What does Verra mean when it marks a project late to verify, and how do I get out of it?
If a project sends no verification approval request within five years of its last approved one (or of registration, if it has never been verified), Verra marks it late to verify and tells the project proponent. The proponent can post yearly evidence that the project is still active, and a new request goes through normal review.
The rule
Under section 4.7.1 of the Registration and Issuance Process, where a project does not submit a verification approval request to Verra within five years of the approval of its most recent verification approval request, Verra updates the status to late to verify and notifies the proponent. For a project with no verification yet, the five years run from the approval of its registration request (4.1.2). Afforestation, reforestation and revegetation (ARR) and improved forest management (IFM) projects that have reached their long-term average forest carbon stocks are exempt (4.7.2), and agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) and geological carbon storage projects get extra steps in section 5.3.6.
Showing the project is alive
- A project with this status may submit evidence of its active standing every year (4.7.3).
- Verra posts that evidence publicly on the Verra Registry.
- It may be a letter explaining the delay, and documents showing the activity is running, such as photographs, monitoring reports or a contract for a verification in the near future.
Getting back to normal
When the proponent submits a verification approval request for a late-to-verify project, the usual review procedure in section 4.2 applies (4.7.4). The status also matters if the proponent company is wound up: a new entity can take over such a project only while it is active, and the rule lists late to verify as not active (section 7.2.1(5)(a)).
Why a small project can drift into it
Waiting is allowed, but the five-year clock runs from the last approval (or from the approval of the registration request, if there has been none), not from the end of the last monitoring period. Our reading: plan the next verification date when the previous one is approved.
Example clock
- Last verification approval request approved: 30 June 2026 (a project never verified starts the same clock from the approval of its registration request).
- Five years later: 30 June 2031.
- No new request by then: status changes to late to verify and Verra notifies the proponent.
Dates are an example.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records that you can keep with your project evidence. Its in-house check is not an accredited third-party verification, and Senseible is not part of Verra's process.
- Monitoring periods: no overlap, no back claims
- Withdrawing a Verra project
- Verra deadlines for energy projects
- Carbon credits
Sources: Verra, VCS Registration and Issuance Process v5.0 (16 December 2025)
Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Check the current VCS Standard, Registration and Issuance Process and Program Guide on Verra's site before you rely on this; Verra updates them periodically.