What proof do we need that we own the reductions from our factory project on Verra?
Verra wants a legal analysis showing you hold both the right to operate and the right to the reductions, from the project start date and throughout. It must rest on a permit, a contractual right, a statutory right or an irrevocable agreement, and you update it at each verification.
Two rights, not one
A validation and verification body (VVB) will ask who may run the equipment and who owns the tonnes it saves. Verra treats these as two rights. For an energy-efficiency project, Verra's own example is that the right to operate might rest on the permits that let the facility run. The right to reductions may come straight from the right to operate, from land or resource rights, or from a specific regulation.
What can establish the legal basis
The analysis must show that at least one of these gives a valid, non-conflicting basis for both rights:
- A law, statute, regulation, permit, authorisation or decree, through a concession title.
- A contractual right to the project area (the facility or land), to the equipment or process that generates the reductions, or to the reductions themselves.
- Land or resource rights granted under statute, regulation or decree by a competent authority.
- An enforceable, irrevocable agreement with the holders of land or resource rights.
Where factory projects trip up
- Leased premises: does the lease or the landlord's consent cover the project?
- Equipment bought through an installer or financier: does the contract say who holds the reductions?
- Group companies: is the proponent the entity that holds the permits and owns the equipment?
At each verification
You update the analysis for any new circumstances and confirm you still hold both rights. If the analysis finds the project is likely to affect land or resource rights, a fuller land or resource rights analysis is needed before the project start date.
Example: a forging unit replacing its furnace
- Factory licence and pollution consent in the proponent's name: right to operate
- Equipment purchase invoice and payment record: owned by the proponent
- Lease for the shed, with a clause allowing the retrofit: right to the project area
- Installer contract stating the proponent keeps all reductions: right to the reductions
- At verification: confirm none of these changed, and note any new contract or lease
An example set of papers. Your VVB decides what is enough for your project.
What Senseible does here
Senseible keeps the dated purchase invoices for your equipment and the fuel and power bills that show the project is yours and running. It does not give legal opinions. It does not register projects or issue credits; Verra and your validation and verification body do.
Sources: Verra, VCS Standard v5.0 (16 December 2025), section 3.6
Last reviewed 2026-11-04. Section numbers are from VCS Standard v5.0; re-check them when Verra publishes a new version.