COC certification ensures that FSC certified veneer, lumber, and components originate in an FSC certified forest and are handled by manufacturers and tradesmen that adhere to the FSC COC standards throughout their business from purchasing through the final sale.
Much confusion has been raised about the necessity of distributors of architectural wood products being FSC certified and its effects on the costs used for FSC calculations for LEED and other green building initiatives. The requirements below are reflective of the most common distributor COC situations and their affects on the pricing used for FSC calculations:
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Circumstance
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Price Used for FSC Calculations
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Distributor is COC Certified
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Manufacturer’s Price + Distributor Mark Up
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Distributor is the sub-contractor of record for installation, but is not COC certified
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Manufacturer’s Price only. Distributor mark up
cannot be included for submittal into the calculation. Manufacturer’s invoice is required for FSC documentation submittals.
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Distributor not the sub-contractor of record for the installation and is not COC certified
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None—FSC COC has been broken.
The project will no longer qualify for FSC credit
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Interested in becoming Chain of Custody certified? Simply follow the steps below.
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Contact one or more FSC accredited certification bodies. The certification body will likely need some basic information about your operation to give you an estimate of the cost and time required to gain certification.
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Once you have selected which certification body you wish to work with you will sign an agreement.
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Your company’s qualifications for certification will be assessed during a certification audit
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Based on the data collected, the certification body makes a certification decision.
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You will receive an FSC certificate if it is determined all conditions are met. If your operation is not yet in full compliance with FSC requirements, additional audits can be conducted once the required changes are implemented.