The Biodiversity Standard Council is the scheme committee of NORMATYS, designer of the standards published under the NORMATYS programme. IRICE runs it operationally on NORMATYS's behalf: calls for applications, review of files, management of terms of office. Decisions on the content of the standards rest with NORMATYS; IRICE assesses and decides on certification.
What is the BSC?
The Biodiversity Standard Council is the scheme committee for the Effinature standards. NORMATYS develops and maintains the requirements; the BSC reviews them, guarantees their scientific foundation and approves each version. The standards on which IRICE bases its certifications are therefore neither fixed nor set unilaterally.
This is why the BSC is the cornerstone of the method: without a scientifically grounded, up-to-date and documented base of requirements, certification would be just another claim. The BSC guarantees that every criterion assessed rests on the state of knowledge in ecology and soil science.
Composition: 3 colleges, equal vote
The BSC brings together 36 members, split into 3 colleges that represent the main families of stakeholders in a real estate or development project. The 3 colleges vote as equals: no single interest group can shape the standards on its own.
Project owners
Developers, social landlords, urban developers and local authorities.
Experts
Scientists, ecologists and environmental project advisers.
Designers
Architects, urban designers and landscape architects.
The disciplines cover the full range of built-environment biodiversity issues: landscape ecology, botany, fauna, soil functionality and quality, urban ecological engineering. Each member's competence is verified on entry, on both training and experience, and formalised through the signing of a commitment charter.
What the BSC validates
- The Effinature standards: NCO (new construction), EVO (renovation), HOR (development) and HVE (high ecological value).
- The evolution of assessment criteria: adding, revising or removing requirements in line with advances in knowledge and regulatory frameworks.
- The scientific relevance of the assessment grids: weightings, thresholds and decision rules.
- Correspondences with other frameworks: validation of the equivalences analysis between Effinature and regulatory, normative and voluntary frameworks.
A traceable and impartial way of working
The BSC meets in documented working sessions. Each meeting produces an attendance sheet and minutes, ensuring the traceability of discussions and decisions.
The standards and assessment grids are subjected to critical review: members question, test and evolve the criteria in light of the state of knowledge. This rigour extends to ruling out any methodological choice that could distort how a project is read, so that the assessment reflects real ecological performance rather than a favourable presentation.
Competence
Each member's training and experience verified on entry; disciplines covering all built-environment biodiversity issues.
Transparency
Documented meetings (attendance, minutes); criteria and grids discussed, traced and dated.
Impartiality
3 equal-vote colleges and a commitment charter; the scientific foundation stays distinct from the certification decision.
Competence, transparency and impartiality are requirements of ISO/IEC 17065, on which IRICE's certification activity is based.
BSC and certification: two distinct roles
NORMATYS develops the standard: the criteria, the indicators and the assessment grids; the BSC approves each version. IRICE, certification body (Cofrac accreditation No. 5-0655 · Certification of products, processes and services · ISO/IEC 17065 · Scope available on www.cofrac.fr), then assesses and certifies projects against that standard. This accreditation covers the EFFINATURE and EFFINATURE HVE certification programmes.
These two roles are deliberately separated: approving the scientific rule on one side, issuing the accredited certification on the other. This separation ensures that certification rests on a scientific foundation independent of the certification decision. The impartiality of decisions is guaranteed by a dedicated impartiality committee.
Go further
- → Effinature certification: the standard applied through accredited certification.
- → Partnerships and scientific governance: the BSC, NORMATYS's scheme committee run by IRICE.
- → Independence, accreditation, evidence: why accredited certification is proof.