide. The 12 month example for April is our own step from the protocol's May example.