ISO 50001 Certification
The energy management standard for organisations that need to measure, control and continually improve how they use energy.
- Standard
- ISO 50001:2018
- Indicative timeline
- 10-16 weeks, depending on scope and readiness
- Discipline
- ISO Standards
- Assessment type
- Independent third-party assessment
The standard
Overview
ISO 50001:2018 specifies requirements for an energy management system. It follows the harmonised clause structure used across ISO management standards and asks an organisation to identify its significant energy uses, establish an energy baseline, define energy performance indicators and plan actions that improve energy performance rather than simply documenting it.
Certification shows boards, regulators, customers and investors that consumption is measured against a baseline and that improvement is evidenced rather than asserted. In the UK, ISO 50001 certification covering total energy consumption can be used as a route to Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme compliance where the certificate is issued by an accredited certification body, and the same data set supports Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting and Climate Change Agreement targets.
UKCert assesses in two stages. Stage 1 examines the energy review, baseline, performance indicators and data collection plan. Stage 2 tests metering data, action plans, operational controls and procurement practice on site, including the evidence of improvement in energy performance.
Who this is for
- Energy-intensive manufacturers and processing sites
- Large undertakings that qualify for ESOS
- Operators of data centres, cold stores and industrial plant
- Public sector estates and university campuses
- Organisations working to carbon reduction commitments
What it gives you
Why organisations certify
What a certified ISO 50001:2018 assessment gives you once the certificate is issued.
Measured energy reduction
Consumption is tracked against a baseline and significant energy uses, so savings are identified from metered data rather than assumption and can be verified.
ESOS compliance route
ISO 50001 certification covering total UK energy consumption can be used in place of a separate four-yearly ESOS energy audit, but only where the certificate is issued by an accredited certification body. Confirm that requirement before relying on certification for ESOS.
Credible reporting
SECR disclosures, carbon reporting and tender responses draw on one measured data set, so figures published externally match what the system actually records.
Procurement and design
Energy performance becomes a criterion when buying equipment, services and energy itself, and when designing new facilities or modifying existing ones.
Operational discipline
Set points, maintenance regimes and operating procedures for significant energy uses are defined and monitored, which reduces drift between planned and actual performance.
Board-level visibility
Energy performance indicators give senior management a consistent measure to review, alongside objectives, energy targets and action plans with named owners and dates.
Scope
What the assessment covers
The areas an assessor works through. Your final scope is confirmed in writing before any audit is booked.
- Energy review and significant energy uses
- Energy baseline and normalisation method
- Energy performance indicators
- Energy data collection plan and metering
- Objectives, energy targets and action plans
- Operational controls for significant energy uses
- Design and procurement criteria for energy performance
- Legal register covering ESOS, SECR and CCA obligations
How it runs
The assessment, stage by stage
From first enquiry to certificate. Each stage is agreed with you before it starts.
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Scope and boundaries
We agree the organisational and energy boundaries, sites, energy types and exclusions, then set audit duration against consumption, technical complexity and the number of locations.
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Stage 1 review
A review of the energy review, baseline, performance indicators, data collection plan and legal register, confirming that measurement is sound before implementation is tested.
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Readiness and data
Gaps are closed and the system runs long enough to produce meter data, action plan progress, internal audit results and a completed management review record.
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Stage 2 assessment
Auditors visit operating sites, test controls on significant energy uses, trace metering data through to reported indicators and examine evidence of energy performance improvement.
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Certification decision
Nonconformities are graded and closed out. An independent reviewer who took no part in the audit takes the certification decision, and the certificate is issued.
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Surveillance and recertification
Annual surveillance checks continued improvement in energy performance and the operation of the system. Recertification covers the full standard before the three-year certificate expires.
Questions
ISO 50001:2018 — frequently asked
Anything here that does not cover your situation, put it to an assessor rather than guessing at it.
Same discipline
Other schemes in ISO Standards
Certifying against more than one standard?
Where you hold several standards, shared clauses are assessed once in a combined visit rather than as separate audits. Talk it through with an assessor before you decide what ISO 50001:2018 should sit alongside.