How many days does a Higg Facility Environmental Module (Higg FEM) verification take, and can it be done without a visit?

Between 1 and 3 person days, unless you and the verifier agree more. Cascale recommends at least 2 for most, and requires 2 onsite in two stated cases (see below). It can be done without a visit, but the result then cannot be shared publicly, and once an offsite verification is finalised you cannot redo it onsite that year.

The days

• One person day is 8 working hours for one verifier. Travel, scheduling and report writing are not counted in it.
• Not less than 1 person day, onsite or offsite. Not more than 3 unless the facility and the verifier body agree.
• Cascale recommends at least 2 person days for most verifications.
• Where non-local verifiers need translation, at least 0.5 person day shall be added.
• Onsite minimum of 2 person days is required in two cases. One: a Level 1 verification of a material production unit in apparel, footwear or home textiles that uses water for production. Two: a finished product processing unit in apparel or home textiles with batch dyeing (jet, jig, beam or yarn dye) or garment dyeing, that treats industrial wastewater onsite.

Offsite verification

• Done without a visit, usually by email, pictures or web conference.
• The protocol says the verified results of an offsite verification shall not be shared publicly or through Cascale's communication toolkit. They can be shared with your connections through your Worldly account.
• Once an offsite verification is finalised you cannot switch to onsite, or file a new self-assessment to be verified onsite, in the same assessment year. A facility has one verified FEM a year.
• The protocol says to confirm with all business partners first that none expects an onsite verification.

Fees and the visit itself

• Fees are negotiated between you and the verifier body. The quote shall itemise person days, report time, travel, the Verification Access Fee and the total.
• The opening meeting reminds everyone it is not an audit and not pass or fail, with no minimum score.
• The verifier body shall send a verification plan at least 10 working days before the start.

A garment dyeing unit (apparel sector) with its own effluent plant

• If it is a Level 1 verification of a finished product processing unit, batch or garment dyeing plus onsite industrial wastewater treatment: minimum 2 onsite person days (required)
• If a non-local verifier needs a translator: 2 + 0.5 = 2.5 person days (our reading of the rule)
• Maximum without agreement: 3 person days, so 2.5 sits inside it

The facility is an example. Rules are the protocol's.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so the months of fuel and electricity a verifier will ask about are in one place. Senseible is not a Higg verifier body, and its records are not FEM-verified.

• What the Higg FEM quantity verifier checks
• 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, FEM Verification Program page (How to Higg)

Last reviewed 2026-11-07. From the verification protocol version 1.7 (September 2026, effective 1 January 2027) and Cascale's verification page. Minimums change by cycle; check the current protocol with your verifier body.